South Beds Dial-A-Ride is to close its operations in Luton from next Monday August 12.
The not for profit company, which has been operating in the town for the past 25 years, takes members who phone to book journeys, to day centres, lunch clubs, therapy centres, medical appointments, hairdressers, friends and shopping trips. Many of their users do not leave their homes unless the dial-a-ride bus comes and picks them up.
Coordinator Dave Barratt commented:“We do understand, in these times of austerity, that councils need to examine their services to balance their books and some cutbacks to front line services are inevitable.” Luton Borough Council is removing the subsidy for concessionary fares from April 2014, say the company, which reduces their funding to the dial-a-ride service by 37% at a stroke.
Having incurred significant financial losses in Luton over the past 2 years, Mr Barratt said: “We would go out of business in 6 months if we did not take urgent action now. If that happened we would not be able to help anybody, anywhere.
“I feel very sorry we have had to take this decision after serving Luton for over 25 years, and this will inevitably be a great disappointment and hinder the independence and social life of many elderly people, disabled people and wheelchair users in Luton. Our passengers and drivers have become friends and I am sure we will all miss each other terribly. I do hope our passengers will somehow find an alternative means to travel, and when they do that it is not too expensive, and above all, I hope they travel safely.”
For the last four years, South Beds Dial A Ride has been successful in increasing the number of passenger journeys in Luton by 35% to 22,000 per year. A recent survey revealed that 97.6% of their members were satisfied with the service. “We hope that these successes might still positively influence the review of community transport currently being undertaken by Luton Borough Council and their level of financial support for the invaluable service we provide”, Mr Barratt said.
But for several years Suth Beds Dial a Ride have been losing money on their Luton operations. In order to be able to continue to provide help for as many people as possible, they will concentrate in future on providing dial-a-ride and public community bus services in Central Bedfordshire which includes Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard.