Serving the community
Cambridge Dial-a-Ride is a charitable organisation which provides transport for groups and individuals who otherwise have difficulty accessing public transport. It offers this service on week days in the City of Cambridge and the villages immediately bordering the city.
We offer our services to anybody within our area who is over 16 years old and who has difficulty using public transport because of disability, infirmity, or age.
Cambridge Dial-a-Ride’s operating licence requires us to function as a membership organisation. If you are interested in what we offer, we ask you to begin by applying for membership and to specify what particular difficulties we can help you overcome.
We offer City of Cambridge, Girton, Milton, Sawston and now the villages of Bar Hill, Cottenham, Histon and Impington in South Cambridgeshire and Bottisham, Quy, Lode and Long Meadow in East Cambridgeshire, the chance to travel around the city for a wide range of purposes.
Many people use the service to go to day centres or community groups in and around the city. We can drive you to doctors and dental surgeries or to a hairdresser’s appointment, but we can also take you to the main shopping areas in Cambridge, to visit friends or relatives, or simply give you the chance to have an outing for a change.
On specific days we arrange group travel to most of the big supermarkets in and around the city: see City Service.
From summer 2023 we are now running a series of outings to places outside of the City and County to places such as the Norfolk Coast, The Broads, Suffolk and other places of interest.
Cambridge Dial-a-ride minibuses are equipped to make it easier for everybody to use them. All buses have lifts for wheelchair users and those who have difficulty using steps.
Our drivers stop as near as possible to your front door so that you can wait for us in the comfort and safety of your home. The drivers will also help to get you safely to and from your bus, and they are happy to carry any bags you may want to take with you. You only have to let the driver know what assistance you need.
You or somebody on your behalf can contact Cambridge Dial-a-Ride to request an application form. Alternatively you can use the printable application form which can be completed and returned to us at the address on the form.
Return the form to Cambridge Dial-a-Ride with the annual membership fee. We can then enrol you as a member of Cambridge Dial-a-Ride for twelve months.
As a member living in the City of Cambridge and in those villages which we include in the City Service, you are eligible to use the service each day of the working week (Monday – Friday).
We ask you to book with Cambridge Dial-a-ride in advance, where the telephone is normally manned Monday-Friday 09.00-15.00 (9am-3pm). Outside these times you will find an answer-phone for your booking requests. Speaking slowly and clearly you can either give us your name and address and details of your planned journey or simply leave your name and telephone number and ask us to call you back.
We ask you to give us as much notice as possible of your travel needs. However, if you want to travel at short notice, telephone us, we will make every effort to accommodate you. Of course, if you are not able to travel as you had planned, we do ask you to make every effort to cancel well in advance.
Please remember that we do run a bus service, so it will invariably be the case that we pick up other members as well as you on each journey. For that reason, we try to give as accurate a time for your pickup as we can, but it has to be flexible dependent upon other passengers being collected, and traffic conditions.
Cambridge Dial-a-Ride is obliged to operate as a membership organisation. As a result you must apply to become a member and pay an annual membership fee of £15.00. Once you have joined Cambridge Dial-a-Ride as a member, you will be charged a reasonable fare for a single or return journey. Fares are as shortly.
| CITY SERVICE FARE | Cost WITH valid Bus Pass | Cost WITHOUT Valid Bus Pass |
| Single Journey | £5.00 | £10.00 |
| Return Journey | £10.00 | £20.00 |
| Accompanying Escort Single | £3.00 | £3.00 |
| Accompanying Escort Return | £6.00 | £6.00 |
| Registered Visually Impaired Single | £3.00 | £3.00 |
| Registered Visually Impaired Return | £6.00 | £6.00 |
You may bring a friend or family member as your official escort, and we charge an additional fare for them. Guide dogs and help dogs are obviously also welcome and travel without charge, although other pets and animals are not normally carried.
The majority of Cambridge Dial-a-Ride’s bookings are from individual members who wish to maintain their independence in travelling on their own. However, we also offer Group Membership for community groups that wish to arrange group travel for their own members on a regular or occasional basis. This form of membership has its own structure of Fares and Fees.
