Cambridge Dial-a-Ride gets an ‘Excellent’ Service rating from its Members
Cambridge Dial-a-Ride, which provides an essential minibus service transporting people with mobility issues, is delighted to report that it offers an ‘excellent’ service to its members and that’s official!
The ‘non for profit’ organisation carries out an annual customer survey, required as a condition of the grant it receives from Cambridgeshire County Council. This is to establish if the service offered is fit for purpose and whether operations could be enhanced in any way. Its latest survey, which was carried out during the last quarter of 2020, revealed that 91% of members rated the service as ‘excellent’, 94% stated that it was ‘vital/very important’ to them and 71% quoted that Cambridge Dial-a-Ride gave them their independence and reduced feelings of isolation.
Bill Hughes Chair of the Charity says “Although Cambridge Dial-a-Ride had to suspend its services during the National Lockdowns implemented by the Government, it remains an invaluable service to its members. Our staff and volunteers work hard to ensure that our Community Transport Service, is the best it can be, but seeing this in writing from our members themselves is both gratifying and rewarding for all the team at Cambridge Dial-a-Ride. These survey results are very welcoming particularly after what has been a very difficult time for many of our members who have been worried about using public transport due to the pandemic”.
Bill continues by saying” We were very proactive during the first Lockdown however, by quickly reconfiguring our bus layouts to allow for social distancing, installing screens behind the drivers, enhancing sanitising of seats and touch points, providing PPE and carrying out temperature screening before each journey”.
Adds, Johan Williams, Office Manager, “In addition to checking on the level of service we provide, the survey is very useful as we are able to explore directly with members if they would use facilities such as on-line booking and contactless payments as well as finding out if we are marketing ourselves effectively. This survey clearly highlighted that our most effective marketing tactic is our members themselves, as most new recruits hear about us through ‘word of mouth’, but we also received suggestions on how we can spread the Cambridge Dial-a-Ride service word more efficiently”.
Cambridge Dial-a-Ride is offering a reduced service at present to support the Government’s ‘Stay Home and Stay Safe’ messaging, however, we are able to offer free transport to Covid-19 Vaccination appointments to both our members and non-members who have difficulty with public transport due to age, infirmity or disability or do not have transport of their own. Non-members will be offered a temporary membership to cover their vaccination appointment but will be able to join in full at any time for a small fee if they so wish.
