The new system doesn't work, it's overly restrictive and is isolating vulnerable people and those in desperate need.
Started by: Kevin Poxon
This ePetition ran from 19/04/2024 to 30/05/2024 and has now finished.
6 people signed this ePetition.
31 May 2024
Dear Kevin Poxon,
Petition regarding the Easylink Dial-a-Ride Service
Thank you for your petition regarding the Easylink dial-a-ride
service, which is funded by Nottingham City Council, and operated
under contract by CT4N.
The Easylink service is an important part of the comprehensive
public transport network in Nottingham, providing a service for
those people who find it difficult to travel by using conventional
public transport services.
However, you’ll be aware that the Council is under severe
financial pressure, and it undertook a consultation late last year
on withdrawing services and functions that it did not have to
provide in order to meet its requirement to set a balanced budget.
Easylink was one of the services that was consulted on for
withdrawal, and although the service was ultimately able to
continue, it was necessary to critically evaluate its operation and
to introduce changes which would reduce costs but still maintain a
good level of service to customers.
The Easylink service operates on Monday to Friday between 8.30am
and 4pm. The changes to the service were to reduce the number of
vehicles on the service from five to four, reduce the operating day
by 30 minutes, and reduce the time in advance that bookings can be
made and introduce a cancellation charge. The specific changes were
fully consulted on before they were introduced and were discussed
with the operator to fully understand their implications for
customers. There was also significant advanced notice of the
changes to allow people to understand these and to allow time to
adapt to the revised arrangements.
It was considered that the changes still enable a comprehensive
service to be provided to people which would cover the types of
journeys the service is used for (mainly medical appointments,
shopping, leisure), thereby ensuring accessibility is maintained
for the people who use it. There is still nearly 200 hours of
vehicle availability each week, and the shortened booking time and
cancellation charge has led to far fewer cancellations which means
the available resource are being put to much better use, which will
in turn help its case for retention in the future.
We have discussed the operation of the service since the service
changes with the operator and they have not indicated any awareness
that the changes have led to any significant inconvenience for
regular users of the service.
In conclusion, the Council is having to make difficult decisions
that it doesn’t want to take on removing services that it is
not required to operate, as it doesn’t have the money to keep
all services going. Easylink is a service that many other places do
not have, and is highly valued by the Council, and the changes have
been made to help create a model that is sustainable into the
future.
Yours sincerely,
Mark Garlick
Transport Strategy