Why we are fans of Ring and Ride
The country's largest ring and ride service is based in the West Midlands and this year one of its depots celebrates 20 years. Cathy Spencer hops on board.
With six grandchildren to keep him on his toes, 86-year-old John Erickson has no plans to slow down.
He loves nothing more than heading into town to have a mooch around the market - but he says he would be almost house-bound if it wasn't for the Ring and Ride service.
Twice a week John, who lives in Penn, reserves a seat on the bus, which picks him up at his front door and takes him into the centre of Wolverhampton.
This year the Wolverhampton depot celebrates its 20th anniversary and John says he can see why the service is still very popular with those who struggle to use public transport.
"The bus drops me off right outside the Shopmobility in the Wulfrun Centre and I then hire a scooter and cruise around the shops and the market," says John.
"It would be difficult for me to get the bus and this way I know I will get dropped off at my front door and I haven't got to walk anywhere.
"I would be very handicapped without the Ring and Ride and also it saves me a lot of money as it would eat up a lot of my pension if I had to get taxis everywhere."
West Midlands Special Needs Transport, commonly known as the Ring and Ride service, began with one bus in Birmingham in 1983.
The Wolverhampton depot started at Ablow Street in 1990 and on a busy day they can expect to receive 700 calls from customers wanting to book seats on one of the 16 buses.
District manager Mick Mew started with the organisation as a driver in 1994 and says the service has grown in popularity.
"There are Ring and Ride depots across the West Midlands in Wednesbury, Walsall, Dudley, Coventry and there are three in the Birmingham area," says Mick, aged 57.
"We are the biggest organisation in the country who do this type of work and we are the fourth largest in the world with the first being New York followed by Los Angeles and Stockholm."
Mr Mew says customers use the service for a range of things from social trips to shopping and college visits.
Later this year the depot will be moving to a new building, next door to the present site, and this will allow a further 10 vehicles to be added to the fleet.
"At the moment we have a couple of school contracts with Wolverhampton Council to transport youngsters with learning difficulties," says Mick.
"We go to Penn Hall and Green Park schools and later this year we are hoping to have more school contracts, but first of all we need some extra buses."
The Ring and Ride service in the West Midlands receives £11 million a year through Centro, which receives funding from central government. The service has recently signed a three -year contract with Centro and this new working partnership means that funding is unlikely to be pulled or cut in the near future.
June Perks, 72, from Bilston, uses the service to go to her cookery class at Pendeford High School. She says: "Thanks to the service I can do my shopping, go to college and visit my friends in their nursing homes."
For 85-year-old Florence Smart the service allows her to be independent. "I would struggle with a normal bus because I'm blind and disabled, but I still like to do my own shopping," she says.
Hazel Henshaw, 75, from Parkfields says it is nice to see familiar faces on the buses. "I love everything about the Ring and Ride and use it every week."
