Ring and Ride passengers: 'Loss of vital service would leave us stranded'
Elderly bus passengers have today pleaded with transport chiefs to keep the much-loved Ring and Ride service open.
Their heartfelt messages come after the service’s operator Accessible Transport Group collapsed into administration.
West Midlands transport chiefs are holding talks to try to secure the future of the service, which has thousands of users, for many of whom it is a lifeline.
It was announced yesterday that the West Midlands Combined Authority and Birmingham City Council have provided cash to keep the service going temporarily.
The service, which operates across the West Midlands, offers door-to-door transport and takes many immobile, elderly or vulnerable people to day centres, supermarkets, social clubs and hospitals.
Express & Star comment: Efforts must be made to save Ring and Ride buses
Some of those affected are members of Darlaston’s Sons of Rest Club in Camp Hill. A handful of its members use the service to get there, where they enjoy socialising and play games such as bingo.
Among them is Beryl Bowen, aged 80, from Darlaston, who said: “We are very unhappy about what is happening with Ring and Ride. It is a lifeline which takes you where you want to go and you know you are safe using the transport.
“A lot of elderly people will lose their independence if Ring and Ride collapses.”
Her friend Brenda Brookes, 79, from Willenhall, said: “It would be a real shame if we lost it. A lot of these people (at the Sons of Rest club) wouldn’t be able to get here.”
Around eight elderly people at the Sons of Rest club used the Ring and Ride bus to get to its latest meeting on Tuesday afternoon.
“We come here really for the company, it is only for a few hours,” said Irene Copper, 81, from Darlaston. “Otherwise we would be housebound. If Ring and Ride closed, it would upset a lot of people. We all rely on it to come to these little clubs.”
Jean Potter, 88, from Darlaston, added: “You don’t want to be sitting in front of the television all day.”
Grandmother Brenda Saunders, 82, from Willenhall, who can’t drive due to her ill-health, said: “I don’t know what I would do without it. I can’t drive because of my arthritis. I use Ring and Ride for a lot of things including going to Sons of Rest here in Darlaston.
“Myself and a lot of people would lose our independence without the service. I think it is disgraceful that this situation has happened.” Doreen Saxon, 87, from Darlaston, said: “We wouldn’t be able to come here if it wasn’t for Ring and Ride. This is my outing.” ‘Blind Dave’ Heeley, from West Bromwich, who has raised tens of thousands of pounds for charity through various challenges, has been a Ring and Ride member for around 30 years.
He said the service was hugely important to the thousands of people who rely on it. He added: “Over the years they have been a tremendous help with awkward journeys I didn’t feel confident to make.
“It is a valuable service and I can’t stress enough that if this collapses it will simply imprison an awful lot of people. They also use it as a social point, some meet up to go shopping and meet relatives. There are taxis but with Ring and Ride they have been trained to help, they take you to the door and put the shopping inside the house. A lot of elderly people are living on their own and this is a little bit of help.”
TfWM, which is the transport arm of the West Midlands Combined Authority, said it was working with ATG to try to ensure Ring and Ride has a long-term future, adding that it would be writing to more than 15,000 users.
A spokesman for TfWM said: “We have made funding available to the administrators to ensure the continuity of the Ring and Ride services during this period. Going forward we are working with the administrators to seek a sustainable long-term future for the service. TfWM is also writing to the 15,557 registered users of Ring and Ride to give reassurance that the services should be booked in the same way and will continue to operate as normal.”
