Ring & Ride celebrates 25 years

Ring & Ride services in Devon celebrated their 25th anniversary at a special event on Sunday 17 May.

More than 200 guests who are involved with the service were invited to a Silver Jubilee celebration which was held at Seale Hayne in Newton Abbot.

Ring & Ride was set up in response to new legislation at the time which gave local authorities powers to meet the travel needs of elderly and disabled people, and in April 1990, Honiton became the first market town in Devon to launch a Ring & Ride service.

Ring & Ride offers door-to-door transport in a specially adapted minibus with a wheelchair lift and low entry steps and a professional driver who can assist passengers on and off the vehicle. This overcame the problems some passengers with mobility problems experienced in accessing buses, either due to the step height, before low-floor public buses were more commonplace, or in walking to the bus stop, particularly in deep rural areas.

The service underwent rapid expansion in Devon, and within seven months of the initial service launch in Honiton, schemes followed suit in Okehampton, Tavistock, Tiverton, Dawlish, Exmouth and Exeter.

A further eight schemes were established during the 1990s - in Crediton, Newton Abbot, Totnes, Barnstaple, Ivybridge, Ilfracombe, Bideford and Holsworthy, and finally Axminster followed suit at the turn of the century.  

Today, there are 16 schemes now operating in Devon, covering over 80% of parishes in the county and used by almost 30,000 passengers per year.

Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council Cabinet Member with responsibility for Community Transport, said: “Ring & Ride has been a tremendous success in Devon over the past 25 years and it has grown to become a vital link for people in many communities across the county. This Silver Jubilee celebration event is a fitting way to mark the occasion to say thank you to the volunteers, staff and passengers involved in the service, for making it what it is today.”

Devon County Council has worked in partnership with local organisations to plan and set up Ring & Ride services. Each scheme is managed by a co-ordinator and a committee made up of volunteers from the local community. In many cases, the schemes are also supported by local district councils and some receive grants from town and parish councils. The Ring & Ride groups also fundraise to keep their services on the road.

Over the years, the Ring & Ride schemes have extended their services to people in the community who are isolated and do not have regular access to local bus services. They have also added extra services to their traditional shopping trips, and some now run outings and lunch trips, as well as short breaks around Devon, the Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands.

The event has been kindly sponsored by GM Coachwork Ltd, specialists in driver adaptions, wheelchair vehicles and accessible minibuses.