Free Travel Assistance Scheme in Greater London

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The Travel Assistance Scheme aims to give disabled Londoners the information and confidence they need to make more use of public transport.

The scheme offers advice on planning a journey using an accessible route and they can provide someone to come with the individual for the first few times to use a low floor bus, accessible tube route or overground train service. The service is offered Monday to Friday from 8am to 6pm and is free of charge.

Please find below some further information about the service (taken from the Tfl website):

What does Travel Assistance offer?

Short term assistance to help you gain confidence in accessible public transport so you can become an independent traveller. They can help you plan up to 10 different journeys. The scheme covers all modes of transport, such as: trains, tubes, DLR, trams, buses and the river boat.

What could I use the Travel Assistance for?

You could use the scheme to find out the options for any journey you want to complete in the London area by public transport. This may include local journeys to the shops, library or local college, using local accessible bus routes. You could use the Scheme together with Dial-a-Ride or Taxicard to help you complete a longer distance journey that door to door services either find hard to provide, or are very costly to you. In fact, you could use the Scheme to find out the options for any journey you want to complete in the London area by public transport.

Who can use the scheme?

The scheme is available to all disabled people over the age of 18, living in Greater London. An individual would need to have a certain level of independance to be able to access the scheme. The Travel mentors are also happy to work with parents/carers/professionals.

What do they not do?

They do not do any manual handling. If an individual requires 1:1 support, the travel mentors will only support them if a support worker/carer is also present. The Travel mentors will only help an individual get to the destination they require and back. They will not stay with an individual while they participate in a particular activity (e.g. help with shopping).

How to find out more

If you are interested in making use if the Travel Assistance Scheme, please contact them directly by:
Telephone: 020 7027 5822/5821
By post: Tfl/London Dial-a-Ride Travel assistance Scheme
London Dial-a-Ride Management Control Centre
Mandela Way
London SE1 5SS
marked FAO London Dial-a-Ride Travel Assistance Scheme
Email: [email protected]

For further information about Dial-a-Ride, Taxicard and the Travel Assistance Scheme, please see the following link:
https://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaroun ... stance.asp

As part of the Travel Assistance Scheme, two useful guides have been developed: one for the person using the scheme (written by and for people with a learning difficulty) titled 'Out and about in London: My guide' and another guide for parents/carers titled, 'Getting around London. Your guide to accessibility'. These can be obtained free of charge via the London Travel Information Line: 020 7222 1234. Please note that it can take up to 6 weeks to receive these guides.