Slide rules – Ealing gets an on-demand bus service

PASSENGERS in Ealing who like to know they are sure to get a seat when a bus pulls up are in luck as a new ‘Uber’ style on-demand bus service is now up and running across the borough.

Slide Ealing, the name given to the service, started picking up passengers on Wednesday November 13 and they can book a seat in real-time using an app or over the phone. So no more standing up! The 10 minibuses, which can all accommodate wheelchair users and are fully accessible, will run from 6am through to 1am seven days a week and the service will be in place for at least a year as a trial.

The service does not follow a fixed route, meaning passengers can be picked up from flexible stops, creating a more personalised service.

Bus drivers are covering an area from Southall in the west to the North Circular, and from the A40 down to Boston Manor in the south of Ealing.

Passengers have been promised once they’ve secured a seat – similar to securing an Uber driver – they will wait no longer than about 10 minutes for a bus.

Fares start at a flat rate of £3.50, with passengers being able to benefit from weekly and monthly capping. Every 10th journey will be free. Freedom Passes and the English National Concessionary pass are both accepted as well. As it is a 12-month trial for now the service will not allow customers to use Oyster cards.

Children under the age of 13 will have to have an adult with them to use one of the on-demand buses.

To download the app, search ‘Slide Ealing’ in the App Store or the Google Play Store. Alternatively call 07808 730263 to book a journey over the phone. For more information visit the Slide Ealing site www.slideealing. com

Ealing has been chosen for the 12-month trial due to the relatively high number of journeys involving cars in the borough.

Figures show that 40 per cent of residents use cars to get to work in the area, and TfL believes the ondemand bus service could encourage people to switch to a more sustainable way of travelling.

The trial will also look to encourage Ealing residents to use public transport for the whole of their journey, with the on-demand bus service linking people to 29 bus routes and 10 Tube and rail stations.

The Ealing launch follows on from a similar year-long trial which started in Sutton, in South London, in May.

It is being run by Transport for London (TfL), bus company RATP and German technology firm MOIA.

All drivers on the service will be established bus drivers who have completed enhanced customer training.