A Telebus, Dial-a-bus, or Dial-a-ride service is a
bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...
service that operates in a mode partway between a normal scheduled
bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...
service and a
taxi
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...
; it is a form of
demand responsive transport
Demand-responsive transport (DRT), also known as demand-responsive transit, demand-responsive service,
US National Trans ...
. Telebuses typically have a scheduled route, but passengers can ring and book a pick-up within an area served by the route, and the bus route is modified to make the pick-up. Drop offs anywhere within the area can also be accommodated. The aim is to extend public transport services to the front door of all residences, or from any place to any place.
Some services operate exclusively for disabled or elderly passengers; other services are open to the general public.
The term
Paratransit
Paratransit (also community transport in the United Kingdom, or intermediate public transport) is a type of public transport service that supplements fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. P ...
has been used as a term for Telebus service. But possibly because paratransit sounds to the uninitiated like a service for the disabled, other terms such as Telebus have become more popular, particularly for services not primarily intended to service disabled passengers. Often paratransit is used to mean
Demand responsive transport
Demand-responsive transport (DRT), also known as demand-responsive transit, demand-responsive service,
US National Trans ...
that is limited to disabled passengers.
Examples
The city of
Regina in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
was one of the early pioneers of Telebus services. Their service operated from the early 1970s until the early 1980s. Other cities have since initiated services.
A number of public Telebus services formerly operated in the outer suburbs of
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, however these services were replaced by
FlexiRide
FlexiRide is an on-demand bus service operating in Victoria, Australia, which is overseen by Public Transport Victoria. FlexiRide is the successor to the previous on-demand service in Victoria, Telebus, which operated in Chirnside Park, Cr ...
, which is similar to the former but lacks a fixed route. Melbourne's TeleBus was a hybrid between a series of regular bus routes, complete with bus stops, and a demand-responsive bus which could perform minor deviations in order to pick up or set down passengers who had booked the service. By contrast, FlexiRide is purely an on-demand service, there are no FlexiRide-specific bus stops and the bus does not run if there are no bookings.
Aberdeen
Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
in
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
operates a citywide service for passengers unable to use normal
public transport
Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...
services, as does
Peterhead
Peterhead (; , ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is the council area's largest settlement, with a population of 19,060 at the 2022 Census for Scotland, 2022 Census. It is the largest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landi ...
.
See also
*
Bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...
*
Paratransit
Paratransit (also community transport in the United Kingdom, or intermediate public transport) is a type of public transport service that supplements fixed-route mass transit by providing individualized rides without fixed routes or timetables. P ...
*
Share taxi
A share taxi, shared taxi, taxibus, or jitney or dollar van in the US, or marshrutka in former Soviet countries, is a mode of transport which falls between a taxicab and a bus. Share taxis are a form of paratransit. They are vehicles for hire and ...
References
External links
Telebuses - Public Transport VictoriaAberdeen: Dial-a-bus
Demand-responsive transport
Bus transport in Melbourne
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