Bookings
Book your trips on the app
Dial-a-Ride members can use our free app to book rides, access contact information and check the status of trips.
Download the Dial-a-Ride app to your smartphone or tablet from the Apple App Store or Google Play (for Android devices) and sign in to your account with your phone number and/or email address and password. Find out more about how to book a trip on the London Dial-a-Ride app page.
Using the app means you can:
- Easily request your trips and manage departure times or cancel bookings
- Get live updates on estimated pick-up and drop-off times for your trip
- Know the location of your driver and get automated notifications when the vehicle is close
- Customise the app with accessibility features to meet your specific needs, with options such as voice overs and adaptive font size
Book by phone
Members booking by phone can request 1 advance booking any day of the week, up to 7 days ahead of travel. Advance bookings are limited to a maximum of 1 return journey a week. Members can also request next day and same day journeys, where no limits apply.
Telephone bookings: 0343 222 7777 (call charges may apply)
Opening times for our telephone lines.
- Same Day bookings, 7 days a week, 08:00-21:00
- Next Day and Advance bookings, 7 days a week, 09:00-16:00
Same day, Next day and advance bookings
- Use our app - give us a minimum of 30 minutes notice before your requested time of travel
- Telephone us - give us a minimum of 2 hours' notice before your requested time of travel
Dial-a-Ride is primarily a pre-booked service so we recommend you call or reserve your trip 1-2 days ahead of time.
Group bookings
Group bookings are for bookings of 3 or more members. Members can request 1 advance group booking any day of the week, up to 7 days ahead of travel. Advance group bookings are limited to a maximum of 1 return journey a week.
Fill out the booking form and email to: DaRGroupBookings@tfl.gov.uk
Availability
Dial-a-Ride can be very busy. This means we cannot accommodate every request that we receive. To increase your chance of success, use our next day or advanced booking services.
Sometimes, if we are fully booked, we will only be able to offer part of your journey (eg the outward or return journey). This may still be useful to you if you are able to make alternative arrangements for the portion of the journey that Dial-a-Ride is unable to provide.
Same day bookings rely on cancellations by other passengers. This means they have a much lower success rate than our next day service. To increase your chances of success, always use our next day or advance booking services.
Types of trips
Dial-a-Ride cannot accommodate:
- Hospital and clinic appointments - Contact the medical professional who referred you, or the hospital/clinic, for information about alternative services that cater for hospital journeys. You can, however, use Dial-a-Ride to visit your GP
- Day centres and school - Contact your day centre manager or school administrator for details about alternative services
- Work - Dial-a-Ride cannot easily accommodate daily trips to work due to limited resources. Contact your local job centre for details of the Access to Work scheme if you require this type of journey
Track, amend or cancel your upcoming ride
You can change the time of your scheduled ride, track your Dial-a-Ride vehicle or cancel your trip entirely through the Dial-a-Ride app without having to telephone us.
If you're aware in advance that you won't be able to take your planned trip, please tell us as early as you can by cancelling your reservation.
Cancel your same day trips no later than 3 hours before the scheduled pickup time through the app or by calling at:
Phone: 0343 222 7777 (call charges may apply), 06:00-midnight
Other contact details
Post:
Dial-a-Ride
PO Box 68799
London SE1P 4RD
Christmas and New Year bookings
Dial-a-Ride bookings for Monday 16 December to Sunday 5 January
Dial-a-Ride bookings change over the Christmas and New Year period.
Booking Christmas week
- From Monday 2 December, you can request bookings for the Christmas and New Year period (Monday 25 December to Thursday 2 January)
- You cannot book trips via Capital Call for Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day
- Book at least 5 days in advance to minimise delays on bookings
Confirmation messages
On 18 December, we will send SMS messages to confirm trips for the three bank holidays:
- Christmas Day (Monday 25 December)
- Boxing Day (Tuesday 26 December)
- New Year's Day (Wednesday 1 January)
If you do not get a confirmation text then we have unfortunately been unable to provide a trip on these dates.
Christmas operating times
We will be operating until 02:00 the following day on:
- Christmas Eve (24 December) - until 02:00 on 25 December
- Christmas Day (25 December) - until 02:00 on 26 December
- New Year's Eve (31 December) - until 02:00 on 1 January
The latest pickup times on these days is 01:30.
Recurring rides suspended
Monday 16 December to Sunday 5 January
Apart from shopping, recurring rides are suspended from Monday 16 December to Sunday 5 January.
Recurring rides resume on 6 January 2025.
All recurring bookings (to any destination) will be cancelled on these bank holidays:
- Christmas Day Wednesday 25th December 2022
- Boxing Day Thursday 26th December 2022
- New Year's Day Wednesday 1st January 2023
Trips to shopping centres
Monday 2 December to Thursday 2 January (inclusive)
There will be no Dial-a-Ride trips to or from these shopping centres:
- Brent Cross Shopping Centre (Waitrose and Shop mobility at this location)
- The Brewery (including Havering Shopmobility and Sainsbury's at The Brewery)