Older People's Strategy - Newcastle City Council

99offer people assistance (buddying) to build people’sconfidence to travel on public transport are welcomed.There is substantial change in the way in which care servicestransport is being provided with the introduction of TaxiLinkand LinkUp and the provision of group travel through voluntarysector community transport providers. The proposed introductionof a Smart Card scheme as part of the TaxiLink service willincrease the flexibility and capacity of this service.Nexus, Community Transport and the Quality of LifePartnership are working together to improve the provision ofgroup travel and the development of a minibus brokeragescheme. There is demand for affordable group travel schemeswhich enable frailer people to access shopping and activities.There is potential for further co-operation and more effectiveuse of resources within the community transport section.Many older people are apprehensive about travelling on publictransport at night. The Safe Newcastle Travel Campaign, whichincludes the introduction of on-board CCTV and Metro securitypatrols, aims to address this issue.Patient Transport Services are very valuable in enabling olderpeople to get to hospital appointments. Whilst current servicesare welcomed, they very often involve older people spendingconsiderable amounts of time travelling or waiting for transport.There is potential for transport providers such as the AmbulanceService and Nexus to share resources and expertise indelivering these services.