Rural Wheels

Rural Wheels provides door to door transport for people who do not have, or are unable to access, scheduled transport or have a volunteer driver available.

For general information about the scheme, please call us.

Rural Wheels Service
Telephone: 0333 240 6965 (option 2, followed by option 5)

Journeys that are covered by Rural Wheels

You can use Rural Wheels for everyday journeys, including:

• doctor, dentist or optician appointments
• shopping
• visiting people in hospital
• visiting friends and family

Journeys that are not covered by Rural Wheels

The Rural Wheels scheme does not duplicate any transport service that we already provide. Rural Wheels therefore cannot be used for transport to and from:

• day care
• school
• nursery
• college
• hospital appointments and treatment

If you need transport to get you to your hospital appointment, please check your eligibility for Patient Transport by contacting the North West Ambulance Patient Transport Service.

Patient Transport Service
Telephone: 0800 032 3240

How the scheme works

Rural Wheels uses a central booking service to plan and pay for journeys. You must apply for membership before you can use the service.

Transport is provided by operators who may fit journeys around other council work. We will do our best to provide transport, but this may not always be possible.

Who can join

You can join the scheme if you live in an eligible area of Westmorland and Furness.

Each person aged 18 or over needs their own membership. Children and young people under 18 can travel only if accompanied by an adult.

You cannot join the scheme if you live in:

• Barrow-in-Furness
• Penrith town centre
• Bowness-on-Windermere
• Ulverston
• Kendal

How to apply for the scheme

If you’d like to join the scheme as a passenger, please complete the application form. Anyone under 18 who may need to travel must also be listed on the form.

Download the Rural Wheels application form (DOCX , 72KB)

Send your completed application form back to us by:

Email: rural.wheels@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk 

Address: 
Westmorland and Furness Council
PO Box 304
Kendal
LA9 9GY

Read our Rural Wheels privacy policy (PDF , 210KB)

Once your application is approved, we’ll send you a welcome pack including your Rural Wheels membership number. You will need this number when booking journeys.

How much journeys cost

Journeys cost 50 pence per mile at a subsidised rate.

The following reduced rates apply:

• carers travel free
• children under 5 years old travel free
• children aged between 5 to 18 travel for 25 pence per mile
• passengers sharing transport travel for 25 pence per mile

How to book a journey

You must book all journeys through the booking service.

Booking hours are Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays, from 9am to midday.

You can:

• book journeys up to 2 weeks in advance
• book no later than midday on the day before you travel

Transport runs Monday to Saturday between 8.30am and 6pm. You can make up to two return journeys per week.

We take payments over the phone at the time of booking, so you will need your bank or credit card to hand before you call.

What information we'll ask for

When booking, we will ask questions to:

• check if your journey is eligible
• see if all or part of the journey could be made by public transport
• check whether you have other transport options
• arrange your journey and select a suitable operator

You may need to be flexible with travel times and share transport with others.

We'll ask for:

• your membership number
• the purpose of your journey
• the number of passengers
• where you are travelling from and to
• whether you’ve tried public transport or the voluntary social car scheme

Opportunities for transport operators

If you would like to know more about becoming a Rural Wheels operator, for example, if you are a Private Hire or Hackney Carriage Licence holder please contact us.

Rural Wheels Service
Email: rural.wheels@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk
Phone: 0333 240 6965 (option 2, followed by option 5)