Bux Travel Wheelchair accessible minibus hire
Wheelchair accessible minibus hire, with a driver.
The vehicle that turns up is the one you were told would turn up. Ramp or lift access, proper securing points, and the person using the chair travels with everyone else — not separately, and not last.
- Ramp or lift
- Told to you before the day, not on the day
- Secured properly
- Four-point restraints and an occupant belt
- Council work
- Social needs transport contracts, Bolton and Bury
- DBS checked
- Every driver, including cover drivers
What usually goes wrong, and why it does not here.
Booked as an ordinary journey, because that is what it should be.
The complaint we hear most often has nothing to do with price. It is that somebody booked accessible transport, waited, and the wrong vehicle arrived — a saloon car, or a vehicle with a ramp too steep to use, or one that could take the chair but not the four people travelling with it. Then the whole thing starts again with another firm, in the rain.
That happens because a lot of operators treat a wheelchair booking as an ordinary booking with a note attached. We treat it as a vehicle specification. When you tell us what you need, we tell you which vehicle is coming and how it loads, and that is the vehicle that arrives.
What we need to know when you ask
Four things, and none of them are difficult:
- Manual or powered chair. Powered chairs are heavier and longer, which changes the ramp and sometimes the vehicle.
- Rough dimensions — overall length and width with the footplates on. An approximate figure is fine.
- Whether the passenger can transfer to a seat, or travels in the chair. Both are normal. It changes how the vehicle is set up, not whether we take the booking.
- How many others are travelling, and whether any of them also need a space.
Tell us those and we will tell you the vehicle, the access method and the price. If we do not have the right vehicle free on your date, we will say so plainly rather than send something that nearly works.
How the chair travels
Securing is not optional and it is not improvised. The chair is restrained at four points to anchorages in the floor, and the passenger wears a belt that is separate from the chair's own lap strap — a chair strap is designed to hold someone in a chair, not to restrain them in a vehicle in a collision. The driver does the securing. You should not be kneeling on the floor of a minibus working out how straps fasten.
Travelling with the group, not behind it
This is the part that gets forgotten. Splitting a wheelchair user into a separate vehicle because it is administratively easier means they arrive alone, leave alone, and miss the bit of the day that was the point of going. A minibus with a space in it takes the whole party at once. For a wedding, a funeral, a hospital appointment with family, or a day out, that is usually the entire reason to book one vehicle instead of two.
Council and social needs transport
We hold passenger transport contracts with Bolton Council and Bury Council, and social needs transport is part of that work rather than something unfamiliar we take on occasionally. Every driver is DBS checked, including drivers covering a route when the regular driver is off, and we keep the same named driver on a run wherever we can. For a passenger who finds change difficult, the same face each week is not a nicety.
Where this comes up most
- Hospital and clinic appointments where family want to travel together
- Weddings and funerals, where being in the same vehicle matters
- Airport transfers, including the assistance handover at the terminal
- Day centres, respite and community group outings
- Days out — the Lakes, the coast, arena nights, family occasions
Tell us the date, the group and the luggage.
We will come back with one fixed figure, usually within 30 minutes.
Questions we get asked most.
Do I have to book a special service, or is this an ordinary booking?
It is an ordinary booking. You tell us a wheelchair space is needed at the point you ask for a price, and we quote the right vehicle. There is no separate process and no separate phone number.
Ramp or tail lift — which will I get?
It depends on the vehicle and the chair. What matters is that we tell you which one before the day rather than leaving you to find out when it pulls up. Ask, and we will say.
Can a powered wheelchair travel?
Usually yes, but powered chairs are heavier and longer than manual ones, so give us the rough dimensions when you ask. That is what decides the vehicle.
How is the chair secured?
Four-point restraints to floor anchorages, with a separate occupant belt for the passenger. The driver does the securing, not you and not your family.
Can other people travel in the same vehicle?
Yes, and that is normally the whole point. Tell us the total headcount including the wheelchair user and we will size the vehicle for the group, not just the chair.
Can two wheelchairs travel at once?
Sometimes, depending on the vehicle and the chairs. Say so when you ask rather than on the day, because it genuinely changes which vehicle we send.
Do you do regular weekly runs?
Yes. Regular and contract work is priced differently to one-off trips, and we keep the same driver on a route wherever we can.
What if you cannot cover my date?
We will tell you straight away. We would rather lose the booking than send a vehicle that does not do the job, because that is the failure people describe to us about everyone else.