Our public transport system isn’t always as public as it
could be. For many disabled people it can be very difficult or impossible.
What’s scary is, for someone as old as I am now, today’s public transport
network is so much better than it used to be.
When I first started trying to get around by public
transport, you couldn’t. No buses anywhere in the country were accessible to me
as a wheelchair user. Most taxis wouldn’t take me, as it was too much trouble. I
could only take a train if staff didn’t mind lifting my chair into the goods
wagon, a red wooden box that sat at the end of each train to carry freight,
post, luggage, bicycles, a grumpy guard and occasionally me.
It had no windows, just two barred holes cut in the wooden
frame, so it was freezing in winter, boiling in summer and wet when it rained.
I could only travel to terminus stations, because of the time it took to get me
out, and I mostly got out by crawling with the guard lifting my chair out after
me. If not I would have to man-handle the chair out, unfold it and jump while
trying to not fall down the gap between the platform and the train. Basically
if you couldn’t drive or be driven, you didn’t go out. It was THAT bad.
Of course, just because things are better than they used to
be, doesn’t make them good. It makes them less bad. While we can now use some
elements of public transport, it’s still hard, complex and downright scary.
Booking assistance is way too hit and miss, and why should we need to book at
all anyway?
There’s only one wheelchair space on most buses. I always
say to my non-disabled friends, imagine if you were about to get on the bus and
the drivers said “sorry. There’s already one like you on-board. Get the next
one”! Then imagine if there wasn’t “another one like you” but someone was in
your special space who wouldn’t move so you still had to “get the next one”.
That shocks them, but for any wheelchair users it’s our life.
Taxis still refuse to take us wheelies, or charge us huge
sums more for the privilege.
The service for people with other impairments isn’t that
great either. I was once on a train with a visually impaired couple. Both guide
dog users, they were assisted on the train and promised someone would assist
them off. They arrived at their stop only to find no one was there. As we pulled out
of the station I could still see them standing confused and worried about how
to get out.
Taxis are constantly refusing people who have assistance
dogs, no matter how illegal it is. Don’t even get me started on staff not being
able to use BSL or understand Autism or the myriad of other members of the
disabled community who feel public transport just isn’t for them because they
just can’t access it easily or safely.
My career has brought me to focus on the accessibility of
public transport. I have worked as a freelance adviser and trainer for Network
Rail, Southeastern Trains, Transport for London and many other transport
companies. I’m about to start working for Network Rail as an Access and
Inclusion Manager, working to make their train stations more physically
accessible, supporting their staff at giving inclusive assistance and guiding
the company to be a more inclusive accessible employer.
While there’s obviously a desire for change, and the
industry is employing more and more disabled people to advise them as well as
opening more routes for the public to engage, it’s still vital that you, dear
reader, play a part.
Get in touch with your local transport providers. Offer your
input, tell them your stories, say what you need and what you hope the future
will be like. The more stories of the experiences of disabled people that are
heard will lead to the kind of change we need and want.
Record your bad experiences, complain about poor service,
kick up a fuss. Post videos on social media, contact your local press, let the
world know. Together we can make it so we can use public transport like anyone
else.
OK, we’ll all still moan about a late train, or a packed
bus, but we’ll be moaning about the same things all the other non-disabled
passengers are moaning about. That’s true equality eh?
Scope's campaigning to help make travel fair. Tell us what promises you want to see public transport companies make in order to make it easier for disabled people to travel.
If you need information, try Scope's advice and support for travel and public transport.
