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transport, especially stations & trains

longman

The transport providers got a decade or so extra time to implement the Disability Discrimination Act, mainly to modify vehicles/rolling stock

However what this has meant is they don't do anything about disability. The staff training other public services have had to undertake doesn't happen. This is particularly apparent on the railways, where they still ask disabled people to give twenty-four hours notice, though some allow disabled travellers to ask for assistance before travel on the day.

This gives rise to an argument that if disabled people don't notify, anything that befalls them during travel is their fault. For example automatic barriers on stations - sometimes you cannot get the option to go through the manual barrier if you haven't asked in advance.

For people on the autistic spectrum transport can be confusing, noise, people moving around, conflicting platform and on-train announcements (especially the out of sequence ones - "this train is not in service" just as a train full of passengers pulls out of the station).

I'm on several transport bodies where I raise disability issues. When I raise the autism issue the response I get is nobody else raises this.

Is autism no longer an issue for travel? Or is this something NAS needs to look at? Do parents and carers or people with autism in these discussions have no trouble with transport any more?

Parents

  • The whole issue of transport is "gridlocked" - forgive the metaphor. For one thing disability equality action seems to have shifted to bringing actions for disability discrimination, which is beyond most peoples' means. The Department of Transport issues guidelines to transport service providers, but these are fairly toothless. Stations have to meet certain expectations, but mostly it is about the areas outside the automatic barriers being free of obstruction. There's nothing about going through barriers (except that there is a requirement long term to install wheelchair width automatic barriers). There's nothing about life once you are on the platforms.

    It is difficult to raise any concerns successfully. Transport services have long deferments for implementation of DDA requirements. For buses it is 2014 for minibuses, 2015 for single deckers and 2017 for double deckers to be wheelchair accessible. But as the bus operators point out low level access buses cannot be used successfully in rural areas if the road surfaces are uneven. Rail service deadlines have been delayed and delayed and some are beyond 2020.

    The Rail Service providers always say they are complying, but the Department for Transport is making it easy for them. Intercoms at ticket offices and counters that are wheelchair friendly is all very well if the queue barriers make it difficult for a wheelchair user to queue or manouvre away from the ticket office. There is no joined up thinking.

    The worst of it as I say is that the twenty four hour rule is still being used. You can get a disability strategy guide from any rail service provider. All it will offer is help if you give 24 hours notice of intention to travel, same as existed before the DDA came into force. Ask the rail companies any question and they'll respond they'll cross that bridge when they reach the deadline.

    There needs to be a campaign for disabled use of transport. Because any meaningful outcomes are now lost in red tape. Passenger Focus now covers rail and bus services, but it has made staff redundant lately and really cannot function. I honestly don't know who is speaking up for the disabled, let alone those of us on the spectrum.

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  • The whole issue of transport is "gridlocked" - forgive the metaphor. For one thing disability equality action seems to have shifted to bringing actions for disability discrimination, which is beyond most peoples' means. The Department of Transport issues guidelines to transport service providers, but these are fairly toothless. Stations have to meet certain expectations, but mostly it is about the areas outside the automatic barriers being free of obstruction. There's nothing about going through barriers (except that there is a requirement long term to install wheelchair width automatic barriers). There's nothing about life once you are on the platforms.

    It is difficult to raise any concerns successfully. Transport services have long deferments for implementation of DDA requirements. For buses it is 2014 for minibuses, 2015 for single deckers and 2017 for double deckers to be wheelchair accessible. But as the bus operators point out low level access buses cannot be used successfully in rural areas if the road surfaces are uneven. Rail service deadlines have been delayed and delayed and some are beyond 2020.

    The Rail Service providers always say they are complying, but the Department for Transport is making it easy for them. Intercoms at ticket offices and counters that are wheelchair friendly is all very well if the queue barriers make it difficult for a wheelchair user to queue or manouvre away from the ticket office. There is no joined up thinking.

    The worst of it as I say is that the twenty four hour rule is still being used. You can get a disability strategy guide from any rail service provider. All it will offer is help if you give 24 hours notice of intention to travel, same as existed before the DDA came into force. Ask the rail companies any question and they'll respond they'll cross that bridge when they reach the deadline.

    There needs to be a campaign for disabled use of transport. Because any meaningful outcomes are now lost in red tape. Passenger Focus now covers rail and bus services, but it has made staff redundant lately and really cannot function. I honestly don't know who is speaking up for the disabled, let alone those of us on the spectrum.

Children
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