How could public transport work better for you? — Scope | Disability forum
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How could public transport work better for you?

Simon_Alumni
Simon_Alumni Community member Posts: 2 Listener
edited November 2017 in Research and opportunities
The Government are currently consulting on how the transport system could be made accessible to all disabled people, and as part of this, Scope want to hear about your experiences and ideas. 

We've put together a short survey, which you can find here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/Q9BVL2C

If you've got any other comments or questions, please get in touch with me at simon.dixon@scope.org.uk. 

Thanks,
Simon

Comments

  • Topkitten
    Topkitten Community member Posts: 1,285 Pioneering
    I haven't done the survey as I never use public transport. My reasons are very simple. There is little or no way I can get on or off buses and trains without reliable assistance. there is almost always a big step involved. Solo, in a wheelchair or scooter, there isn't any reliable option for boarding or disembarking.

    TK
    "I'm on the wrong side of heaven and the righteous side of hell" - from Wrong side of heaven by Five Finger Death Punch.
  • TheKLF99
    TheKLF99 Community member Posts: 17 Connected
    I have filled in the survey.  Around this area we do have major issues with public transport - the first major obstacle for us with public transport in south shropshire is actually getting to it.  Where we live to get to the nearest proper bus service we'd have to walk 3 miles down a "national speed limit road" - well apparently it was a 30 zone where we are going into a national speed limit road, but that still leaves about 2 miles of national speed limit road to conquer to get to the proper bus stop (and the entire road might as well be national speed limit because the last time the police checked the average speed of cars going along there was above 40mph but we got told it's legally unenforceable because too many cars are doing too fast - and recently at the far end they've tried to fix the problem of cars speeding by increasing the speed limit to 40mph - erm I thought the idea of the law was to stop people doing something, not to just keep altering the law until people are obeying it!!)

    We do have a bus stop near our property, however it has two busses a day - the first one takes you into Ludlow at 16:08 in the afternoon - the return bus is at 7:25 the following morning (why???) and the other one takes you to Bridgnorth at 7:33 in the morning and returns at 15:15!

    Also there is one thing that I have noticed for a while now which has started to happen to public transport which is quite annoying.  Years ago a great scheme was brought out called the Park and Ride scheme... many towns come up with their own ideas, building out of town car parks where drivers could leave their cars, and then travel by bus into the town or city centres, reducing the number of cars in the city centres, reducing pollution in the city centres, etc... BUT also initially they were run in one of two ways - either the parking was free and the bus ride was heavily subsidised or the bus ride was free and the parking was paid for, but now more of these park and ride schemes are starting to introduce charging on both parking and the bus ride as well (and usually disabled passes aren't valid on the bus either).  So that means that by the time you've messed around and paid for two tickets, one to park and one to board the bus, travelled into town on the bus, bought your items, lugged all your items onto a bus and got back to your car you might as well have just drove into the town centre and parked up.  Take Oxford for example a return ticket on their bus is £2.80 and the parking is £2.20 - that's a total of £5 - to park for up to 3 hours at Westgate Shopping Centre in Oxford city centre costs £5 (it's only £4 to park for 2 hours)... so what's the point in using the park and ride then??  Ok if you are shopping all day in Oxford then it makes sense, but if your just spending a few hours in the town you might as well skip the park and ride - but isn't park and ride supposed to give people the incentive to want to park outside because it's cheaper?  Unfortunately too many of these park and ride schemes have now been privatised and sold off so the bus company is running the bus service and a separate private parking firm is running the parking and both are trying to make a profit, thus resulting in it being cheaper and more convenient to just park in the town or city centre again.
  • Markmywords
    Markmywords Community member Posts: 419 Pioneering
    I have skeletal and muscular problems so how do I wait for a bus when I can't stand for long? If bus shelter seating is available then it is a hard piece of metal or plastic.

    Buses have hard bench seats that you have to side-step into and trains aren't much better.
    If it's busy then you can get squeezed-in and be unable to move.

    Also I can't carry much with me in the way of shopping etc.

    When you get off the public transport there is then a significant walk to the place(s) you actually want to go to.

    Public transport is just not an option.
  • Nystagmite
    Nystagmite Community member Posts: 596 Pioneering
    One problem for me is (I think London and Dublin are the only places I come across with this) the lack of speaking announcements. I've had it before where I'd asked the driver to let know where to get off. But because there was too much noise, I didn't hear him.

Brightness

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