ACCESSIBLE PUBLIC TRANSPORT

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Conference
2016 National Disabled Members' Conference
Date
8 July 2016
Decision
Carried as Amended

That this Conference notes with great concern the cuts that have been made across the different regions in the UK to socially necessary bus services by local authorities and the impact that this has on disabled people and their ability to access vital public services. We also note the move towards more unstaffed stations, thus depriving disabled people of help, advice and assistance to safely and confidently use public transport.

Whilst conference notes the steps taken by operators to meet their obligations under the Equalities Act, as recent high profile cases such as the issue of wheelchair access on buses, taxi operators and bus drivers refusing to allow people to travel with their assistance dogs on their vehicles and automated ticket machines at unstaffed stations which do not offer the full range of ticketing options show, there is much that still needs to be done to ensure that public transport is fully accessible to all.

Whilst conference recognises that transport is a devolved matter for each of the different governments of the regions to tackle, the issues faced by disabled people are similar across the UK.

We therefore call on the National Disabled Members Committee to:-

1. develop a national campaign which can be used by all regions highlighting the issues faced by disabled people in accessing public transport.

2. liaise with the NEC and other relevant bodies, including the Office of Road & Rail Regulators, to ensure the impact that cuts in staffing and such things as ticketless travel have on disabled people is raised and taken account of.