Helping young people reach their goals.
.jpg)
.jpg)
Fight transport discrimination
Tuesday 27 March 2012
Mencap backs petition to stop daily discrimination of disabled people on public transport
The campaign group A2BforAll has launched a campaign to stop the discrimination that makes it difficult for disabled people and their carers to use public transport.
As part of this, it has submitted an online petition to the Department for Transport. It claims that disabled passengers are being discriminated against on a daily basis on UK public transport and calls for an industry-funded regulator to develop staff training and to maintain a central register of complaints.
The petition and the issues it seeks to address have also been highlighted in a series of special Channel 4 reports into the state of Britain’s transport network. ‘No Go Britain’ shared the recent experience of Paralympic medallist Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, who was left on a train at midnight and forced to crawl off because no one was around to assist her. Baroness Grey-Thompson is backing the A2BforAll campaign.
“The difficulties people with a disability face when using transport are not an inevitable part of their disability,” said Clare Lucas, a Mencap campaigns support officer. “They are the result of ignorance, prejudice and a general unwillingness to promote equality of access.
“Transport remains one of the biggest factors in excluding people with a learning disability from participating fully in public life and enjoying everything their locality has to offer. A lack of access to transport denies people with a learning disability their right to a basic level of independence, choice and opportunity, which others take for granted.
“We fully support A2BforAll's new campaign. The measures it is calling for would mark an important step towards a transport system that is safe, affordable and accessible for everyone.”
Sign the petition against discrimination on public transport
Find out more about A2BforAll
Find out more about Channel 4's No Go Britain series
Read more about transport for people with a learning disability in Mencap's Viewpoint magazine
Comments
I witnessed an appalling example of traveller humiliation at Heathrow T5 10 days ago. Going through security in front of me was a passenger in a wheelchair. The lady was also very small, maybe a dwarf. The security agent helped her through the scanner and then just left her. She could not get her bag, laptop, or coat off the conveyor belt as she coul;dn't reach over or even see over the side of the conveyor. The BAA security people just stood around laughing and fooling around. I helped the lady and she was very upset and humiliated.
Send a team to T5, put someone in a wheelchair and see what I mean. BAA are going to have to lift their game very considerably if we are to host the paralympics this summer.
I raised my observation with BAA, who did reply and talked about the challenges of security and the need to improve their service.
The point is however that they need to thoroughly review their process for providing service to disabled people and train their people accordingly and make sure that they manage this process.
Transport or the lack of it is a major problem in cornwall. Especially for people with mobility problems as most rural bus routes don,t use low floor buses.(one bus company was to invest in low floor buses in a route linking liskeard and plymouth but the order was withdrawn due to the council,s reduction in its support for concessionary travel) Trains are a bit better but most stations are unmanned and you have plan every stage of your journey. I usually have to use dad,s car to get to events and meeting as there are no public transport alternatives. ( even getting on a train, like l did today involves a car journey) it usually more easier to travel out of cornwall rather then in it.