Memorandum from the Guide Dogs for the
Blind Association (DAF 05)
DISABLED PEOPLE'S ACCESS TO TRANSPORT
The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association welcomes
the opportunity provided by the Transport Committee to submit
evidence on the subject of disabled people's access to transport.
Guide Dogs is the world's largest breeder and
trainer of guide dogs, and the UK's largest single provider of
mobility and other rehabilitation training for blind and partially
sighted people. Each year, we help thousands of visually impaired
clients to negotiate public transport, either with a guide dog
or long cane. We are therefore well aware of the problems that
prevent guide dog owners and other visually impaired people from
enjoying the same rights and opportunities as everyone else.
Our vision is for a world in which all people
who are blind and partially sighted enjoy the same rights, opportunities
and responsibilities as everyone else. We help blind and partially
sighted people to achieve independence and mobility through the
provision of guide dogs and rehabilitation services—yet
this independence is limited by the environment in which visually
impaired people must live.
Whilst the Disability Discrimination Act and
subsequent government policies have made a considerable impact
on the lives of disabled people, and have gone some way to change
public attitudes, it is our view that fair access to work, health
care, leisure facilities and other services will not be achieved
until public transport systems are made fully accessible to people
with disabilities.
Below we identify the major difficulties experienced
by visually impaired people when using public transport. We also
make recommendations that we trust the Committee will consider
fully.
WHAT PROGRESS
IS BEING
MADE IN
ENSURING THAT
DISABLED PEOPLE
HAVE PROPER
ACCESS TO
TRANSPORT?
Rail
It is our view that progress towards ensuring
proper access to rail services has been slow. For example, we
deal with many complaints from guide dog owners who have not been
provided with proper assistance at stations, despite booking appropriate
services ahead of their journey via the proper channels. We also
feel that there is an urgent need to address the lack of disability
awareness of many train personnel—journeys would be much
easier for visually impaired people if more staff knew how to
provide proper assistance.
It has also come to our attention that some
train operators are not complying with the Rail Vehicle Accessibility
Regulations 1998 which requires them to ensure that all new vehicles
are fully accessible to disabled passengers. For example, we know
of many instances of poor maintenance of on-board audio-visual
information that is intended to assist passengers with sensory
impairments.
Those trains not covered by RVAR present real
problems of accessibility for blind and partially sighted passengers,
who have difficulty moving around because of badly arranged seating
and lack of colour contrasting. We believe that the Department
for Transport should introduce as a matter of urgency a code of
practice for the refurbishment of vehicles not covered by the
regulations.
Finally, Guide Dogs believes that an end date
for rail vehicle accessibility of December 2017 should be set
without further delay, to match the accessibility deadline for
buses. This would then ensure the fulfilment of the government's
long-standing commitment to create fully integrated transport
systems at the earliest opportunity.
Buses
RNIB statistics show that over 50% of blind
and partially sighted people do not take buses, because they find
it frightening and stressful not knowing when to disembark. The
DfT have announced that by 2017, all buses will be fully accessible,
yet this is not entirely true. Unless audio/visual information
systems are fitted to all buses, they will remain inaccessible
to people with hearing or sight impairments. It is our understanding
that the Department for Transport has recently completed a research
project that shows how technical systems could successfully provide
on-board audio visual information. We therefore urge government
to amend public service vehicle regulations requiring all buses
to have an on-board information system similar to that required
on trains, and for this to be done as soon as possible.
Guide Dogs is also concerned by the apparent
need for greater visual impairment awareness training for bus
drivers—particularly in the London area. One recent case
we have dealt with concerned a guide dog owner who was verbally
abused by a driver who refused to tell him the number of the bus
he was driving. He was also told by a different driver on the
same day that he could not take his dog on board the bus, refusing
to acknowledge that it was a registered guide dog. If drivers
were better trained in how to assist visually impaired people,
then buses would become a much more viable mode of transport for
blind and partially sighted people.
Lastly, we feel more needs to be done to tackle
illegal parking by car drivers at bus stops, which puts visually
impaired people at risk when they are boarding or alighting from
a bus as the bus is unable to pull up at the kerb at the bus stop.
Walking
Walking is an integral part of the transport
system, and for those with a visual impairment, it is one of the
primary means for getting from A to B. However, for those who
cannot see, the street environment can be a hostile and intimidating
place and it is getting worse.
While we support the government in the delivery
of the objectives contained within the DfT's Walking and Cycling
Action Plan and welcome the proposals being drawn up by DEFRA
to promote cleaner, safer neighbourhoods, there remain for us
some key issues that need to be addressed so that for visually
impaired people, and for the benefit of whole communities, walking
becomes a safer, more accessible and pleasurable experience.
Guide Dogs has developed its own National Walking
Action Plan, which seeks the removal of social, physical, and
institutional barriers to walking, and provides a framework to
support and increase walking in England. Our main objectives are:
— To encourage the adoption of integrated
street management programs to co-ordinate street cleaning, pavement
renewal, street greening and anti-vandalism schemes.
— To ensure that all pedestrian crossings
and signals at traffic light junctions have an audible beep and
rotating cone.
— To secure the extension of the Homezone
Challenge Fund for three more years, thereby widening the opportunity
for local residents to contribute to local planning and transport
plans.
— To develop a specialist disability
awareness training programme, delivered in conjunction with key
learning institutions, for the next generation of urban planners,
architects and engineers.
There have been some positive moves by government
towards these goals, yet we believe more work needs to be done.
In particular, we are concerned by changes made to the built environment
in some areas which have resulted in the creation of inaccessible
streets for visually impaired people.
In Lowestoft, for example, local visually impaired
residents have been deterred from entering the town centre by
foot due to a series of developments in which the road has been
raised to the same level as the footway. In Dagenham, a visually
impaired resident in council accommodation was moved against her
will to a different area within the borough, because redevelopment
of the streets in her area had left them inaccessible to her.
Guide Dogs are also very concerned about the
danger presented to guide dog owners and other visually impaired
people by cyclists on pavements. In many cases, the inappropriate
segregation of cyclists and pedestrians by simply painting a white
line along the footway, or even worse, no attempt to segregate,
has led to many visually impaired people and other disabled people
too afraid to use their familiar streets for fear of collision.
The steady growth in the use of toucan crossings has made the
situation even worse. These crossings represent an extreme health
and safety hazard to blind and partially sighted people and should
be eliminated.
In sum, we feel that the policy of encouraging
cycling has been poorly implemented, and needs to be re-examined.
Research carried out by the Cycle Touring Club has revealed that
neither cyclists, nor pedestrians, are in favour of shared pathways.
We recognise that there is a need to provide safe facilities for
cyclists, but this should not be done at the expense of pedestrians,
or in a way that excludes visually impaired people from the street
environment.
Lastly, to ensure the safety of the pedestrian
environment, it is important that traffic speed in highly built
up areas is not too high. This is especially important for visually
impaired people who, in the absence of controlled crossings, often
have to judge whether or not it is safe to cross by listening
out for traffic. We would suggest that speed limits in such areas
be reviewed.
Travel by air and sea
We remain concerned that the voluntary codes
of practice covering air and ferry transport do not appear to
be improving provision for visually impaired people, and we eagerly
await the outcome of a review being carried out by the Department
for Transport and the Disabled People's Transport Advisory Committee.
ARE THE
PROVISIONS OF
THE DDA BEING
INTERPRETED IN
UNEXPECTED WAYS?
We are aware of train operators purchasing new
rolling stock that may not be compliant with DPTAC and DFT standards.
In the absence of a firm deadline for compliance, there is no
legal way that this can be prevented. We are therefore concerned
of the impact this may have on the ability of train operators
to meet deadlines for compliance if they have new generations
of stock that is inaccessible now.
IS ACCESSIBILITY
COMING SECOND
PLACE TO
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS,
SUCH AS
HEALTH AND
SAFETY? WHERE
SHOULD THE
BALANCE LIE?
Guide Dogs recognises the importance of health
and safety considerations and believes that they must always be
first priority for transport providers. Our concerns lie with
the potential for providers to use health and safety as an excuse
for not making reasonable adjustments to services or vehicles,
and urge the DRC to tighten guidelines in this respect.
IS THERE
ANY TRUTH
IN THE
SUGGESTIONS THAT
SERVICES ARE
BEING "LEVELLED
DOWN" RATHER
THAN "LEVELLED
UP "?
We feel that it is too early on to accurately
assess how service provision is being affected as a result of
the DDA.
CONCLUSION
Thank you for allowing Guide Dogs the opportunity
to put forward its views and recommendations on this very important
subject. We would like to conclude by saying that although it
is clear that progress has been and continues to be made, our
evidence shows that barriers still exist which prevent visually
impaired people, and other disabled people, from receiving proper
access to public transport. It is our view that government will
not be able to properly assess progress until it introduces a
range of key performance indicators for each sector of the transport
industry, and so we urge the government to consider consulting
on this option at the earliest opportunity.
Tom Pey
Director of Policy & Development
18 November 2004
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