Policies, practices and procedures 

Kim Andrews’ Story
Kim Andrews has a disability which affects her spine. 

She says, “I cannot afford a taxi all the time so buses are much more affordable for me.”  But there are problems.  “Does the code and disability for transport legislation take into account the speed at which the drivers seem to operate?” she asks.  “They have to brake hard to stop, which suggests to me that if they were driving at a lesser speed they would not need to haul the brakes so severely.”

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland answers:

“The Code of Practice – Provision and use of transport vehicles provides guidance to transport providers, on ways to ensure that disabled people are not discriminated against.

In particular, Chapter 7, Reasonable adjustments in practice, paragraph 7.9 provides guidance to transport providers on amending or modifying their practices and procedures, so that a practice no longer creates a barrier for disabled people to access their services.  The accompanying scenario of the practice of buses pulling sharply away from bus stops before passengers are seated is an example of an amendment of a policy and practice to provide a reasonable step to enable disabled people to access their services.”

Maud Mann’s Story
Maud Mann has a visual impairment and relies on public transport and spoke of her experiences on buses and the occasional difficulty for her when swiping her smart pass.  When Maud has asked for help she has been told; ‘it is not their job to do this’.  There have been times when she has dropped the pass into the scanner or could not find the scanner and a little help would have been very welcome.

Perhaps this sums everyone’s experiences up!

Jo Jones commented, “Phew! Sigh! Why is it that I aim to be an independent traveller?  It´s a lot of hard work!”