Public Transport Still Not Good Enough «

Public Transport Still Not Good Enough 31. 10. 2009

Disabled delegates within the Liberal Democrat Party are calling on MP’s and a panel of transport executives for more attention to be given to a more accessible public transport system within the UK.

The call has come during a fringe meeting in which Passenger Transport Executive campaigners where permitted to voice their concerns and wishes to see members of Parliament and officials play more a part in changing Britain’s approach to accessibility for the disabled on public transport.

Its somewhat crazy when you consider that as far back as 1966 Barbara Castle wrote an entire white paper on the need to introduce an all in one integrated public transport system that delivered a quality service to both the able bodied and disabled community in which we live. 43 years later we are still campaigning for such access, and it really does highlight have slow progression can sometimes be.

One of the key areas of concern is still the inability for wheelchairs and mobility scooters to board day to day public transport. Quoting figures of over 72,000 public buses on the UK roads representatives of the public transport system state this is a marathon task to deliver however when you consider Barbara Castles white paper outlining the problems was produced over 43 years ago, one can only suggest that consideration clearly hasn’t been on the agenda when most of these modern buses were constructed.

It does leave a feeling of utter frustration with many that wheelchair access is still an issue in the 21st century and one has to question when the ‘issue’ will stop being an issue.

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