Bus services in Great Britain are to receive a £2m cash injection to provide audio and visual equipment to help people with visual and hearing impairments know when to board and alight from buses.
The money is earmarked for smaller bus operators as part of the Government’s Inclusive Transport Strategy which aims to provide equal access to the transport network by 2030. It is expected around thirty firms will benefit from the funding.
The Government has also launched a new campaign – ‘It’s everyone’s journey’ – to highlight how charities, transport firms and commercial organisations can help improve disabled people’s experiences on public transport.
Disability Rights UK Ambassador and Rail Sector Champion Stephen Brookes said: “I welcome the news of this important campaign. In the national work I have undertaken on accessible transport, and in my close links with Blackpool, it is pleasing to see the initiatives which Bus Sector Champion Jane Cole, Managing Director of Blackpool Transport has been leading for over three years being replicated elsewhere through this project. This has to be the way forward.”
Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary, said: “It is unacceptable that people still feel they cannot travel by bus, because of a lack of basic route and destination information on board local bus services. This partnership is the next step in ensuring that passengers have the information they need to travel confidently on local bus services throughout Great Britain. However, we know there is more to do which is why I’m delighted we’re also launching our ‘It’s everyone’s journey’ campaign and I invite as many partners as possible to join up so that everyone has equal access to public transport.”
A fifth of people in the UK live with disability and half of all journeys on public transport are made by bus.