Disabilities on the Road

 
May 2005
 
 
Imagine setting out for work each morning and having to worry about whether:
 
  •       the taxi will turn up on time or at all
  •       the bus on your route is accessible
  •       whether the bus will stop long enough for you to read the destination.

 

These barriers are part of a daily commuting pattern for many hundreds of New Zealanders with disabilities who travel to employment by public transport. Increasing the accessibility of public land transport in New Zealand allows for greater social inclusion, including increased participation in the labour market, of people with disabilities who do not use private transport.
 
For Chris Peters, Public Affairs Manager for the Hearing Association, the major difficulty he faces in his daily train travel is information not mobility. “Information about times, variations in the schedule, information that is usually presented over public address systems,” he said.
 
“For bus travellers, the issues are about routes, information about fares and information about whether the stop I get off at will get me to the destination I want. For people who cannot use the telephone, but who use taxis to get to work the issue is more fundamental - actually ordering the taxi.”
 
Mr Peters, a 53-year-old manager with a severe hearing loss, lives in Lower Hutt and travels to and from work in Wellington each day by train. He is one of many people with disabilities who have additional employment-transport issues who have submitted to the Accessible Public Land Transport Inquiry being conducted by the Human Rights Commission.    “Our disability is not one of mobility but is just as fundamental, and often harder to deal with because of its invisibility.”
 
Requirements to improve accessibility for the hearing impaired include:

 

  • better visual displays at bus stops and train terminals
  • better visual displays on vehicles themselves
  • training for transport sector workers to expect requests for written information from the hearing-impaired.
 
Chris requests:
 
Face me
Speak clearly
Speak slowly
Don’t shout
Write it down
 
The Accessible Journey: Report of the Inquiry into Accessible Public Land Transport is now available here.