The government has launched a Draft Transport Accessibility Action Plan, and wants to know what you think. The Draft Transport Accessibility Action Plan can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/draft-transport-accessibility-action-plan
Responses need to be in by 15 November 2017, and we want you to help us put together a response.
Your experience and ideas could be the key to making trains, plans, buses, boats, taxis and streets more accessible.
Keith Richards, Chair of the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee: “This is your opportunity to advise, challenge, shape, inspire and influence the Plan and help to bring about change that improves access for disabled people.”
The Disability United community (that’s you lot reading this right now!) know more about disability put together than any government minister or MP could ever hope to learn.
Together we can create real change, and this Accessibility Action Plan is a great opportunity to do this.
Send your thoughts to editor@disabilityunited.co.uk or get in touch on Facebook or Twitter, and we’ll collect your ideas in one big document, tie it up with a bow, and send it to the Department for Transport, asking for a reply.
We can put your name, or just your idea. You can send us stories, facts and figures, cunning plans, light-bulb moments, or “What if…” questions.
We want to know:
– Should the government pay for research into how to make pavements and road crossings safer and easier to use?
– Should the government do more to make sure that local authorities understand why shared spaces can sometimes be dangerous?
– How should the government make sure that new guidance on cycle paths does not have a negative impact on disabled people?
– How can buses be made more accessible? What is the best way to find out what stop you are at, or where you are?
– Do councils make it complicated to get a bus pass? Are there time restrictions on when you can use it?
– How should the government make sure that councils understand why and how to make sure that wheelchair users are not overcharged and assistance dog owners are not refused by taxi drivers?
– How can local authorities increase the number of accessible taxis?
– How can the government make sure that people with non-physical disabilities who need to park close to their destination know that they are entitled to a Blue Badge?
– Should more money be invested in making trains and train stations more accessible?
– How could airlines improve accessibility and safety?
– How could boats and ferries be made more accessible?
– Do transport staff need more training in how best to speak to and assist disabled people? What would improve this?
– Are complaints dealt with quickly and taken seriously?
– Is it easy to make an unplanned journey?
– Is it easy to find information about accessibility on public transport?
– How could ticket machines at train stations be made more user friendly?
– Where would you like to find information on your rights as a passenger?
– How should the Disabled Person’s Rail Card be promoted?
– What is the best way to tell staff that you need assistance and have an invisible disability?
– What are the barriers to learning to drive?
– How can government better support Community Transport?
– How should information on scooter safety be made available?
– How can pavement parking be tackled?
– How can new technologies be used to make transport more accessible?
– Is there a question we haven’t asked here that we should be asking?
I’m really looking forward to reading your ideas and I can’t wait to send them to the Department for Transport. Please get in contact at editor@disabilityunited.co.uk so we can get this document started and make change happen!
By Fleur Perry
Editor
Disability United
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