Guide Dogs discovers the Forgotten Passengers

Blind bus passengers are being left stranded and vulnerable, suggests a new survey by Guide Dogs.

Nearly nine out of ten passengers (87%) with sight loss who took part in the survey had missed their stop because they didn’t know where they were on a bus journey. Despite asking a bus driver to tell them where to get off, nearly nine out of ten (87%) visually impaired respondents say they have missed their stop because the driver had forgotten to tell them.

Survey results

Nearly 300 people took part in the survey, called Forgotten Passengers, which explores the issues they face when using buses. Worryingly, Guide Dogs found that 29% of visually impaired respondents said that a driver had refused to alert them to their stop.

Their Talking Buses campaign is lobbying for audio-visual announcements on board buses to help everyone, not just blind and partially sighted people. We want all buses to have information telling passengers the next stop and the final destination, much like trains.

Guide Dogs want:

  • National government to amend the Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations to make audio-visual systems compulsory.
  • Until then, local government and bus operators to make their buses more accessible for blind and partially sighted people, including providing audio-visual announcements, by bidding for the Government's £50million Better Bus Areas fund.

David Cowdrey, Campaigns Manager at Guide Dogs said: "It d­oesn't matter to us whether the audio-visual information comes through state-of-the-art sound systems and LCD televisions, or the driver simply announces the next stop and holds up a sign. We believe it should be easy for everyone to know where they are along a bus route."

Download Guide Dogs Forgotten Passengers Executive Summary 

Download Guide Dogs Forgotten Passengers Executive Summary Word 

 

Posted on 8 February 2012, in Sector