Active travel does not work if you are paraplegic and Transport for London seem to make the rules up as you (try to) go along...
- By Brian Leveson
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- 24 Sep, 2023
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London bus travel is impossible if you are paraplegic - in one 90 minute 6 mile journey I was refused access because a buggy was in the wheelchair space; refused access on the next bus because a wheelchair was already on the bus but when I finally got on a bus, a pushchair was allowed to join me!
Never EVER get on the bus without a camera running if you need the priority wheelchair space
I have uploaded a video i took on my phone to Youtube about what happened when I tried to get on the bus on a not so busy Sunday afternoon.
The driver saw me at the bus stop. He stops the bus, opens the doors and starts talking to me. He tells me that there is a buggy in the priority wheelchair space and the parents were refusing to fold up the buggy and move out of the priority wheelchair space.
The driver then told me that he had phoned control and I could get on the next bus.
But, dear reader, I could not. There was already a wheelchair user in the priority wheelchair space. So it was not until the third bus came along that we were able to board.
Later in the journey another pushchair was allowed on the bus when we were in the wheelchair space. This is perfectly acceptable and sharing the priority space is allowed, but we were not even given this option by the first driver.
The driver saw me at the bus stop. He stops the bus, opens the doors and starts talking to me. He tells me that there is a buggy in the priority wheelchair space and the parents were refusing to fold up the buggy and move out of the priority wheelchair space.
The driver then told me that he had phoned control and I could get on the next bus.
But, dear reader, I could not. There was already a wheelchair user in the priority wheelchair space. So it was not until the third bus came along that we were able to board.
Later in the journey another pushchair was allowed on the bus when we were in the wheelchair space. This is perfectly acceptable and sharing the priority space is allowed, but we were not even given this option by the first driver.
Increasing isolation of severely disabled people and their families
The utter policy disaster that is active travel and it's bastard off-spring the Low Traffic Neighbourhood
is making it impossible for my family to lead as full a life as we possibly can with a severely disabled family member.
After more than a year of these heinous 'Low Traffic Neighbourhood' schemes in and around Haringey the only people who seem to be being driven off the road are London Black Cab Taxi Drivers and severely disabled people.
For the second week running we have endured the hell that is trying to use a bus when self-entitled and privileged passive-aggressive people take umbrage at being asked to move from the priority wheelchair space.
This week, after failing again to get a taxi via four apps, we once again tried 'active travel' and used a London red bus to get home.
This time was less umbrage and more like disability discrimination known as ableism.
After more than a year of these heinous 'Low Traffic Neighbourhood' schemes in and around Haringey the only people who seem to be being driven off the road are London Black Cab Taxi Drivers and severely disabled people.
For the second week running we have endured the hell that is trying to use a bus when self-entitled and privileged passive-aggressive people take umbrage at being asked to move from the priority wheelchair space.
This week, after failing again to get a taxi via four apps, we once again tried 'active travel' and used a London red bus to get home.
This time was less umbrage and more like disability discrimination known as ableism.
The whole active travel policy is ableist - as are Low Traffic Neighbourhoods
The whole point of active travel
is for 50% of trips in England’s towns and cities to be walked, wheeled or cycled by 2030. By making everyday journeys simple, easy and fun, Active Travel England is working to give people the choice to leave their car at home
But what about people who simply can't 'travel actively'?
But what about people who simply can't 'travel actively'?
Disabled people who have no option but to travel by motorised transport are being living in an increasingly isolating world
If you are in a position that you have no option but to travel by motorised transport on the basis of disability, then like us you too might be facing increasing isolation as a result of these hellish and ableist policies and schemes, you too might be experiencing ineffective mitigations, you too might be fed up of wondering if you can safely get home when you go out because people refuse to move from the priority wheelchair space.
Why are we not using London Black Cab Taxis?
We are finding it increasingly difficult to travel by London Black Cab Taxi due to
- Lack of availability of taxis
- Taxis simply not on the road
- Some drivers refusing us access when they see the wheelchair
- Increase cost of taxi travel due to Low Traffic Neighbourhoods
The BIG RED BOOK for London's BIG RED BUSES
"The Big Red Book
is unique in that it gathers together in one place exactly what passengers can expect from London’s 28,000 bus drivers" according to Alan Benson on the Transport for All
website.
So we should not be experiencing different level of access depending on who the bus driver is
So we should not be experiencing different level of access depending on who the bus driver is
Boarding procedure for wheelchair and mobility scooter users
The Big Red Book
says
Wheelchair and mobility scooter users must be given access to the wheelchair priority area even if it is occupied by buggies and other customers. They can only travel safely in the priority area, so you must ask customers to move by using the pre-recorded announcements or making your own PA announcement.
It is important you stay professional and calm as this will help wheelchair and mobility scooter users feel valued and more confident about travelling on London’s buses.
Wheelchair and mobility scooter users must be given access to the wheelchair priority area even if it is occupied by buggies and other customers. They can only travel safely in the priority area, so you must ask customers to move by using the pre-recorded announcements or making your own PA announcement.
It is important you stay professional and calm as this will help wheelchair and mobility scooter users feel valued and more confident about travelling on London’s buses.
The driver refused access on the basis that there was a buggy in the priority wheelchair space
The Big Red Book
says
Ask customers to move or fold their buggy if there is not enough space for an unfolded buggy to share the priority area with a wheelchair or mobility scooter user, or if it will cause an obstruction. Do not move off until they are safely repositioned.
Ask customers to move or fold their buggy if there is not enough space for an unfolded buggy to share the priority area with a wheelchair or mobility scooter user, or if it will cause an obstruction. Do not move off until they are safely repositioned.
The driver refused to use the pre-recorded announcement
The Big Red Book
says
iBus [the pre-recorded intercom messages] can help you communicate with your customers through pre-recorded announcements that, among other things, let them know about stop closures or a change of driver. Also, you can ask customers to move down the bus or out of the wheelchair priority area and, if your bus is busy, you can let them know that seats are available on the upper deck.
iBus [the pre-recorded intercom messages] can help you communicate with your customers through pre-recorded announcements that, among other things, let them know about stop closures or a change of driver. Also, you can ask customers to move down the bus or out of the wheelchair priority area and, if your bus is busy, you can let them know that seats are available on the upper deck.
If you are fed up of this discrimination then it's time for you to join us in the fight against ableism
LTNs DONT WORK - PROTEST
If you thought SEND was bad - the NHS is seemingly prepared to throw away money to private companies
About 3 or 4 times a year we get the euphemistic message 'Parents please note we have put a letter in your child's bag' - its a world away from how a child's death was handled in my child's first school
More of a trial by ordeal than a well organised clearly set out administrative process for moving the care of vulnerable young adults from Haringey's Children's Services to Adult Services. We have been failed at every stage of the process.
The reality of using a London Bus in the teeming rain on a Sunday afternoon is no joke when the parents of a paraplegic person in a wheelchair clash with the self-entitled buggy-pushing parents of toddlers.
At 3pm today I received some barefaced lies from Haringey Council Adult Social Care in response to a photograph I published online yesterday and the media interest it generated
Haringey SEND Transport are insisting that a 17 year old minibus with no air conditioning is a suitable vehicle to transport my paraplegic son in this heatwave. The appalling conditions inside the minibus inside the bus is something they knew about last summer, yet they have to date done nothing whatsoever provide a suitable minibus this year nor appropriately mitigate the temperatures inside the minibus.The conditions inside the minibus are so bad that they triggered multiple seizures during the heatwave as my son has epilepsy, which they SEND transport department know about and they also know that they are triggered by heat.It is not just son who is impacted: last year we know of one child who died on Haringey SEND Transport in the summer heatwave and another who had seizures.
I am simply asking a question - are we all absolutely certain that the road closure / travel restrictions (commonly know as LTNs) placed on some of the most severely disabled people who are wholly reliant on cars are absolutely necessary
Haringey's road closures exemptions policy for disabled people is not fit for purpose, unduly burdensome and intrusive - it's time to stand up against the pro-LTN lycra-clad cycling bullies
Is the argument for and against exemptions for disabled people in Low Traffic Neighbourhoods really a case of GOOD versus EVIL?
Letters from Labour Grandees and survey results from Haringey Council show people who opposed LTNs are women, elderly and disabled. Yet Peray Ahmet has described anti-LTN people as homophobic, islamophobic, sexist, racist and xenophobic.
