Campaign for Accessible Buses:

Dr Bill Albert handcuffed to a kneeling bus accompanied by colleagues and attended by police officers with bolt cutters and a man from the Ministry in September 1996

The scene was outside Nowich Railway Station in September 1996 when the then Minister of Transport, Rt Hon George Young MP, arrived to inaugerate new kneeling buses being introduced in the City. The bus company, apparently to save costs, had bought new buses that weren't wheelchair accessible. Dr Bill Albert, then Chair of NAG, handcuffed himself to one of the new buses and refused to be released until the Minster had agreed to a short meeting (which he did). Sadly it's taken actions like this and changes in the law to get operators to wake up to the 'apartied' that's been going on with public transport. We believe that 'public' should mean just that with services being fully inclusive. Shortly after this action and as a direct result the Norfolk Transport Access Forum was set up which subsequently lead the operator to start introducing fully accessible buses.

There have been a number of problems with the wheelchair accessible buses in Norwich since their introduction in 1998 however. Initially there were inconsistency of service on the allocated routes. In part this was due to the limited number of accessible buses and the use of them by the operator on other routes and also the use of old buses on the accessible routes. There was also an outcry when the initial routes were changed after several months of operation. Most of these difficulties should however diminish in time with the advent of a completely accessible bus fleet operating over the entire network.

It is recognised that to succeed the service has to be consistently reliable for all potential users. Thus far, the problems that have been encountered fall broadly into the two following categories:

Equipment
The kneeling ramped buses in Norwich have had either a manual or a hydraulically operated ramp. On the positive side many of the bus stops have had their kerbs raised so often it is sufficient to kneel the bus in order to gain access without having to operate the ramp. Sometimes however there are mechanical failures to kneel the buses and/or drop the ramps as reported by the drivers. The manual ramps are heavy and sometimes stick to the floor making them difficult to open and lower. Inside some of the buses there is insufficient room, because of a badly positioned stanchion, to park anything but a small to average size manual wheelchair. Any future design or alterations should allow for the larger electric buggies or wheelchairs that are commonly used today. It is also essential that the ramps are kept in good working order by regular maintenance.

Personnel
There have been complaints of inappropriate attitudes by a minority of drivers towards disabled passengers. These have ranged from comments implying that the disabled person shouldn't be on the bus to outright refusal of entry.

Clearly there is a need for drivers to undergo disability awareness training. The company have promised that they would act on written complaints and in severe instances will make moves to remove drivers who are damaging their business.

If you've had difficulty with using the accessible buses in Norwich for whatever reason then please write and complain stating the time, date and route number to -

Customer Services

Rouen House
Rouen Road
Norwich
NR1 1RB

Fax : 01603-615439

Or drop us a line at NAG and we'll pass it on.

The good news is that all new buses have had to be accessible by law from 31st December 2000. This will gradually improve services over time although we understand the average life of a bus is 15+ years so please don't hold your breath waiting for complete network coverage just yet!

For further information about accessible transport go to the UK Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee Pages or information about local transport policy can be found on the Norfolk County Council Transport Policy and Planning Site.