Are we there yet? Guide Dogs launches a campaign for ‘Talking Buses’

Guide Dogs is campaigning for a change to regulations to make the provision of audio and visual information for passengers mandatory on board all buses and coaches in the UK (1).

Clear audible and visible announcements about the next stop and final destination will enable blind and partially-sighted people to use buses and coaches safely and with confidence. It will also improve the travel experience for all passengers, by removing stress and providing essential information – hopefully encouraging more people to use public transport.

David Cowdrey, Guide Dogs’ Campaigns Manager, said: “The law requires new trains and trams to have audio-visual (AV) information systems – but not buses and coaches. The lack of information on board makes bus travel less accessible than rail travel. It’s time for the bus to catch up!”

A lack of AV information undermines the independence of many disabled and elderly people who rely on bus services to get around. Guide Dogs’ research into blind and partially-sighted people’s views and experiences of bus travel shows they often feel anxious and vulnerable, and depend on others to find the right stop. Many give up using the bus altogether. (2)

Guide Dogs is lobbying the government to amend the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations (3), briefing key MPs, reminding them of their responsibility to make public transport accessible to everyone and asking them to sign EDM 506 supporting the campaign.

Mrs Nora Green from Seaham in County Durham, who is blind, said: “I have to ask the driver to tell me when to get off and they don’t always remember. I keep ending up in the depot or dropped off at the wrong stop. I get so distressed, and just don’t want to get the bus any more, but I have to. A bus should give me my independence, not take it away. Please introduce ‘talking buses’ so we all know where we are.”

Guide Dogs plans to work with councils and local authorities, encouraging them to support the move and improve services for local people by requesting that bus operators install AV systems and helping to support new initiatives with funding.

Guide Dogs will also work closely with bus and coach operators, exploring the issues and highlighting how AV systems can make bus travel more accessible and attractive to all bus users, not just disabled people. Companies including Transport for London, Trent Barton Buses (Nottingham and Leicester) and Thamesdown Transport (Swindon) have successfully rolled out AV systems on their buses, and report that customer satisfaction has risen substantially.

The campaign has the support of 24 national organisations in the disability sector, including visual impairment organisations and access groups, who have all signed a joint statement calling for AV information to be provided on buses.

More information about the campaign is available on the Guide Dogs website at www.guidedogs.org.uk/talkingbuses.

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Notes to editors:
1. Guide Dogs is calling for an amendment to the Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (PSVAR) and the equivalent Statutory Rule in Northern Ireland, to require audio-visual systems on every local and scheduled bus and coach service across the UK, providing information on the next stop and final destination.
2. To request a copy of the full report of the focus groups, ‘Audio and Visual Information on Buses: Moving Towards Inclusion’, please contact Hannah Robertson in the Guide Dogs press office at hannah.robertson@guidedogs.org.uk or on 01189 838266.
3. PSVAR focuses on the accessibility requirements for buses and coaches to meet the needs of disabled people. They do not include a requirement for the installation of audio-visual information systems. Guide Dogs believes this is a serious omission. The PSVAR Guidance 2000, issued by the DfT, states that “Trials of on-board audible and visual passenger information systems are being conducted and, if they are successful, the PSVAR 2000 will be amended in the future to include a mandatory requirement for such equipment.” However there has been no real progress on this.

For more information contact:
Hannah Robertson, PR Officer at Guide Dogs
Tel: 01189 838266
Email: hannah.robertson@guidedogs.org.uk.