Member News
By Lord Low of Dalston - 20th January 2011
A new E.U regulation provides a "huge opportunity" to advance the rights of disabled passengers, says Lord Low.
Transport is one of the biggest, if not the biggest issue of concern to disabled people. Accessible transport can make the difference between being able to travel to a job interview, or exclusion from the labour market. It can make the difference between being able to access essential services in the community, or facing isolation.
Welcome steps have been made in the UK, through the Disability Discrimination Act, in terms of improving the physical accessibility of trains and buses for disabled people. However, one of the biggest sources of complaint from disabled people is in fact lack of disability awareness amongst staff running transport services, both on vehicles and in stations, and poor availability of accessible information about services.
These complaints can come from something as simple as a bus driver failing to alert a blind person when they have reached their destination, when they have been asked to do so, or refusing to ask other passengers to make room in the designated area for a wheelchair user, so they can board a bus.
The EU Regulation on Passenger Rights in Bus and Coach Transport is a huge opportunity to address these concerns across the 27 member states. The text includes a right to accessible travel information, and the introduction of mandatory disability-awareness training for all bus drivers. This has come about through tough negotiations and substantial lobbying from disabled people and their organisations.
The Regulation recently completed its Conciliation proceedings and a compromise text will now be considered by the European Parliament in February. If agreed and implemented, it will bring in important and welcome new rights of access and assistance for disabled people travelling in the UK and throughout the EU.
I shall be asking the UK government whether it will support the Regulation during the vote in Council, and if so, what timetable is envisaged for implementation. I will also be asking the government for a wider statement on how it is proceeding in meeting the UK's obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People, to achieve an accessible transport system.
Colin Low, a crossbench peer, is president of the European Blind Union, and is a vice-president of the Royal National Institute of Blind People.
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