CPT helps passengers with hidden disabilities
CPT UK has launched a scheme to help passengers with hidden disabilities. Journey Assistant Cards will be made available to passengers via local bus operators following discussion with local disability groups and individual passengers. They indicate that the passenger requires specific assistance. They were developed in consultation with disability groups across the UK and are designed to give those with disabilities a way of easily making the bus driver aware of any special assistance they may need. They contains ten messages ranging from ‘Please help me find a seat’ and ‘Please count out my change with me’ to ‘Please face me and speak clearly, I lip read’ and ‘Please be patient, I have a hidden disability’. The cards can also be customised to the users’ individual needs as there is space for people to write in their own message.
CPT’s CEO, Simon Posner, said, ‘The industry is aware that using public transport can be a difficult experience for some people with disabilities, particular where those disabilities are “hidden” such as deafness or learning difficulties. Journey Assistant Cards will enable those passengers to obtain help from drivers without drawing attention to their condition. CPT is keen to help the industry to do all it can to ensure its services are fully accessible and I am encouraging our member operators to sign up and take part in this important initiative. I believe the Journey Assistant Cards will go a long way to helping ease the concern many people with hidden disabilities have using public transport.’
Minister of State for Transport, Baroness Kramer, said, ‘I very much welcome the Journey Assistance Card scheme which the CPT and its bus operator members have developed. It will enable bus journeys to be more accessible for customers with hidden disabilities, which is a key part of the Government’s “disability confident” agenda. These Journey Assistance Cards will enable customers to discreetly obtain help from the bus driver relevant to their hidden disability, thereby making their bus journey a more pleasant and rewarding experience. I commend the CPT and the bus operators for developing this exciting initiative.’
Chief Executive of Bus Users UK, Claire Walters, said, ‘Bus services are a lifeline to many people, but especially so for people with hidden disabilities. These cards have the potential to remove a real barrier to bus use and to open up a whole range of opportunities to people who currently find travel difficult.’