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Bus Service Information

Added: 22 January 2009 | Updated: 23 August 2010

London has the largest accessible bus fleet in the world, and the rolling out of low floor vehicles, wheelchair ramps and spaces along with audio/visual information has had a huge impact on disabled and older travellers.

All aboard!

Much has changed from the early days when campaigners had to chain themselves to buses to highlight inaccessibility. Today, many more of us are getting on board, and for some it is their first taste of bus travel in the capital. It will take a significant cultural shift for disabilist ideas and prejudice to be eroded – but the work has already begun! The more disabled people use buses and other forms of public transport the clearer the message becomes – it’s our transport network too.

However, there are still recurring issues that restrict the accessibility of the bus network . Transport for All believes we all have to work together to identify what these problems are and communicate them regularly to Transport for London and the Bus companies.

Below, two Transport for All supporters speak about their experiences on board the capital’s buses:

Youcef

TfA volunteer, Youcef Bey Zekoub, is a regular bus user who gets about in a manual wheelchair when he is not using his trike. Here he outlines some of his experiences on bus travel in the capital.

“Faulty ramps still cause me problems but I can say that things are slowly improving. A lot of the time, the issue is that the driver does not park the bus near enough to the kerb or there is an obstruction. The ramp is very sensitive, so if it is obstructed then it’s likely it will not come out again. Unfortunately I have also had a number of bad experiences with drivers not stopping for me or letting me board the bus. This is because the wheelchair space is occupied by buggies and they will not move – even though that is a space especially for us!

I think that there needs to be more rigourous disability equality driver training – and more enforcement so that the priority spaces are kept for the people they are meant for!“

TfA says:

No London bus should leave the garage with a faulty ramp. Unfortunately many still quite often do and many faulty ramps are not reported in time. Also some bus companies are better than others when it comes to ramp maintenance. If you encounter a bus with a faulty ramp you must report it! Otherwise the company will think they can get away with having faulty ramps and the situation will not improve. Remember to take down as much information about the bus as possible, like the running number, registration number, route number and direction and times. We can then help you to lodge your compalint. You can do this here: http://www.transportforall.org.uk/complaints/

Also buggies in the wheelchair space are a constant headache, and many wheelchair users are made to wait for bus after bus because of this problem. Transport for London have introduced clear signs that spell it out clearly – that priority in the space is for two wheels not four – but some people refuse to get the message. We would advise bus travellers to request the drivers intervention and if that fails then strongly urge the driver to radio ahead in front of you to ensure that the next bus has an unoccupied space.

Najma

Najma, 70, has rheumatoid arthritis and uses the buses on her good days.

“Sometimes I have to ask the driver to lower the bus so I can board. But why do I have to ask? When the bus is full I sometimes have to ask people to move from the priority seating area – it is the only way I can sit down. Also sometimes the drivers are in a real rush and they drive off before I can find a seat. I have a had few close shaves where I nearly fell over’

TfA says

All London buses can now ‘kneel’ so you are always in your rights to request the driver to do it.

You can find information on all of London’s bus routes alongside detailed maps at:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/9440.aspx

We also like this page from the TfL site where you can search for buses via entering the route number or London borough:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/maps/buses/