News

Accessible Routemaster?

Added: 26 May 2010 | Updated: 23 August 2010

Last week Boris Johnson unveiled the new design for the Routemaster style bus at the Abellio bus depot in Battersea.

Many disabled Londoners will remember the inaccessibility of its predecessor and will not be thrilled at the prospect of its return. Many of us campaigned, eventually successfully, for the old style buses to be taken out of circulation.

Unfortunately, Transport for All were unable to attend the launch event, and were more than a little curious when none of the articles reporting on the new design mentioned much about accessibility. Additionally, we are not aware of any offical consulation process involving disabled people during the any stage of the competition or design. The Good Access Guide website has published a story highlighting this issue. Read the article here: http://www.goodaccessguide.co.uk/news/info.php?refnum=282

We contacted the press office at TfL to request any information they could give us about the accessibility of this new vehicle. We promptly received the following response:

“TfL has comprehensive technical guidelines and stringent standards for accessibility on all of its services. All London buses are wheelchair accessible, with the exception of the Routemasters which operate on two heritage routes.

“Wrightbus will have to meet TfL’s minimum specifications on accessibility in addition to those required by regulation when putting together the final design. These include things such as a wheelchair ramp on the central door, a minimum 1600mm long wheelchair bay, priority seating (with space for assistance dogs). The new bus will have a completely step-free low floor throughout the lower deck making it convenient and accessible for all passengers.

“The entire London bus fleet has now been fitted with iBus which includes onboard visual and audio announcements, these can be particularly useful to people with visual or hearing impairments and those with learning difficulties as well as tourists and people travelling in an unfamiliar part of the city. iBus would be included on the New Bus for London.“

We will, of course be following the progress of the bus closely. Though with £108 million recently cut from TfL’s budget, we remain sceptical about the future for Boris’ bus.