Priority Seating and Travel Support Cards
Transport for All
Transport for London is the latest transport...
Transport for London is the latest transport provider to launch a card aimed at helping disabled people access help on their journeys.
The Travel Support Card, which TfL say was developed in consultation with organisations inclusing Mencap and Afasic, can be shown to a member of staff and can be filled in by the holder to specify what help they require. It also includes space for one’s name and emergency contact number.
The free card was piloted in 2009, but it was launched officially recently. TfL say that the card ‘is for anybody who has a hidden impairment, but may be particularly helpful for people with learning difficulties.’ The card can be ordered online at www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/accessibility-guides/default.aspx
TfL’s website also says it can be ordered through phoning TfL on 0843 222 1234. At time of writing, two separate enquiries to this number had got through to staff who had never heard of the Travel Support Card. We have written to TfL to inform them of this problem and ask them to publicise the card scheme to helpline staff, and ensure the card can be ordered online.
Alan Hewitt, of Connect – the communication disability network, said “We have welcomed the Travel Support Card. We have put a sticker in it saying “I have aphasia – a communication difficulty. I may not be able to read, write or decipher numbers.”
Disabled travellers may also find obtaining a Priority Seat Card useful. Three train companies – First Great Western, First Capital Connect and Southern – have launched a Priority Seating Card Scheme.
The cards are designed for people, including pregnant and older people, who need a seat on public transport to show. They say, “Recognised by Southern (or First Capital Connect, or First Great Western) as needing a seat”.
They aim to minimise the embarrassment some disabled people, especially people with invisible disabilities, face when asking for a seat in the face of members of the public who may judge you as ‘not looking disabled’.
You can apply for the card by filling out a form from the train companies’ websites, enclosing evidence of your disability or pregnancy (for example, a doctor’s note or a certificate). You can also phone Transport for All and we can post you the form and details.
Although the Priority Seating card is of course available through rail companies, there is nothing to stop you showing your card on the Tube or bus in order to ask fellow passengers for a seat.
Finally, the Alzheimers Society produces helpcards that some people with dementia may find useful to carry with them on transport.
Do you use a Travel Support Card or Priority Seating Card? How useful do you find it? Let us know at contactus {@} transportforall.org.uk
