Transport for All and Inclusion London to deliver Disability Equality Training for Uber all around the UK
Transport for All
Uber is extending its programme of Disability Equality Training (DET) for their partner-drivers involved...
Uber is extending its programme of Disability Equality Training (DET) for their partner-drivers involved in the UberACCESS or UberASSIST platforms throughout the UK. Transport for All (TfA) together with our partner Inclusion London (IL) are pleased to announce that they will provide this training.
Since 2015, TfA and IL have been developing and delivering quality bespoke face-to-face DET training to UberACCESS or UberASSIST partner-drivers. The programme has been delivered mainly in London, and less frequently in other areas around the country.
We are pleased to announce that Uber has approached us to extend this training to provide regular training throughout the whole of the UK for another year.
TfA and IL will deliver up to 34 DET sessions each month across 19 areas of the UK. This means we need a network of Disabled trainers to deliver the programme to a new cohort of partner-drivers.
As part of this new contract we have recruited 25 Disabled trainers all around the country. All our sessions are delivered by experienced Disabled trainers who use their own personal experiences to ensure that DET messages are presented in the most effective way. This is an important part of our method of working, and in many cases the conversations between our trainers and the participants during the training become an important part of the learning experience.
We designed this new training programme with the objective of equipping Uber partner-drivers to better serve Disabled passengers with a variety of impairments. As with all of our other DET programmes it is grounded in the social model of disability, which offers the view that it is society’s inaccessible transport services, attitudes and discrimination that disables people. When attitudes are changed, barriers are removed and accessible transport options are provided, Disabled people are able to live, work and enjoy life as equal citizens.
We know that this new DET training programme will make a real difference to the customer service given to Disabled passengers.
April Clifford, TfA Director says: “Transport for All and Inclusion London are delighted that Uber recognises the value of working with two leading Deaf & Disabled People’s Organisation to deliver DET, and has recommissioned us to expand this work so we reach even more partner-drivers around the UK. The training has been tried and tested over the last 3 years and we know that it works! We have refreshed the training programme to ensure it reflects the requirements of Uber partner-drivers all around the country. We now have a UK-wide network of Disabled trainers delivering a programme which is grounded in the social model of disability”
“TfA has lobbied for many years for DET for all transport staff, including those in London’s Taxi and PHV sector. We are therefore pleased that Uber is investing in disability equality training to ensure that its partner-drivers offer the best customer experience to Disabled people.“
UberASSIST is a service that offers Disabled and older passengers the option of getting a driver trained in providing assistance to Disabled passengers in a standard UberX vehicle (which means that the wheelchair needs to be folded). But on top of this, in 2016 Uber introduced a fleet of wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAV): UberACCESS. UberACCESS vehicles can transport one wheelchair user and an additional passenger.
How to book UberASSIST / UberACCESS
To book an UberASSIST or UberACCESS trip, passengers have to:
- Download the Uber app and create your account.
- Choose the ‘UberASSIST’ (for assistance from a trained Uber partner-driver) or ‘UberACCESS’ (for a wheelchair accessible vehicle) option on the slider at the bottom of the screen.
- Place the pin at your pick up location – make sure it’s somewhere where it will be safe for your driver to stop the car.
- Tap the ‘Set pickup location’ bar. You’ll be asked to confirm that you want to request UberASSIST or UberACCESS.
- Confirm.
- Once your request is confirmed, your driver is on their way to collect you. You can get in touch at any point by sliding the block with the driver’s details upwards and tapping ‘Contact’.
Please note that the price for an UberASSIST or UberACCESS is the same as for an UberX.
