Bus Services: Disability

Transport written question – answered at on 4 March 2014.

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Photo of John Leech John Leech Liberal Democrat, Manchester, Withington

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the accessibility of buses to blind and partially sighted passengers.

Photo of Stephen Hammond Stephen Hammond The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000 (PSVAR) outline specific requirements for the bus industry to ensure that buses are as accessible as possible for disabled passengers. These include facilities such as low-floor boarding systems, visual contrast on step edges, handholds and handrails and priority seats that can be of particular benefit to blind and partially sighted passengers.

All new buses used on local or scheduled services to carry 22 passengers or more are required to be fully PSVAR compliant, and all buses will have to be compliant by 2015, 2016 and 2017, depending on the bus type.

According to the Department's annual bus statistics (published in September 2013) 78% of the total bus fleet in England is now PSVAR compliant. We will continue to monitor compliance with the industry.

In addition, my noble colleague, Baroness Kramer, wrote to bus industry representatives on 4 February 2014 to encourage operators to work with manufacturers of the relevant technology to look into the possibility of developing simpler and more affordable audio/visual announcement systems for buses that can provide benefits to as many passengers as possible.

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