Wheelchair vs buggy

This January the Supreme Court of UK has ruled that bus companies must end first come first served policies and do more to accommodate wheelchair users.

Wheelchair user boarding a bus. 

 Source: http://www.rica.org.uk/content/buses

Disabled activist Doug Paulley from West Yorkshire brought his case after he was denied access to a bus in 2012, when a mother with a pushchair refused to make space for him and the driver did nothing to force her to move.

It has not been a straightforward journey, though. Doug Paulley’s appeal, which has been funded by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, was upheld after the successful county court case outcome against FirstGroup in 2013 had been overturned by the court of appeal the following year.

                                                                

 “It has been amazing the amount of support that I have had of so many people, disabled people, organisations, lawyers, families, LAs. This hopefully is going to make a major difference to disabled people’s travels”, said Mr. Paulley. 

A ruling on the case is expected before the end of 2017 and the brave traveller hopes that the Supreme Court will finally make the right legal and moral decision that supports the major objective of social inclusion for physically impaired people who are too often left in distress while travelling:

 “Not all the justices agreed (…). There was a significant disagreement on some details (…). What this judgment means is that the drivers have to make their own decision as to whether or not the person has been unreasonable in refusing to move. If they are, the driver has to tell them they are required to shift and if necessary refuse to continue the journey until they move over”.

Wheelchair and mobility scooter-users are highly dependent on buses to get around and while a buggy can be easily folded, the same solution does not apply to wheelchairs, especially when the disabled passengers are travelling alone.

Those who are physically impaired face challenges while travelling in London, too.   
Insufficient wheelchair-friendly transport is a widespread problem in the capital, where only few tube stations have step-free access. 

The Transport for London (TFL) website reads: “Around a quarter of Tube stations, half of Overground stations, most piers, all tram stops, the Emirates Air Line and all DLR stations have step-free access”.  

However, some of these stations still have a gap and step between the platform and the train.