People with disabilities an important voice in public transport design

People with disabilities, their whanau and wider support network, should be encouraged to share their experiences and suggestions on how to improve journeys and facilities across the region according to the Chair of Greater Wellington Regional Council's Transport Committee Roger Blakeley.

His comments came after a man with visual impairment held up an Airport Flyer service in the city today in protest of buses encroaching crossings.

"While the Airport Flyer is not a Metlink service our staff have met with the man to understand and take action on his concerns.  We take his issues seriously and work closely with our operators and drivers on training and reinforcement measures to make improvements," says  Cr Blakeley. 

Metlink has a number of reference groups with input from disability advocates and groups that help inform its services and infrastructure.

"We encourage all customers to contact Metlink whenever they experience issues on the region’s network. Statistics New Zealand shows that one in four New Zealanders are disabled and making buses, trains and ferries safe for them actually has a greater net effect for our region and all of the people travelling on our network," adds Cr Blakeley.

Greater Wellington Regional Council is currently working with the NZ Transport Agency and Wellington City Council on a bus priority programme which looks at improvements in eight corridors across the city to improve road layout, markings and bus boxes at stops in aid to make journeys more reliable and give buses room to manoeuvre.