The
London Games were memorable in so many ways. The great sporting achievements, disabled
athletes becoming household names, and the claim this was the most accessible games ever.
It was a claim we put to the test in our ground-breaking No Go Britain series which last year harnessed
the help of disabled people from around the country. We tested not just transport to the
Olympic Stadium, but across the country and the capital.
As your stories came flooding in, we realised we'd tapped a nerve. From Paralympic Superstars
forced to throw themselves off trains... to teaching assistants left stranded by broken
bus ramps.
With our help, disabled people confronted transport bosses about inferior, inaccessible
services.
So, a year on, what's the Paralympic Legacy for transport users? Have broken ramps been
replaced medal-winning services, or are disabled people still being left on the side of the
road?
Well, perhaps some things never change. In Oxford, 11 year old Aidan Blake was left feeling
angry when a driver in a hurry refused to let him board a bus on a school trip with
his classmates.
Aidan: "We were about to go on the bus and then the driver pulled up he opened the doors and then there was a woman with a buggy
in the wheelchair space which is wrong, the buggy shouldn't be in that space
and the man said that he'd let my classmates on but not me.
But this time, something was different. Aidan's classmates decided that if he couldn't get
on the bus, they wouldn't either.
I nearly wanted to cry. But my friends were like almost protesting -they didn't want to go on without me. They are the best classmates ever, they always stick up for me when someone is being rude or I'm in trouble.
That's what I like about my friends. I'm not someone who is going to take no for an answer, no way. The bus driver didn't even offer to help. He just sat there. And I thought that was horrible.
Aidan has had less horrible experiences on buses since.
A spokesman for Stagecoach Oxfordshire said: "We are very sorry we let Aidan down. This
particular case does not reflect our normal standard of service to customers with disabilities.
Every year, we make a huge investment in training our driving team to help people with disabilities
and make them feel confident about using the bus.... The driver involved was subject to
disciplinary action and has also been retrained... we have issued a reminder to all of our staff
about the importance of fully following our guidelines on assisting people with disabilities."
Across the country, things have started to improve, especially in London. But there's
still some way to go, as Michael Hipwell knows only too well.
He was a bus driver before he broke his neck in a rugby accident. He still travels by bus,
but in South London recently, a driver closed the doors on him, knocking him back onto the
pavement, and drove off at speed.
Michael: "The bus pulled up at the bus stop, the driver opened the front door and I asked him if he could put the ramp down
and he looked down and saw a buggy and said no I've got a pushchair
and you can't come on. I tried to flick my wheels up to speak to him and I said what I normally
do - and he said no - I tried to plead - he said no, shut the doors, and pushed me back off the ledge and he drove off
without giving me a chance to move away. I was a couple of inches from the wheels.
The driver in Michael's case has been sent for retraining. But all new drivers should
have already done a course, and today TFL have invited Michael in to attend a disability
training workshop, to see how it's done.
One of the most common complaints made by disabled people to no go britain is that drivers
don't intervene when pushchairs take up wheelchair spaces. Here they're trying to teach the trainee drivers
the right approach.
Michael offered the benefit of his experience. Michael: "Just don't patronise people. Everyone wants to just get on and live their lives."
This new driver found the session helpful. "It's always been a taboo, you don't know what to say.
But now I feel more confident that I will be able to speak in the right way, not patronising, now it's gonna be positive, ask rather than assume.
And, a year on, there are signs of a real Paralympic legacy: an advertising campaign
has encouraged people with buggies to make way for wheelchair users; and some tube stations
have humps and ramps so disabled people can get on and off.
But, the fight goes on: there are no plans to make London's new crossrail system 100%
accessible.
And bus users in Darlington lost their legal battle to get a service they say they're happy
with. But they're hoping to appeal.
Last year in Wales, we spoke to former headteacher Julie Thomas. She stopped using buses after
she went blind, her confidence knocked by a bad experience.
Julie still won't take a bus, but the campaign to improve bus access for blind people has
gone national. Just as the Olympic torch travelled the country, the Royal National Institute
of Blind People is currently on a nationwide bus relay tour. They're demanding better service
for travellers with vision impairments. At the start line here in Stoke -- passengers
and drivers are coming together to swap notes.
The Passenger explains to driver he likes to be told when he's at his stop
A blind lady is given a tour of bus cab by driver and realises the drivers can't hear
her unless she talks in a particular direction
The RNIB has produced a report on the problems - which they plan to deliver to the transport
minister in London next month -- travelling all the way by bus, of course.
You can chart their progress online -- where we've also been asking you for your stories.
Has the Paralympic glow made Britain less no go for you?