John Worsfold: My name is John Worsfold.
I work in the Innovation and Development Section with the RNIB.
Public transport and the use of public transport for blind and partially sighted people is
a real issue.
This is for many reasons, it is not only the lack of accessibility within the infrastructure
but also getting access to information that is accessible.
The majority of people actually follow familiar routes, well this doesn't foster spontaneity
or independence.
The accessibility of public transport affects all modes of public transport whether it be
train, bus, taxi and in fact the glue that holds all those public transport networks
together is walking.
Steve Shepherd: Hi, I'm Steve Shepherd.
I suffer from diabetic retinopathy and the big beautiful boy in front of you is Stanley
my guide dog.
Some of the issues I face when walking are things like billboards on the side of the
road.
They tend to put them all over the place.
I know nowadays they tend to keep them in the building line but over the last few years
they're all over the pavement and it can be a problem.
Road works appear any time of day or night so it's a matter of having to react to those
road works when they come up.
One day the pavement can be nice and clear, the next day they're actually taking you out
onto the road to get by the road works.
John Worsfold: There are accessible pedestrian crossings.
Knowing which ones are accessible is an issue and attempting to cross the road in an unspecified
area; for example just literally crossing the road off a kerb is incredibly dangerous
and very unnerving for a blind and partially sighted person.
Steve Shepherd: If I'm out and I'm not sure of the route it's good planning before you
go anywhere or I will always take somebody who is sighted with me, get me used to that
route and then once Stanley's got it in his head, then we're fine.
When something goes wrong, you've got a tongue in your head ask the question and somebody
will always point you in the right direction.
Female speaker: Can I offer you any assistance?
Steve Shepherd: Yes, I'm looking to get into the council house...
Female speaker: Okay, sure not a problem.
Steve Shepherd: And I know there's some steps about here somewhere.
Female speaker: No, there are some steps, if you just hold on to my elbow.
Steve Shepherd: Thank you.
Stan.
John Worsfold: Shared spaces for blind and partially sighted people can be a real nightmare.
Imagine walking along the path and not having any identification or warning to let you know
that now a car can drive, or a vehicle can drive directly at you when you were unaware
that you are actually in a shared environment.
Steve Shepherd: What we need is to have some tactile paving before you enter a shared surface;
at least you're aware that something's going to happen and on exiting the shared surface
that would be a better solution.
John Worsfold: The most common used form of public transport is the bus.
Bus travel is improving but it can still be a real nightmare for blind and partially sighted
people.
Brenda Williams: My name is Brenda Williams.
My dog's name is Sky and I have a condition called macular dystrophy.
I do take the bus quite regular.
Probably two or three times a week.
If there's someone at the bus stop they flag the bus down for me but if I do tend to be
on my own I just hope that they're going to stop for me.
If I ever had to go to a bus station, I think I'd be quite nervous because obviously I wouldn't
know what sort of bus stop I wanted.
I'd probably have to get someone to actually take me.
Male speaker: Okay, well we're here now.
This is number one, so are you okay from here?
Brenda Williams: Yes, thank you very much.
Male speaker: All right, no worries.
Brenda Williams: Thank you, bye bye.
Once I get on the bus I have to swipe my card on the machine which tends to be in different
places all the time.
Is this the right bus to Queen's Medical?
Female speaker: It is, darling.
Have you got your purse?
Brenda Williams: Do I swipe my bus pass?
Female speaker: No, darling, I just give you a ticket my love.
Just bear with me one second.
Brenda Williams: Right.
When I get on the bus, and there's no announcements on the bus, I do have to rely on the driver.
I do tell him where I want to get off but if he does happen to forget me then obviously
I've got a problem.
[Laughs] Because what you're really doing is asking people, you're not being independent;
you're relying on people all the time.
Female speaker: This is your stop next if you want to press the bell; we can get off
together then.
Brenda Williams: Lovely.
To make it more independent I would say more announcements at the bus station like a train
station.
John Worsfold: Another popular form of public transport is obviously train travel.
Train travel is a little more complicated than bus travel purely because of the scales
of train stations and the journeys tend to be longer.
Kevin Crompton: My name's Kevin Crompton.
I have retinitis pigmentosa and I have a guide dog called Victor.
I used to use the trains fairly regularly at one time but since my vision got worse
I've found my confidence not being as strong because I wasn't sure where to get off, which
platforms I was at, where I was even to go.
So I found myself becoming less adventurous in travelling even using public transport
in particular trains because of not knowing where I'm going to be.
John Worsfold: Some of the issues with train travel is obviously navigating the station
environment itself.
Stations vary in size, complexity and they are all different.
Kevin Crompton: Once I've bought my ticket if I've managed to speak to somebody personally,
I'll ask them what platform my train will be leaving on.
Otherwise if they can't tell me I find it quite difficult because then you've got to
find somebody then and ask them where the train's going to come in and which platform
it's going to be at.
It's not always easy to find somebody.
Male speaker: Hi.
Kevin Crompton: Do you know if this is platform 2B?
Male speaker: Yes, this is platform 2B, yes.
Kevin Crompton: Brilliant, thank you.
Doors in general on trains tend to cause me a bit of a problem, well the more high-tech
ones because you're trying to find out where the sensor is to be able to open the things.
You're not sure if they open automatically or not.
Knowing when I'm at the right station, that's another difficult one because if there hasn't
been an announcement on the train I have no idea where I am unless of course it's the
last station that you're going to come to that I'm getting off at.
John Worsfold: Unfortunately if a blind and partially sighted person has had a bad experience
in some circumstances it can put them off using public transport altogether.
Hilary Wheatley: My name is Hilary Wheatley.
My eye condition is central retinal vein occlusion together with macular degeneration.
I have travelled on the tram and found it most difficult.
The worst part for me was actually at the ticket machine that worried me so much.
Excuse me; is this the correct station for Piccadilly?
Female speaker: It is, yes.
Hilary Wheatley: Can you help me with the ticket machine?
Female speaker: Yes, of course.
Hilary Wheatley: Thank you.
I find it quite threatening when there's a crowd at the tram station and all trying to
get on the tram.
People who go to work, people who come from work, whatever.
Somebody who's got a visual impairment feels extremely threatened extremely threatened.
I do feel that it would be nice if there was somebody there that could help people who
are visually impaired, or anybody who's got a disability.
Excuse me, could you tell me if this is the Eccles tram?
Female speaker: Yes, it is.
Hilary Wheatley: Thank you very much.
John Worsfold: Some of the issues that a blind and partially sighted person may face when
going on a tram journey range from the planning stage through to actually knowing when you
get off.
Hilary Wheatley: Excuse me; is this the correct stop for Piccadilly?
Female speaker: For the train station?
Hilary Wheatley: Yes.
Hilary Wheatley: Well at that particular time that I was on that tram I found that it was
a long journey at which time I found the experience really really bad so I got a taxi home.
John Worsfold: Taxis are another form of public transport that are used by blind and partially
sighted people.
They can be used not only as a form of transport in their own right, i.e., they plan to use
a taxi but also as a fallback mechanism.
Steve Shepherd: I do use taxis a little bit.
I tend to walk quite a bit with the dog but late at night I will use a taxi to come home.
There is a few issues; some drivers don't want to take you, they don't want the dog
in the car.
When I'm refused by a driver it makes you feel like a second-class citizen.
You're being penalised because you've got a disability and that shouldn't happen.
John Worsfold: Improving the taxi services for blind and partially sighted people could
be done by simple changes.
For example when the taxi arrives, not just to beep its horn and wait for the individual
to come to the taxi, but actually get out, greet the person and then help them to the
car.
Steve Shepherd: If things were improved for me it would mean I got round a lot easier.
Just need people to be more considerate and more aware of disabilities.
Kevin Crompton: I feel at this moment in time because of the public transport the way that
it is in general is very restrictive, but if these little changes were made they would
make a big difference to somebody like myself and other disabled users as well and probably
would give us that more independence, more desire to want to travel around and do different
things and be more free.
John Worsfold: We would like stakeholders of public transport to engage with us to improve
the accessibility of public transport thereby improving the lives of blind and partially
sighted people and allow them the independence they deserve.