European Disability Forum: New ‘Accessibility Guide’ on the needs of persons with disabilities using public transport
To mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (3 December), the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), IRU (World’s Road Transport organisation) and the European Disability Forum (EDF) jointly publish an ‘Accessibility Guide’ to improve customer service for persons with disabilities and persons with reduced mobility.
The publication aims to show that service quality and inclusiveness are of paramount importance for the public transport sector.
The guide is one of the initiatives that we are undertaking to raise awareness amongst staff about the barriers still existing to a fully inclusive public transport system and how to best overcome them. It is targeted at public transport staff regularly interacting with passengers and can be used in the context of disability awareness trainings.
Gunta Anca, EDF Vice-President: “With this accessibility guide we want to give simple tips and advice on how to improve service for persons with disabilities. There is really nothing to be afraid of – we are passengers like everyone else, just sometimes we need a little bit more of your support and understanding.”
Thomas Avanzata, Director of the European Department at UITP: “An average person does not know much about persons with disabilities. With this guide, we hope to close the knowledge gap for our bus drivers and be able to offer an improved service to persons with disabilities. We are very happy about the cooperation with EDF and IRU and optimistic that such small initiatives can make a difference on the ground, especially at times where financial resources for costly infrastructure works are scarce.”
Rémi Lebeda, who leads IRU’s work on passenger transport in Europe: “This accessibility guide is an excellent tool to improve the quality of service offered to people with disabilities by drivers and operators. We thank EDF and UITP for their excellent cooperation in working on this important issue. In further recognition of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities the guide will also be available in accessible format.”
An accessible word version of the guide can be downloaded here.
