What you said about our ideas tomake sure disabled people canget about like everyone else

An EasyRead version of: Accessibility Action Plan –Summary of responses to the consultationthe draft plan.

What is in this paper?

Who are we? 1

What you said about our ideas to make getting about easier

2

What you said about our ideas for the future

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1

Who are we?

We are the Department for Transport. Apart of our work is to make sure disabledpeople can get about like everyone else.

In 2017 we asked people what theythought of our new ideas about how tomake getting about easier.

Lots of people took part.

This paper is about what people said andsome of the things we are doing to makesure disabled people can get about likeeveryone else.

2

What you said about our ideasto make getting about easier

Pavements and parking onpavements

We said we would look at making sure ourplans for pavements were up to date.

Lots of people told us about problems withpavements for disabled people:

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pavements with bumps for blindpeople are not good for people withphysical disabilities

sometimes pavements are not lookedafter and are not safe

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● parking on pavements made gettingabout difficult

We will ask people to help us think of ideasto stop people parking on the pavements.

Shared spaces

Shared spaces are spaces that bothpeople and cars use with no markings orpavements.

Lots of people said they do not like sharedspaces because they think they aredangerous.

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People said we should not have sharedspaces and any future plans shouldinclude disabled people.

Plans are being made about what to doabout shared spaces. When we havethought more we will work with disabledpeople to decide how to make thembetter.

Cycling

Our guide about bicycles and bike lanesthat work for everyone will be out soon.

Lots of people said we need to think moreabout disabled people who are walkersand cyclists.

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Many people told us that they did not feelsafe when bicycles and walkers shared thesame pavement.

Going by bus

We are working to help more disabledpeople use buses across the UK.

We are talking to bus companies anddisabled people.

Lots of people said this was a good idea.

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We will tell bus operators to install spokenand written displays on buses.

Accessible taxis and assistance dogs

Lots of people had ideas about how wecheck and make sure disabled people canuse taxis.

Some people said there were not enoughwheelchair accessible taxis, especially forbig wheelchairs.

We will tell local authorities that theyneed more wheelchair accessible taxis.

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Local authorities will need to say howmany they have.

Taxi drivers need to know that it is againstthe law to treat someone in a wheelchairor with an assistance dog unfairly.

Some taxi drivers say no to havingassistance dogs in their taxi.

We will look at how we can make surethat they say yes.

We will ask people how local authoritiescan make sure taxi companies work wellfor disabled people.

8

Blue Badges

We said we would look again at who canhave a Blue Badge and if this should belinked to disability benefits.

Lots of people said we need to look at whogets a Blue Badge and how people getone.

It should be easier for people to get a BlueBadge if they are allowed one. We want tomake sure that it is only people who needone that get one.

Lots of people said we need to think aboutpeople with autism being allowed to havea Blue Badge.

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We are telling local authorities howpeople have been caught parking indisabled bays without Blue Badges.

We hope this will help them catch morepeople.

Mobility Centres

We want to make better use of MobilityCentres for older people.

We will tell them about other forms oftransport or how to drive safely.

Lots of people said this was a good planand gave us ideas how this could work.

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Mobility scooters

Lots of people said this was a good plan asthere were problems with people notusing scooters safely.

Railway stations

We said we will keep going with our plansfor making railway stations moreaccessible.

Lots of people said this was a good planbut needs to keep going to make sure allrailway stations are accessible.

Many people said they would like morestaff at railway stations to help disabledpeople.

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Disabled toilets at railway stations

There will be more disabled toilets atrailway stations.

Lots of people said this was a good idea.

Some people said we need ChangingPlaces toilets at railway stations.

Some people said they would like moreinformation about disabled toilets.

Disabled toilets on trains

Lots of people thought being able to findout if there was a disabled toilet on a trainwas a good idea.

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Some people said a disabled toilet shouldlet 2 people in.

Some people said disabled toilets shouldbe better for people who are blind.

Going by train

Lots of people said that trains with noconductors and less staff at stationsstopped them going by train.

Train companies must tell disabled peoplethat they can get help to go by train. Thisis called Passenger Assist.

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Train company staff now must have moretraining in treating disabled peopleequally and fairly.

Train companies must meet accessiblestandards.

Trains built before 1999 have until 2020 tobe made accessible, unless they are tooold and it is not possible.

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People said they wanted:

more staff and staff training

better information and signs atstations

more accessibility on trains

more disabled toilets on trains and atstations

more help when something happenswhich was not planned.

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What if something happens that isnot planned?

We are looking at ways train companiescan help disabled people if somethinghappens that was not planned.

This could be if a train breaks down or thedisabled toilet stops working.

Lots of people said they thought thereshould be more information about whatwould happen.

This information should be in lots ofdifferent ways so everyone would know.

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Train companies have to make sure thatpeople can get to where they want to be ifa train breaks down.

If the train company puts you on a bus ora coach, that must be accessible as well.

Information about accessibility ontrains

We are looking at new ways of puttinginformation about accessibility of trainson the Stations Made Easy website.

Lots of people said they did not knowabout the Stations Made Easy website.

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The information could not be understoodby everyone.

Disabled persons rail card

We plan to tell more people about theDisabled Persons Rail Card and look atwho can get it.

Travel training

Lots of people said this was a good ideafor young disabled people.

Unfortunately, we are unable to providefunding for this but will try to do this in thefuture.

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Public transport

We will help to make sure public transportis accessible.

We will take action if this does nothappen.

Lots of people said that the space onbuses for wheelchairs was too small.

Some people said some bus stops werenot accessible.

We will ask local authorities to make busstops more accessible.

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We need to make sure any contract weaward for people to do work on publictransport meets the needs of disabledpeople.

Prams and scooters on publictransport

People told us that the space for pramsand scooters was not big enough for allthe people who want to use it.

Training for drivers, railway staff andpeople who plan services

Lots of people said training staff ontreating disabled people equally and fairlywas a good idea.

This is called Disability AwarenessTraining.

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Contract

It needs to be for drivers, railway staff andpeople who plan services.

Groups supporting disabled peoplewanted to make sure that everyone didthe same training.

Some people said the training should berun by disabled people.

Some people said we should check thatthe training really works.

Contracts should only be awarded tocompanies who have trained staff.

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What stops disabled people going ontransport and how can we makethings more accessible?

We will find out why some people do notgo on transport so we can make thingsmore accessible.

We need to ask the right questions.

Your rights and choices

We will tell you about your rights andwhat to do if something goes wrong.

You can find this in section 4 of ourEasyRead guide: Our plans to make suredisabled people can get about likeeveryone else.

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We will give you better information abouthow accessible services are to help planyour journey.

Working with the Welsh governmentand local authorities

We will work with the Welsh governmentand tell them our plans aboutaccessibility.

We will help local authorities tell peopleabout their rights on public transport andtaxis.

We help local authorities to know aboutrights for disabled people when they areplanning changes to transport.

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Looking at how disabled peopletravel

We will look at how disabled people travel.

This will help us plan things.

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What you said about our ideasfor the future

Free bus passes

Lots of people said that the free bus passwas a good idea. To make it better:

you should be able to use it all thetime

it should be the same across the UK

more people should be able to get one

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carers should be able to travel withsomeone for free

it should be easier to get one.

Information and support when flying

Lots of people said that information whenflying was not up to date.

The information was hard to understand.

There was no clear information on whataids you can take on a plane.

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People who use wheelchairs said thatthings need to be better for them.

Sometimes their wheelchairs got brokenon planes.

Some people said there should be moredisabled toilets.

Some people said airlines should workwith disability groups so that all airlinessupport disabled people the same.

We asked people who work for airlines andairports what they thought.

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People wanted us to write plans on howthey can best help people in wheelchairs.

Some people said different airlines couldtell each other what worked well for themwhen supporting disabled people.

Some people wanted more training sostaff can support disabled people better.

By the end of 2018, we will ask people forideas on how airlines and airports cansupport disabled people better.

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Going by sea

Lots of people said going by sea on a ferrywas ok.

Some people said that ports should bemore accessible.

We should use the law to make thishappen.

In 2019 we will tell ferry companies aboutwhat they can do to make ports easier touse.

Going by train

Lots of people said we need to makeaccessibility better for people going bytrain.

This was about:

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ramps

guide dogs

toilets

doors

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● information and signs.

By 2020 all trains must be accessible.

What it is like to travel if you have adisability

Lots of people told us about the badthings that go on when they travel.

Lots of people said information was notgood.

Lots of people said we need to think aboutthe needs of people with disabilities youcan’t easily see.

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Lots of people said all staff need DisabilityAwareness and Equality training.

We will make sure that Department forTransport staff have this training.

Going where you want when youwant

Lots of people said they had to plancarefully when they wanted to travel.

This was because not everything wasaccessible or there was little help.

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We want more disabled people to be ableto go where they want when they want.

We have more accessible new trains.

Wheelchair users have their own space ontrains.

All trains have spoken and written signs.

We asked people who work in transport fortheir ideas.

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Lots of people said it was good thatpeople could go where they want whenthey want.

They said there should be better trainingand more accessibility to help people.

Transport companies should work closertogether to help people.

Passenger Assist

Passenger Assist is help for disabledpeople at train stations.

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Some people said they did not know aboutPassenger Assist.

Lots of people said we need to tell morepeople about it.

People who did know about PassengerAssist said it could be better.

We will tell more people about PassengerAssist.

We are looking at new ways of working forPassenger Assist.

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We will help more people complain if thereis a problem.

Buying tickets from a machine

Lots of people said they found it hard tobuy tickets from a machine.

We have started to work on a plan aboutmaking it easier to buy tickets from amachine.

Your rights and how to complain

Lots of people said they did not know theirrights and how to complain.

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Some people said the way to complainwas not accessible to them.

We are working with transport companiesto make it easier for people to complain.

Assistance card for people withdisabilities you can’t easily see

Lots of people said an assistance card for people with disabilities you can’t easily see was a good idea.

The card should let people write on it whatthey want.

Assistance Card

Assistance Card

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The card should be easy to get.

Lots of people and transport providers saidstaff would need training about the cardand disabilities you can’t easily see.

Some people said that card might makepeople feel vulnerable.

If people did not want a card they shouldstill get a good service from transportcompanies.

We think the assistance card is a goodidea.

Assistance Card

Assistance Card

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How can we help communitytransport?

People who find it hard to use publictransport sometimes use communitytransport to take them places. They maybe run by a charity.

Lots of people said there needed to bemore community transport.

Lots of people said more people shoulduse community transport.

Lots of people said community transportneeds more money so companies couldbuy lots of different types of vehicles.

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