Staff, customers and volunteers from a Harrogate charity will be “on the buses” this Saturday (16 March 2019) as they participate in Disabled Access Day.
Disability Action Yorkshire has teamed up Transdev, who will have a static bus in the town centre, so disabled people can practice accessing public transport without any pressures.
The bus will be parked between 11am and 3pm at Pier Head, opposite the town’s war memorial and adjacent to the petanque court.
The day itself is designed to celebrate good access and create opportunities for disabled people to try something new, which sits perfectly with the charity’s own Think Access campaign.
While getting on and off a bus may seem a fairly ordinary and mundane task to non-disabled people, for those with a disability it can present a very significant challenge.
Jackie Snape, Chief Executive of Disability Action Yorkshire, said:
More disabled people would like to use public transport, but are faced with issues like: How will I get on? Will there be room for me? How will I get off? Will I hold everyone up?
Many people may not realise the difficulty presented for disabled people in getting on and off of buses, and this is a valuable opportunity for them to practice the task without the pressure of queues or other commuters who may be in a rush.
Thanks to our friends at Transdev, we are using Disabled Access Day as a golden opportunity for us to broaden our Think Access campaign.
We hope that by coming along and trying out boarding a bus, it will demystify something that most non-disabled people take for granted.
I would also like to thank North Yorkshire County Council and Harrogate Borough Council in supporting us and allowing the bus to be parked at this town centre location.
Anyone interested in the courses run by Disability Action Yorkshire can find out more from its website, www.disabilityactionyorkshire.org.uk
