People with Disabilities in Ireland
4th Floor Jervis House
Jervis Street
Dublin 1
Telephone: 01 87 21 74 4
Fax: 01 87 21 77 1
Email: info@pwdi.ie
By Nigel Brander, National Support Officer, PwDI
I use a wheelchair to get round. Recently, I have heard many officials and politicians state that accessible coaches are not readily available.
On a recent trip to New York I first discovered that 70% of Coach USA fleet of coaches are accessible. Coach USA is one of the largest coach companies in North America. I tried one for myself and to my relief there was not two heavy set men to lift you on board as I have experienced with a certain airline in the past.
Instead, in less than five minutes, the driver folded two seats up, opened the side door lowered a lift and I was on board and strapped in, staying in my chair. To give credit where it is due, the two drivers present did not moan or cause a fuss of any kind. It seemed so natural for them to do it.
The best thing about the system is that if up to two wheelchair-users are on board, only two seats are folded away and folded back afterwards, so no seating capacity is lost. I have since discovered accessible coaches in other companies in the USA and also in the UK as the pictures show.
Please let us move forward on accessible transport and not use the excuse: "I have not seen them, so they do not exist!" We discovered accessible buses and seen how well they work. We can do the same with taxis and coaches if the will is there to make a difference to the lives of people with disabilities.
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