Bus Éireann and accessibility

Banjoxed

No train handy? Tough if you are a wheelchair user and need to use public transport, it seems.

http://nessymon.com/can-you-get-out-of-that-thing-accessibility-on-bus-eireanns-double-deckers/

foggy_lad

Banjoxed wrote: »

No train handy? Tough if you are a wheelchair user and need to use public transport, it seems.

http://nessymon.com/can-you-get-out-of-that-thing-accessibility-on-bus-eireanns-double-deckers/

Bus Eireann can't afford to be down on 4 seats on any service throughout the day. The reason they request the 24 hours notice is so one of the few buses they have already removed the seats from can be put on the required route at the required time and they don't always get this right!

I personally have seen a 121 loading passengers in the middle of Tullamore and a guy in a wheelchair had to shift onto the bottom step of the LC type coach and "bum" his way up the steps and into a seat, This was made worse by the bus being parked up away from the proper stop and partly up on the footpath so that the unlowered step was raised even higher than normal due to not having a kerb to step up from and also the way the bus leaned out towards the road. The driver only lowered the front of the bus when another passenger had real trouble trying to climb up onto the step.

Some of the commuter type buses appear to have the seats removed to allow a wheelchair but it is usually that the seats are not removed just bunched up closer together making the journey for everyone cramped and uncomfortable. There is also very few places where drivers who have been trained will actually use the awful wheelchair lifts on most of the Bus Eireann fleet.

Accessibility and Public transport are alien to each other in Ireland Apart from Dublin bus who usually take wheelchair access very seriously as do most of their drivers!

savagethegoat

if there is only one wheelchair space then isn't booking it in advance a sensible way of ensuring you get that space rather than trusting to luck that it isn't already occupied when the bus arrives?

I would have thought that difference between an inter-urban coach and a city bus would have been quite obvious to any intended passenger and a bit of forethought might not have gone amiss

foggy_lad

savagethegoat wrote: »

if there is only one wheelchair space then isn't booking it in advance a sensible way of ensuring you get that space rather than trusting to luck that it isn't already occupied when the bus arrives?

I would have thought that difference between an inter-urban coach and a city bus would have been quite obvious to any intended passenger and a bit of forethought might not have gone amiss

Effectively there are no wheelchair spaces unless you ring up at least 24hours ahead so they can put one of a few buses onto your required services which have had the seats removed.

If you use a route where there are only single deck coaches it is even worse because there are only a few stops in the country where the wheelchair lifts on the buses can be used! Usually provided at stops where a disabled person lives. There is no chance for any visiting wheelchair user!

savagethegoat

the Railair link coach from Heathrow to Reading has (or had) a system where the front few rows of seats could be slid back to create a space for a wheelchair. From the earlier post it sounds like this is similar to that employed by BE

Patser

savagethegoat wrote: »

the Railair link coach from Heathrow to Reading has (or had) a system where the front few rows of seats could be slid back to create a space for a wheelchair. From the earlier post it sounds like this is similar to that employed by BE

Not really.

Nearly all BE buses are designed to cater for wheelchairs but seats need to be removed. Firstly to allow space for the wheelchair itself and also to open up anchoring points.

The 24 hour advance booking is for a lot of reasons. Disconnecting the seats isn't that hard but you then have to carry them out of the bus - not ideal if there's a load of passengers onboard that the seats have to be lifted over, then stored (easy if taken out in garage the night before) but not really feasible in a boot with other luggage and a wheelchair inside, and finally there's the time issue. All that would take time, that could be saved if done before bus left depot.

Add to that that not all drivers are trained on the lift system and that it is still a rare enough requirement (so there'd be a lack of familiarity), means that prebooking is a fairly reasonable request to make sure everything goes as easily as possible. It's OK for Dublin Bus with low floor deckers limited to 60kmh to have a space left for buggies/wheelchairs but a coach that uses the motorway at 100kmh needs a more secure system. It's ironic that blog above starts with the author complaining how long his trip was taking, before suggesting BE use buses that would then have to drive a lot slower.

savagethegoat

this is hat foggy said that I refered to

"Some of the commuter type buses appear to have the seats removed to allow a wheelchair but it is usually that the seats are not removed just bunched up closer together making the journey for everyone cramped and uncomfortable"

Patser

savagethegoat wrote: »

this is hat foggy said that I refered to

"Some of the commuter type buses appear to have the seats removed to allow a wheelchair but it is usually that the seats are not removed just bunched up closer together making the journey for everyone cramped and uncomfortable"

Was driving one earlier. There is a large gap in seats on some SCs and LCs, that looks enough for wheelchairs and have lovely leg room for the seats behind them. But look underneath and you'll see the locking nuts for their removal to allow for 'anchoring' straps that hold the wheelchair safely in.

end of the road

savagethegoat wrote: »

this is hat foggy said that I refered to

"Some of the commuter type buses appear to have the seats removed to allow a wheelchair but it is usually that the seats are not removed just bunched up closer together making the journey for everyone cramped and uncomfortable"

i think foggy means that the seats are installed closer together on a wheelchair capible bus. but thats just a guess.

foggy_lad

savagethegoat wrote: »

the Railair link coach from Heathrow to Reading has (or had) a system where the front few rows of seats could be slid back to create a space for a wheelchair. From the earlier post it sounds like this is similar to that employed by BE

savagethegoat wrote: »

this is hat foggy said that I refered to

"Some of the commuter type buses appear to have the seats removed to allow a wheelchair but it is usually that the seats are not removed just bunched up closer together making the journey for everyone cramped and uncomfortable"

The seats must still be removed legally or leave 4 seats empty otherwise the passenger number on a full coach will exceed the rated capacity.

If the coach is rated for 49 seated then it will be rated for 45 seated + 1 wheelchair space. When the seats are bunched together and a wheelchair is loaded at one of maybe 6 stops that can be used then 4 seats MUST be left empty or the driver will be exceeding the rated capacity which is an offence!

That is not an issue on some routes though as drivers regularly take on too many passengers, especially buses picking up at the Ha'penny bridge and allow them to stand in the aisle on long distance commuter routes to Edenderry/mullingar etc.

foggy_lad

end of the road wrote: »

i think foggy means that the seats are installed closer together on a wheelchair capible bus. but thats just a guess.

Yes, What I mean is that some buses have no gap for wheelchairs but many of the commuter coaches have a large gap but NO seats have been removed meaning that 49 seats in a midi sized coach are all squashed up together when legally if a wheelchair user gets on board 4 of those seats MUST be left empty.

Gardai need to be paying more attention to overloading of coaches especially Bus Eireann buses.

end of the road

but if there is a gap to allow a wheelchair why must other seats be left empty? or are you just talking about seats actually being removed?

schemingbohemia

foggy_lad wrote: »

Yes, What I mean is that some buses have no gap for wheelchairs but many of the commuter coaches have a large gap but NO seats have been removed meaning that 49 seats in a midi sized coach are all squashed up together when legally if a wheelchair user gets on board 4 of those seats MUST be left empty.

Gardai need to be paying more attention to overloading of coaches especially Bus Eireann buses.

Why especially BE buses, why not just all buses?

foggy_lad

schemingbohemia wrote: »

Why especially BE buses, why not just all buses?

Mostly because of their dominant position in the market and they have far more buses on the road compared to any other company and there have been a few occasions recently where I have been on Bus Éireann buses where people were standing which was an offence in those cases. I have not seen other companies buses overloaded in quite some time.

end of the road

foggy_lad wrote: »

Mostly because of their dominant position in the market and they have far more buses on the road compared to any other company and there have been a few occasions recently where I have been on Bus Éireann buses where people were standing which was an offence in those cases. I have not seen other companies buses overloaded in quite some time.

i'm afraid none of that matters in terms of the laws equality. either the gards have to monitor all busses or none