Thought people here might have some comments about this for the relevant people... ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kirsten Hearn" <kirsten.hearn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Danmail" <danmail@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2007 5:26 PMSubject: [danmail] Open platform buses - are they accessible to visually impaired people?
Hi all (especially Visually Impaired Londoners) Boris Johnson (conservative mayoral candidate in London) wants to abolish articulated buses (bendy buses) and bring back route masters. He says he wants a new design. Either he wants a new and lethal open platform bus, with no accessibility, or he needs to define what characteristics he'd like to replicate other than those two in his mythical 'new' bus. If, for example, it had lots of quick access, room for buggies and wheelchairs, decent accessible seating, and an airy ambience, then it might look like.......a bendy bus! Boris pledges to withdraw these if he is elected)! I'm checking out in an informal kind of way with Visually impaired folks what they think of Boris Johnson's ideas for reinstating route masters in London! We are already consulting with disabled people generally but it looks like Boris might use some wrong info about access to open platform buses and I'd like to disabuse him of this notion! I'm doing this with my member of the board of Transport For London hat on. We abolished route masters as they were inaccessible to about a quarter of London's communities and also dangerous (a number of people were killed or seriously injured each year falling off them. Since their demise, fatalities and injuries of passengers on buses has fallen significantly. What are the advantages and disadvantages of open platform buses? Some sighted non disabled people want open platforms so they can jump on and off at will. How many visually impaired people would find this desirable, useful or safe? Your views please? Email me at TFL kirstenhearn@xxxxxxxxxx Please feel free to pass this email onto your egroup networks. Kirsten Channel 4 News 03 Sep 2007 Boris Johnson today launched his campaign to become Mayor of London - with a string of promises including a pledge to bring back traditional London buses. The Tory MP put crime, housing and transport at the top of his campaign agenda, saying it was time for residents to be given a better deal. He promised a return of "iconic" Route master buses, as well as stating a commitment to Cross rail, making the congestion charge "fairer and more flexible," and 24-hour policing. Telegraph 4 September Boris Johnson launched his campaign to be the Tories' candidate for Mayor of London, warning that he reserved the right to make jokes but was "deadly serious" in his bid. Mr Johnson, Conservative MP for Henley, targeted transport policy as he seeks to prove his credentials for running the capital. Among his pledges were promises to make the congestion charge "fairer and more flexible", clear the way for the Cross rail train project and redesign the Route master buses that have fallen out of favour with current mayor Ken Livingstone.All emails are checked before they are sent on to the list. Please see the original "Welcome to the DAN Mailing list message" for further information. DAN mail list archives from 1 May 1999 are available at the Yahoo Group web site here http://groups.yahoo.com/group/danmail/messages . Free our people.
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