Guide Dogs launches leaflet – tips for bus drivers when helping blind and partially sighted people

Guide Dogs launches leaflet – tips for bus drivers when helping blind and partially sighted people

Guide Dogs has published a new leaflet providing bus drivers with tips on how to help blind and partially sighted passengers use buses more safely and easily. Tips include knowing how and when to give assistance, helping with the fare system and telling the passenger where they’ll find a vacant seat.

Many disabled people rely on buses to get around. However, Guide Dogs’ research has revealed it is common for disabled passengers to find bus travel difficult and stressful, and some are put off altogether. Blind and partially sighted people regularly report problems including missing their bus, buses moving off before they have found a seat, and getting off at the wrong stop.

Guide dog owner Sue Ashdown recently ended up on the wrong bus after receiving confusing information. She says: “The driver suggested I swap buses but by the time I had got off, the bus in front had gone, leaving me in an unfamiliar place with no one around. I felt very vulnerable. It would be useful for bus drivers to have visual impairment awareness training so they understand how to help.”

Carol Thomas, Guide Dogs’ Access and Inclusion Manager says: “We recognise that bus operators and bus drivers want to help disabled passengers travel with confidence, but we realise it’s not easy to know how best to assist. We’ve produced this tips leaflet to enable bus companies and their drivers to understand the needs of visually impaired passengers, and how to meet them.”

Guide Dogs is committed to working with transport operators, including bus operators, to improve access and the overall travel experience for blind and partially sighted people. It is also running a campaign for Talking Buses – calling for all buses in the UK to provide audible as well as visual information about the next stop and final destination.

Guide Dogs will be contacting all bus operators directly to raise awareness of the leaflet, and offer quantities to make available to bus drivers. Stocks of leaflets, and accompanying credit-card sized versions which are easy to carry in pockets, can be ordered from Gill Kenyon, Guide Dogs’ Access Information Officer gill.kenyon@guidedogs.org.uk Tel: 0118 983 8359.