WARRINGTON’S Own Buses unveiled a new £400,000 disabled-friendly bus with a test run at Warrington Disability Partnership’s Centre for Independent Living in Beaufort Street.
The single decker electric bus has a speaker which plays the artificial whirring sound of a bus noise to warn pedestrians with visual impairment who may not hear it.
There’s an easy to use ramp which drivers can fold down with a metal handle so that people using wheelchairs and mobility scooters can access the bus.
There’s Braille on all the bus stop buttons and audio and visual signaling is also suitable for people with learning disabilities or dementia. The floor covering is solid with bold colour contrasts on hand rails.
Where steps or raised features are on the buses, there’s a bold yellow contrast. The bus has audio annnouncements for each stop to make the bus journey easier.
The yellow and black vehicle called at Warrington Disability Partnership’s Centre for Independent Living in Beaufort Street on Monday.
It can accommodate up to two wheelchairs with 39 people standing and 31 seated.
A group of 20 staff and volunteers from WDP tried out the facilities on the bus and asked questions of the bus company managing director Ben Wakerley.
He said the vehicle costs around £400,000 and a double decker version is £500,000.
He said: “The bus has two screens inside meaning people in wheelchairs who are facing the other way to other passengers can see it which takes away anxiety for passengers on the route.”
It has hearing aid loops which are accessible to people who are unable to hear.
“There are audio announcements for people who have visual impairments.”
Eventually, the company’s entire 105 fleet of buses will meet Public Service Accessibility Regulations. At present, 20 buses are PSVAR compliant.
The bus company already works closely with Warrington Disability Partnership and provides the free shuttle buses at Disability Awareness Day in July from Warrington Interchange to Walton Hall.
The company says it is committed to ensuring its services are accessible to all. They are always open to suggestions on providing a more inclusive and accessible service.
Drivers get annual training which includes how to best serve passengers with disabilities.
Under current arrangements, wheelchair users and some Class 2 scooters can access buses. Scooters must be under 100cm long by 60 cm wide and wheelchairs must be under 70cm wide and both vehicles must have a turning circle no greater than 120cm.
Currently, just one wheelchair or scooter can be carried on their buses. But the new bus increases this to two wheelchairs.
Warrington Disability Partnership chief executive, Dave Thompson MBE, described the bus as “wonderful”. “For people with disabilities, very simple things that other people take for granted can disorientate them,” he said.
“Since 2017, we have been working with bus providers on Scoota Safe which aims to ensure the correct sized mobility scooter is able to access local buses safely.
“Through our social enterprise the Disability Trading Company we have been promoting a range of smaller scooters that are able to access the buses without fear of being able to manoeuvre onto the vehicles using nationally agree guidelines.”
“The ramp is much easier to get on and off the bus and previously that could problematic if some drivers were reluctant to stop and use the ramps.”
