Disabled man's criticism rejected by bus company
A BUS company has hit back at accusations of discrimination from a Wetherby wheelchair user.
As reported in last week's Wetherby News, disabled resident Doug Paulley is taking Transdev Harrogate & District to court under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 because he claims the company fails to identify which buses he can use.
He says the operator discriminates against disabled people by not printing on its timetables which services are wheelchair accessible.
But the bus company, who run the 770 Wetherby to Harrogate service, said this week there was no need to identify single journeys – as all of its buses were accessible.
A spokesman said that as of May this year its entire fleet is now easy access – seven years ahead of Government targets.
The spokesman said: “We’re really proud of this fact, which has only been made possible as a result of years of investment. We publicised this in the media, on our website and in much of our recent publicity.
“As all our journeys use wheelchair-accessible vehicles then all can be used by wheelchair users and the need to identify such journeys in our timetables does not arise.”
He added how Transdev was actually one of the first in the north of England to provide full access, by having kerb-level entrances, step-free floors and dedicated space for wheelchair users.
Wetherby resident, Mr Paulley, said he had written to ask Transdev to publicise their access so that more people would know which buses to catch.
But Transdev said the timetables to which Mr Paulley was referring already had sufficient details of how to contact the company for information, including a dedicated phone service, email, internet, and customer service desk.
Transdev’s spokesman added: "We take our responsibilities and duties under the Disability Discrimination Act very seriously.
“We’re proud of our reputation in this respect working closely with Disability Access Groups and other interested organisations within the community.
“We’re always ready and willing to take suggestions from interested parties and will always, where appropriate, act in the best interests of affected groups.”
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Sunday 05 February 2012
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