The Disability Resources Centre and Sustainable Cities are currently running a campaign called #LifelongLockdown, to shine a spotlight on the problems we still have with accessibility on our public transport network. Victoria's PT network is supposed to be 80-90% accessible by 2022, and 100% accessible by 2030 - but it's a long way from achieving either goal. Unless our government really picks up the pace in the near future, they'll stand no chance of hitting these targets - but for decades now it just hasn't been a high enough priority, for governments on both sides of the aisle.
The COVID-19 pandemic has given the general public a taste of what it's like on lockdown - being stuck inside and unable to leave for days or weeks at a time, only being able to justify truly essential trips, unable to simply go out to the pub or the movies or to visit friends. But the reality is that this - or worse - is the way that many people with disabilities live their whole lives. If they're unable to drive themselves, they will be quite reliant on public transport so they can travel long distances independently.
I am not a person with a disability, so I don't have the lived experience many people participating in this campaign do - so partly this post is to amplify their voices. I'd really encourage you to check out DRC's Facebook page and the hashtag to see their stories.
But I also want to talk about something that can often get lost in official government measures of accessibility, which is service levels.
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| Accessible bus stops (one unfinished) on Main Road in 2018 |
Clearly, to run an accessible service, you need the right infrastructure - you need a concrete pad at the bus stop, you need a good footpath leading up to the pad, you need platform stops for trams, you need ramps at train stations that aren't too steep, and so on. Clearly you also need the right vehicles - trams without steps, trains that line up properly with the platforms, and low-floor buses that can kneel down and extend a ramp for anyone who needs it. These are the things governments look at when they talk about percentages of the network being accessible.
But what good is an accessible bus stop, if the bus stops running at 7pm? What good is an accessible train if you miss one, and have to wait 40 minutes till the next one? If you are a person with a disability who is wholly reliant on public transport to get around, you don't just need all the infrastructure in place, you need to know the services are there to match them - or you might be just as stranded as if the infrastructure wasn't there at all.
If the bus you need to get home stops running around 7pm, this makes it hard for you to go out for dinner, or go to the movies in the evening, or participate in the many aspects of public life that take place in the evenings. It is unfair to lock anyone out of these things.
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| The overlap between accessible stops and accessible trams isn't great (source) |
Advocates often talk about "universal access". Providing low-floor buses, or stations with step-free access, does not just benefit people in wheelchairs - it benefits everyone, from people with less visible or stereotypical disabilities, to parents with prams, to people carrying heavy shopping. The benefits of this kind of infrastructure can spread far and wide, in directions you mightn't think of - for example, platform tram stops combined with low-floor trams can significantly improve punctuality, because they allow crowds to get on and off the tram quicker and therefore reduce dwell times.
The same principle applies to service levels. Running services more frequently, and running them later into the evenings, benefits everyone. Whether they're reliant on public transport because they're physically unable to drive, whether they're reliant on it because they're too young or too old to drive, whether they can't afford to drive - or whether they could drive but want to avoid traffic, or make more environmentally sustainable choices - better service benefits everyone in our society.
Achieving a public transport network that works for everyone is in all our interests - and we need to show our elected representatives how seriously they need to take it. So join the #LifelongLockdown campaign and add your voice to the chorus.
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