Blog
Bus stop under construction on Great Junction Street, Leith: used frequently by older and disabled people This is my evidence to the Westminster parliament's consideration of Bus Services (No2) Bill. TLDR: floating bus stops should only be considered as a last resort, not a standard feature. I’m writing in connection with the Bus Services (No. 2) Bill and in particular on the proposals to…
potential customers inspecting a Motability vehicle (AP £26895) at a roadshow Motability has been in the news a lot with the scheme under attack from right wing press such as Richard Littlejohn and Tom Harwood, much of it in effect aimed really not so much about Motability itself but at the wider disability benefits system. In turn, this has generated defences of the scheme, suggesting "nothing to…
Why does this three-metre stretch of Edinburgh’s Viewforth have no pavement? Because of a failure of our planning system - or perhaps more accurately, a failure in the culture of our planning system. Gap in pavement at old Boroughmuir School The location marks a former vehicle entrance to the old Boroughmuir High School, which has been developed by Cala Homes into prestigious flats. Despite…
Disabled people drive less than non-disabled people. They are also less likely to have access to a car and less likely to possess a driving licence. So reducing car travel is going to especially benefit disabled people…so the argument goes. That disabled people use cars less and drive less is beyond dispute. For example, Transport: Disability and Accessibility Statistics for 2020 (1) states…
The Scottish Government is currently consulting on a new national ‘Cycling Framework’ (open until December 19 2022) https://consult.gov.scot/transport-scotland/cycling-framework/ While this contains many sensible proposals, it also contains one astonishing omission and a bizarre question.The omission is in the section titled ‘training and education’. Five…
Transport Scotland is currently consulting on what kind of streets, if any, might be eligible for exemption from the ban on pavement parking set out in the 2019 Transport (Scotland) Act bit.ly/3FL6wTT. The two categories suggested are a) "the footway is of sufficient width to enable 1.5 metres (down to an absolute minimum of 1.2 metres over a short distance to take account of street furniture) to…
Over the past couple of years, I’ve spent a lot of time (too much, some might say!) looking at all types pavement clutter, and what we can do to reduce it. (See for example this video I produced for Living Streets Edinburgh and its impact on disabled people especially: bit.ly/39ER0M7). While there’s increasing awareness of the problems caused by ‘A-boards’, bins and…
This blog describes a scene I watched recently where a taxi driver picked up an elderly passenger. Although a small incident in itself, I think it illustrates a fundamental problem in reconciling active travel infrastructure with good access for disabled people, which deserves much wider discussion and deeper thought.Right now, the City of Edinburgh Council is consulting about the future of its…
I recently had the pleasure of working with the Tweeddale Access Panel (TAP), helping them to assess options for making the streets of Peebles more accessible for disabled people. I wanted to write briefly about this for two reasons - the process of conducting work like this under the restrictions of the coronavirus pandemic; and secondly, some wider observations arising from the work. The…
The year 2020 marks 25 years since the passing of the first Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). Shamefully, transport was entirely exempted from Part III of the Act, which outlawed discrimination against disabled people in accessing goods, facilities and services. The Department of Transport fought tooth and nail against including a general right of access to transport in the 1995 Bill (education…