Accessible Public Transport South Australia

Back in August we carried out an online survey to explore the views and experiences of public transport for South Australians living with disability. We would like to thank the 87 people who took part. We have used the findings to develop a set of three slide packs that detail difficulties people face when using public transport and ideas to overcome these difficulties.

 

Taxis

Today we published the first slide pack, which looks at taxis and can be downloaded via the link below. We have already shared the findings with the National Disability Insurance Agency, the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure, the Access Fleet Advisory Committee and Suburban Taxis. In response, Suburban Taxis has now added the option to preference a particular car when booking access taxis online (https://accesstaxis.com.au/)  and the National Disability Insurance Agency has indicated that it will be reviewing the transport funding it provides specifically to NDIS participants who use taxi subsidy schemes. We will continue to advocate for further changes to make taxis in South Australia more accessible.

 

Planes

Following the slide pack on taxis, today we published the second slide pack, which looks at planes and can be downloaded via the link below. We have already discussed some of the findings with Qantas and Jetstar. In response, Qantas have indicated that they have now successfully implemented the ability for customers who aren’t travelling with their own mobility aid to request wheelchair ramp and wheelchair step assistance online, and they are working on implementing this functionality for those travelling with their own mobility aid: https://www.qantas.com/au/en/travel-info/specific-needs/mobility-assistance.html. We will continue to advocate for further changes to make planes more accessible.

 

Buses, Trains and Trams

Following the slide packs on taxis and on planes, today we published the final slide pack, which looks at buses, trains and trams and can be downloaded via the link below. We have already shared the findings with the National Disability Insurance Agency and the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure, and we will continue to advocate for changes to make buses, trains and trams in South Australia more accessible.