London TravelWatch recently undertook mystery shopping on 10 bus routes in South London,  accompanied by wheelchair user Yousef Bey-Zekkoub of Transport for All.

The exercise aimed to test the accessibility of London buses following comments from some wheelchair users that they found it hard to board buses as either the bus failed to pull up close enough to the kerb to allow wheelchair ramps to be used effectively or the ramp itself failed to operate.

 “We were delighted that on every occasion the bus driver pulled up close to the kerb and the bus ramp deployed properly. Drivers were generally helpful and buggy users moved to accommodate Yousef” said Sharon Grant, Chair of London TravelWatch.

 “There were a couple of locations where the kerb at the stop needs some adjustment, but on the whole it was a great day on the buses and demonstrated to us just how accessible buses can be,” Sharon continued.

Notes:

1.    London TravelWatch has done extensive campaign work to promote the importance of accessible bus stops in London.  We regularly report TfL’s audit of the percentage of accessible bus stops in each borough and on TfL roads.  

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For more information, please contact the London TravelWatch press office on 020 7726 9953.