Human Rights Commission - Bus Stop Guidelines

The Human Rights Commission has proposed a set of guidelines for assessing the accessibility of bus stops.

http://humanrights.gov.au/disability_rights/transport/Bus_Stops_Guidelines.doc

The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 made it an offence to discriminate against people who have a disability. The Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport 2002 were developed to inform public transport providers and operators with clarity over the level of service they were required to provide to enable people with mobility constraints to access public transport. According to the Standards all bus stops are supposed to be made accessible by 2022.

There are about 10,300 bus stops in Western Sydney. At this time it is not known how many of those bus stops meet the accessibility standards.

There has been a very inconsistent approach to the provision of bus stops in Australia. This undervalues the importance that bus stops can have on the experience of using the bus system. A poor experience using bus stops can give people a negative impression of the bus system and turn people away from using buses. And while accessibility is of prime importance, information, comfort and safety also effect the passengers' experience. We should be looking to make sure all bus stops are accessible, have good information and provide good safety and comfort for passengers.