The Ho Chi Minh City Centre for Management and Operation of Public Passenger Transport has just invited people with disabilities to try out the bus service, to gather evidence and practical experience for a comprehensive reform to make this form of transport friendlier.
Buses still “forget” people with disabilities
Speaking to Giao Thong newspaper, Dang Hung Long (a person with a disability who uses a wheelchair) said that the biggest difficulty for people with disabilities lies in the design of the bus doors for getting on and off.
“Because they are designed with steps, wheelchair users cannot get on the bus by themselves but have to rely on help from the bus attendants. This is really very inconvenient. Not to mention that many staff do not understand how to care for people with disabilities, and help in the wrong way, sometimes causing people with disabilities pain and often making them feel afraid every time they take the bus”, Long said.
Long also said that the service attitude of drivers and bus attendants is also worth discussing. “Drivers and attendants need to change, and avoid discriminatory attitudes towards people with disabilities so that they do not feel self-conscious”, Long stressed.
Sharing this view, student with a disability Phan Thi Kim Van (University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City) said that the city should care for and support people with disabilities travelling by bus by improving bus shelters and bus stops to be friendlier to people with disabilities. It must be possible for a wheelchair to roll on board, whereas at present the stops are all very high, with nowhere to get on the bus. People with disabilities who want to get on a bus have to be carried on by others, which is extremely inconvenient. In addition, indicator lights should be installed at waiting stops. When people with disabilities wait for a bus they will use the lights to help the driver notice them and stop the bus more easily.
Improving bus shelters and creating safe access
Speaking to a reporter from Giao Thong newspaper, Tran Chi Trung, Director of the Centre for Management and Operation of Public Passenger Transport, said that Ho Chi Minh City is one of the first localities in the country to have a policy of free bus fares for people with disabilities.
According to Giao Thong newspaper, since the middle of last year, Ho Chi Minh City has implemented a policy to support people with disabilities in accessing buses through free fares. Of a total of 2,783 buses in the city (excluding 302 12-seat buses), the remaining 2,481 all have seats reserved for people with disabilities. Buses are also equipped with lifting – lowering devices that make it easier for passengers with disabilities to use them. In addition, at 350 out of 497 bus shelters (70.4% of all shelters) the access has been improved so that wheelchair users can reach them easily. In particular, the Department of Transport has issued 11,017 free bus cards to those entitled to the policy, such as wounded and sick soldiers. In addition, all bus staff have been trained in skills to support people with disabilities travelling by bus.
For wheelchair users, the city has equipped 50 buses with lifting devices. However, in practice the number of wheelchair users among people with disabilities is very small; most bus users are people with hearing impairments, visual impairments, or an impairment of one leg or arm… using the bus. For these people, buses all have priority seats reserved for them.
Trung also admitted that with vehicles invested in earlier, the steps for getting on – off are still high, causing difficulties for people with disabilities. However, in the project to invest in replacing 1,680 vehicles, the centre has taken care to invest in 300 low-floor CNG buses, making it easier for people with disabilities to use them.
On infrastructure serving people with disabilities, Trung said the centre has proposed to the Department of Transport the improvement of 300 bus shelters to serve wheelchair users and older people better. In addition, the centre will set out the number of new vehicles equipped with such devices on each specific route, especially routes passing through areas where many people with disabilities travel, together with specific policies to encourage and support transport businesses to invest according to the set schedule.
“As for the suggestion from people with disabilities to install indicator lights at waiting stops so that drivers can notice them more easily, the centre will study it and trial it at a few stops used by many people with disabilities”, Trung said.
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