Survey highlights issue of 'forgotten' bus passengers

Frank Salt and his guide dog Lewis

Blind bus passengers are being left stranded and vulnerable, suggests a new survey by Guide Dogs.

Nearly nine out of ten passengers (87 per cent) with sight loss who took part in the survey had missed their stop because they didn’t know where they were on a bus journey. Despite asking a bus driver to tell them where to get off, nearly nine out of ten (87 per cent) visually impaired respondents say they have missed their stop because the driver had forgotten to tell them.

Nearly 300 people took part in the survey, called Forgotten Passengers, which explores the issues they face when using buses. Worryingly, 29 per cent of visually impaired respondents said that a driver had refused to alert them to their stop.

Guide Dogs’ Talking Buses campaign is lobbying for audio-visual announcements on board buses to help everyone, not just blind and partially sighted people. They want all buses to have information telling passengers the next stop and the final destination, much like trains.

Official speaker for Guide Dogs in Rochdale, Frank Salt, from Castleton, said in the main his experience on the buses is “not very good.”

He said: “The technology is already available; using it on busses would make a lot of a difference and give that added bit of confidence for getting out and not needing to rely on help.”

Mr Salt is keen to raise awareness in his role of speaker for Guide Dogs in Rochdale.

David Cowdrey, Campaigns Manager at Guide Dogs, said: "It d¬oesn't matter to us whether the audio-visual information comes through state-of-the-art sound systems and LCD televisions, or the driver simply announces the next stop and holds up a sign. We believe it should be easy for everyone to know where they are along a bus route."