Transport Accessibility: Legislation, Insights and Resources
People with disabilities often face challenges in getting from A to B. Whether it's ducking to the shops to get milk or going on a holiday adventure, most of these challenges exist with or without the assistance of a support person, and they are a direct result of poor implementation of accessibility design standards and legislation.
General accessibility of transport is the responsibility of mainstream society and is not the responsibility of the NDIS; for example, the transport authority is responsible for ensuring that buses are wheelchair accessible. The NDIS is responsible for additional support that a person may need to access transport. It is the NDIS's responsibility to, where reasonable and necessary, provide support to a person with a disability who cannot access transport independently, for example, cannot steer or push their wheelchair.
Applicable legislation
Sections 23 and 24 of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) make it unlawful to discriminate against another person based on disability regarding access or use of services or premises, such as buses, trains, taxis, airlines, ferries, trams and cruise ships. It legislates from a lens of reasonable adjustments and primarily direct discrimination. For example, a bus driver cannot refuse entry simply because someone has a disability or has a guide dog. However, the reasonable adjustment of ensuring all trains and train stations are accessible is not required until 2032, thirty years after the Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transportation (DSAPT) came into effect and forty years after the DDA. Practically, this means that people with disabilities in Australia, even when travelling within their home capital city, cannot be guaranteed accessible public transport.
Aside from the general accessibility issues of transport, people with disabilities also encounter attitudinal challenges from both proprietors and the general public. These experiences often overshadow the "trouble-free" journeys and lead people with disabilities to feel uncomfortable and anxious or to avoid travel experiences altogether.
Who wants to embark on a journey where you may be refused, belittled, and have regular awkward encounters?
Some attitudinal challenges I have faced more than a few times on my routine commute journeys are people refusing to move from allocated accessible space, the driver having to get involved, drivers not knowing how to deploy a ramp and unsolicited advice to ableist words of encouragement, Keep trying, and one day you will get there… You are so inspiring or people questioning my capabilities... Shouldn't you have someone with you?
Bus stops and busses (excluding school busses) are to be 100% compliant with the DSAPT from 2022. They must:
Have a firm, even and as level as possible ground at the boarding point
Have enough room to deploy the bus ramp
Have a seamless transition between the bus stop and the footpath or road
Have tactile ground surface indicators (TGSI) to assist people with vision impairments
Have deployable boarding devices (such as a ramp)
In theory, this is great, and I, in Perth, WA, have more "trouble-free" bus journeys than accessibly challenged journeys. However, I couldn't tell you the number of times I have had to shout over the noise of a bus engine to request that the bus driver tilt the bus to get the ramp to an angle that won't result in me tipping backwards in my wheelchair, and then try to explain to them that to tilt the bus they now have to retract the ramp, tilt the bus and then redeploy the ramp. The number of times I have tipped is seared into my brain.
Then there are all the times the bus driver has tried to deploy the ramp onto the TGSI only for it to catch on them and fail, resulting in the bus having to move forward and deploy the ramp onto another surface like soil or attempt to reverse (on a main road) to get back to firm even and level ground.
And all the times I have had to wait for the next bus as the ramp has been "broken" or the bus is too full and there is no way to get to the "accessible allocated space" on the bus, as the bus is not allowed to move if the wheelchair user is not in the "accessible allocated space".
Trains and train stations do not need to comply with the DSAPT until 2032. That being said, many trains and train stations are already compliant. For instance, in Perth, all stations along the Mandurah line are compliant, whereas most stops on the Thornlie/Armadale line are not fully compliant.
I am very privileged to have the Mandurah line as my local line and, therefore, experience very little general accessibility issues. I have, however, faced many attitudinal challenges when using the train during peak hours. I have to get to work too.
From people not willing to move out of the allocated accessibility spaces, to packed trains leading to waiting for the next, or third or fourth train, to people using my mobility devise to lean on, to general attitudes of some members of the public at having a wheelchair user need to take up space on a busy train.
In Perth, to find out if the train line and station you want to use meet your accessibility needs, you can use Transperth's website to view the particular provisions at each station on their Station Facilities page.
For taxis and rideshares, the DSAPT states that since December 2007 the response time for accessible vehicles is the same as for other taxis. Yet anyone who has had to order an on-demand accessible taxi (not pre-booked) knows that it may take 3, 4, or 5+ hours, and even if pre-ordered, the window given is often a 2–3-hour window. In my experience, there are not enough accessible taxis in Perth. Thankfully, in some cases, you can contact the sub-contractor directly and avoid the taxi company booking system.
People with disabilities who use service dogs are reporting that they often experience refusal or cancellation of rideshare services like Uber. This is despite Uber publicly stating that it is against their policies for their drivers to do so.
Air travel then comes with its own set of complications. The DSAPT has very little to say about aeroplane accessibility. It does, however, ensure that airports are compliant as a premise. The Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) provides information to the public on what accessibility access on aeroplanes may look like. Still, there is no legislated requirement besides what's in the DSAPT for accessibility on aeroplanes in Australia. Practically, this means that people with disabilities in Australia cannot be guaranteed to be able to make it from the gate to their seat on an aeroplane, let alone be able to access an on-board toilet.
According to the DSAPT, where an aircraft is a wide-body twin-aisle aircraft, at least one toilet must be 'accessible' where a passenger uses an "on-board" wheelchair, and assistance to the toilet door must be provided. However, there are no parameters for the accessibility features the "accessible" toilet must have. I have been in some of these "accessible" toilets. They are minimally larger, have a lower door lock, and may have a grab rail.
There is certainly not enough room to transfer from a wheelchair to a toilet seat without doing so through the doorway in open view of others; the handwashing basin is still at the standard height and size, meaning you may not be able to use it. They certainly would not allow for a support person to be able to assist without leaving the door open. Some examples of the aircraft models that this applies to from the Australian Government Civil Aviation Authority: Planning your travel web page:
Boeing 747
Boeing 767
Boeing 777
Boeing 787
Airbus A330
Airbus A340
Airbus A380.
There is currently no legislation requiring more accessibility for aircraft in Australia despite the American Transport Department issuing new accessibility rules in 2023 to be in effect for all aircraft ordered from 2033 or delivered from 2035. Under these new rules, airlines must make the accessible toilet large enough to accommodate a passenger with disabilities in a wheelchair and an assistant, both of whom are in the 95th percentile of size for an American male. It also requires accessible toilets with assist handles, call buttons, door locks accessible from a seated position, toilet controls, and dispensers, including faucet temperature controls that are discernible via touch.
What to do if you experience a travel accessibility problem
Remember people and services cannot fix something they don't know about.
Contact the proprietor
Transperth
Swan Taxi
Uber
Contact the Human Rights Commission – their Access for all: Improving accessibility for consumers with disability factsheet is a great resource
You can make a complaint to the Human Rights Commission which investigates complaints about discrimination and human rights breaches.
Kim Moore