BBC“After I had to miss two buses before I could get on because of the prams.”
Joanne Sansome has cerebral palsy and uses a motorized wheelchair every day.
He told BBC News NI that for people with disabilities, accessing public transport is not easy.
Before the ramps on the bus were changed to manual operation, Joanne said she had a problem where the automatic function broke down and she had to be lifted off the bus.
While most trains and buses in Northern Ireland are now wheelchair accessible, she explains that she rarely uses them, relying instead on her parents for transport.
In a statement, a Translink spokesman said it was “committed to providing a convenient, safe and accessible service for everyone”.
Joanne said she used to travel by bus but had to stop when she started having “difficulties”.
“Sometimes when you get on the bus, people have children in prams, and sometimes they refuse to fold the pram and give you a wheelchair, which means you have to wait for the next bus.”
“In a way, I’m lucky because both of my parents are now retired, so I’ve started using them instead of taking taxis or buses,” says Joanne.
‘Disrespectful experience’
Caroline Dorsett, who lives in Portrush, uses public transport at least once a week but said it can be a “quite rude” experience for wheelchair users.
She told BBC News NI that she was once left “stranded in Coleraine” because a wheelchair space on a bus was taken by a traveler in a pram.
“Drivers do their best, but if someone refuses to move, you don’t get a ride,” Caroline said.
“If you can get on the bus, then you negotiate your way to a place.
“Normally there’s a little seat on the side, so you try to put it in and get into the room, but when I park, I have to face the other passengers instead of the front, so you get the audience.
“If there are other passengers with cars or other mobility equipment, they sometimes try to speed in front of you, and you can’t get off the bus.
“For me, if I don’t have to take the bus, I don’t.”
While all Translink bus and rail carriages in Northern Ireland are accessible, not all have low floors to make it easier for wheelchair users to get off the pavement.
Goldline coaches operate side elevators.
Caroline told BBC News NI that the challenge is sometimes worse for people living in rural areas.
“If I want to guarantee a place on the bus, I have to call first to see if I can ride because if there is a wheelchair on the bus, I can’t ride, which leaves me sitting at the bus stop. without shelter,” he said.
“No one else has to do it, and we just want to be the same as everyone else.”
He added that the infrequency of buses in rural areas also puts wheelchair users at a disadvantage compared to cities or big cities.
The latest statistics from the NI Statistics and Research Agency shows people with mobility difficulties made an average of 519 trips in 2021 – 44% less than those without mobility difficulties.
Translink said it had started rolling out a new fleet of buses with separate spaces for wheelchair users and prams, adding that staff had undergone training as part of its accessibility programme.
A spokeswoman said it was working with organizations like the Inclusive Mobility and Transport Advisory Committee (IMTAC), the Royal National Institute of Blind People, Guide Dogs NI and others to ensure the service was a “welcoming space for people with physical and hidden disabilities”. .
IMTAC said it had been raising concerns about Translink’s procurement policy for more than a decade, but progress was being made.
Joanne said she knows work is being done to make transportation more accessible for people with disabilities.
He added: “It’s nice to be independent and free and I’m glad that Northern Ireland is going to be the standard.”
