Wheelchair friendly, but you can't board
SINGAPORE: The message of the little blue sticker seems
obvious: We’re a wheelchair-friendly bus. But, as disabled
commuters have found out the hard way, it doesn’t necessarily mean
they’re welcome aboard.
Mr Lee Jun Hui, flagged down SBS Service No 57 outside One Raffles
Quay three weeks ago. Though the decal declaring it a wheelchair
accessible bus (WAB) was displayed on the windscreen, the driver
refused to let him on.
“He said he was not authorised to do so. I’d understand if the bus
was crowded, but it wasn’t,” said the puzzled 27-year-old, who
works as an auditor at KPMG.
To ensure this was no fluke, Mr Lee, in the company of this TODAY
reporter, recently tried to board services 128 and 130 at Robinson
Road after 6.20pm. The drivers of all four buses were
apologetic.
Despite displaying the blue decal, they told him they did not have
approval from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and SBS Transit to
ferry wheelchair-users.
Nonetheless, 20 minutes later at Cecil Street, he flagged down
service 57. The bus driver got down, laid the ramp on the kerb and
wheeled Mr Lee aboard. At Novena, Mr Lee alighted and went the rest
of the way home by train – as confused as ever about WAB
services.
While there are just 16 official WAB routes, buses on other service
routes, such as the three above, do also carry the
wheelchair-friendly decal.
“I wished the authorities would be more consistent,” said Mr Lee.
“What’s the point of displaying the decal when the bus drivers are
not authorised to take users like myself? It gives the wrong
impression that there are many more WABs on the roads, when
effectively, there aren’t.”
He is not the only one confounded. In June, student Thomas Teo, 19,
faced similar rejection by service 14 – in this case, one of the 16
approved WAB routes - at a Lower Delta Road bus stop.
“I was very upset. That experience put me off totally; I prefer to
use the MRT,” said Mr Teo.
SBS Transit's explanation
Their frustrations follow expectations that were heightened when it
was announced, earlier this year, that 40 per cent of public buses
here would be wheelchair-accessible by 2010, and all of them by
2020.
Recently, SBS Transit revealed it is spending S$147 million on 400
new WABs next year, which would come with low floors, wheelchair
lots and retractable ramps at the doors. A quarter of SBS’
2,800-strong fleet now has such features.
Said Ms Tammy Tan, SBS Transit’s vice president of corporate
communications: “Although we only have 16 WAB services, we have
many more wheelchair-accessible buses that ply the roads on other
routes.”
She added: “Not all routes can be designated WAB routes because of
the infrastructure along the way.”
For one to be so designated, 80 per cent of the bus stops along the
route must be wheelchair-friendly, or such passengers would have
difficulties getting on, off or around the bus-stop.
For these passengers’ safety, said Ms Tan, “bus captains will not
allow them to board if they are not plying wheelchair-accessible
routes. This was what happened in the incidents cited by Mr
Lee.”
As for the bus captain of Service 57 who allowed him on board, SBS
Transit said this was “actually not allowed due to safety reasons
and will remind all Bus Captains to comply with guidelines”.
Still, Mr Lee’s point is: If the buses are not on designated WAB
routes, why display the wheelchair-friendly sticker in the first
place?
SBS Transit said this was “for deployment issues”. It is “reviewing
what can be done to distinguish” WABs on designated routes from
those that are not.
Introduced in 2006, WAB services are gradually: replacing existing
fleets. The LTA said: “These services are rolled out by bus
operators based on the available pool of WABs and are subject to
scheduling and operational considerations.” - TODAY/ra
