Public Question Time
H
Question
What is Bradford Council doing to enable
people with Learning disabilities to use
their concessionary bus passes before
09.30am on a Monday to Friday?
Response from the Portfolio Holder
The Concessionary Fare Scheme within
West Yorkshire is promoted not by the
Council but by the ITA (Metro) which, in
the past, has chosen not to offer a peaktime concessionary scheme for people
with learning difficulties.
Their basis for this decision, as I
understand it, is that a similar argument
could also be put forward by or applied to
other disabled groups.
As such, the introduction of a dedicated
scheme for people with learning
difficulties would be discriminatory.
Background Information
Bradford People First, a self advocacy group
run by and for people with a Learning disability
have set up a anytime, any day bus pass
campaign. This is because people with
Learning disability are prevented from
travelling on their local buses before 09.30am
and being a part of their community before this
time.
Currently, a Metro disabled concessionary
pass enables a person with Learning disability
to travel for free off peak, on local bus travel
throughout England after 09.30am on
Mondays to Fridays and all day at weekends
and Bank Holidays (wymetro, 2009).
People with learning disability use buses to get
to the following such places in their
community;
• Hospital/Doctors appointments
• College
• Work
• Work placement
• Day service
• Volunteering services
• Do things they need/want to do within the
community
The current concessionary bus pass scheme
prevents people with a learning disability
travelling before 09.30am and being a part of
their community because of the following
reasons;
• Financial cost – Cannot afford to pay the
high bus fares.
People with learning disability tend not to
have a lot of money-due to being on
benefits or having a job that does not pay
a lot of money (Mencap, 2008).
.
• Most people with a learning disability tend
to be dependent upon buses, due to not
being able to drive, pay for taxi fares or
get lifts. Half of all families with a child
with a disability do not have the use of a
car (Mencap, 2008).
• Some people with Learning disability
need the support of another person to
travel on buses and this doubles the price
of travelling.
• Difficulties communicating with bus
drivers-discussing fare and where they
are going-prevents people travelling
independently and before 09.30am due to
these difficulties. Just being able to show
their concessionary bus pass enables
them to travel independently with ease.
• Difficulty understanding the when you can
and can’t use your bus pass. Just being
able to show their concessionary bus
pass enables them to travel
independently with ease.
• Not being able to understand the amount
needed to pay for fare and the correct
change etc. Just being able to show their
concessionary bus pass enables them to
travel independently with ease.
In West Yorkshire people who are registered
blind get the right to travel for free all day. The
Metro have not been able to tell us why
someone who is registered blind needs this
entitlement anymore than a person with a
learning disability. The only reason we have
been given is that it has always been like this.
Valuing people Now (2007) document says
that people with learning disability should be
able to do the same things as non-disabled
people do every day of their lives. Valuing
people (2007) also says that people with
learning disability should have more control
over how they live their lives. The current
disabled concessionary scheme in West
Yorkshire prevents people with a learning
disability from doing any of this. It also affects
people with learning disabilities independence,
Choice and opportunity.
The reason for the concessionary scheme is to
improve social inclusion and accessibility of
vulnerable people. Currently the local bus
pass scheme is not meeting these aims for
people with a learning disability.
People with learning disabilities would like the
same entitlement to all day free bus travel, as
people registered blind in West Yorkshire and
the same as all disabled people in South
Yorkshire, Hull, Suffolk, Greater Manchester,
Hertfordshire, Reigate & Banstead borough,
Surrey, Luton and so on.
Information we have looked at to help us.
Mencap (2008) Transport Policy Paper.
[online] Available:
http://www.mencap.org.uk/document.asp?id=4
47. [21/07/09]
DOH (2007) Valuing People Now: From
progress to transformation - a consultation on
the next three years of learning disability
policy. [online] Available:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_
dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/docume
nts/digitalasset/dh_081035.pdf [19/08/09]
Wymetro (2009) Concessionary Travel.
[online] Available:
http://www.wymetro.com/TicketsAnd
Passes/concessionarytravel/ [03/06/2009]