Disability advocates push for more accessible public transportation in Portsmouth
DISABILITY advocates are raising awareness in Portsmouth over concerns about inaccessible public transport.
Hive Portsmouth, a charity initiative formed between local organisations and the city council, is asking for people with disabilities to share their views on the accessibility of public transport in Portsmouth.
Hive’s newly-formed Disability Advisory Group is seeking to proactively tackle the barriers to secure and accessible living for disabled people, beginning by publicising a recent survey from the Parliamentary Transport Committee about the accessibility of public transport.
Jacob Short, Independent Candidate for Fratton, said, ‘public transport needs to be accessible for all,’ adding that ‘not everybody is able to drive’ and that public transport allows people to travel long distances in a way that is ‘a lot more cost-effective than things like taxis.’
Ensuring that Portsmouth is kept accessible for all is essential for many living in the city, as the Census 2021 shows a total of 19.2% of people living in Portsmouth are identified as disabled, of which 11.1% are limited a little, and 8.1% a lot.
Mr Short continued: ‘It is important for us in Portsmouth because bus routes run to most, if not all, key locations in the city,’ and explained that making bus travel accessible for all means people with disabilities will be able to ‘get out more and keep healthy, but also be able to socialise … without the worry of inaccessibility.’
Portsmouth City Council launched a survey in 2022 assessing the accessibility of the transport network — discovering 30% of people found Portsmouth & Southsea station to be inaccessible, and 22% of people found bus accessibility to be poor.
The Parliamentary Transport Committee survey will be open until 5 p.m. on Monday, March 20, and can be found here.