Wheelchair users want improvements in access to buses

CNA - Sunday May 6, 4:17 PM

SINGAPORE: It has been almost a year since wheelchair friendly buses were introduced, but a survey by the Society for the Physically Disabled showed that only 40 percent of its mobile members are using them.

Therefore, in an attempt to redesign wheelchairs to meet the challenges of the environment, the society organised a Wheelchair Enabler Competition.

And all three winning entries of the competition were designed by students from the Institute of Technical Education.

One design allows its user to clear a gap of at least 30 centimetres, while another prevents wheelchairs from sliding backwards on steep slopes.

Mohammed Hussain, Book Binder, said: "For wheelchair users, it is difficult to cross drains without platforms. It is also difficult for them to get into the seat space at hawker centres."

Abdul Rahman, a student of the winning team from ITE College Central Tampines in the Wheelchair Enabler Competition, said: "We designed the project with the help of our classmate who is wheelchair-bound and we took about four months to complete the whole wheelchair."

Such inventions can go a long way in complementing the wheelchair friendly buses that were introduced last June, of which 3,500 will be rolled out over the next 17 years.

The Society for the Physically Disabled feels there is a need to review how wheelchair-accessible bus routes are selected.

They feel it may be more practical to have bus routes which link neighbourhoods to the nearest MRT and LRT stations, instead of current bus routes which link one town to another.

Gan Boon Leong, a wheelchair user, said: "For example, we want to go to Suntec City or Marina Square but there is no wheelchair friendly bus that goes there. I want to see more buses for handicapped people so that we can go anywhere in Singapore."

Another complaint by some is the design of these buses.

Currently, it takes more than five minutes for the wheelchair-bound to board a bus, with some help from the bus driver.

Some commuters feel this slows down public transport.

Cedric Foo, Chairman, Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport, said: "This is a challenge of balancing the needs of the public commuters with that of the elderly and the people with disabilities.

"On one hand, you want the public transport system to be smooth, cost efficient and effective. On the other hand, I think to be inclusive, you need to devise ways to enable those who are physically challenged to use the public transport system.

"The society must accept that Singapore is not just an economy, the public transport system must also be human in that aspect so commuters must be patient if the bus captain is helping somebody who is using a wheelchair to board or disembark the bus."

The Transport Ministry is studying how barrier-free access to public transport can be improved.

- CNA/so