The Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) is set to establish a Community Empowerment Unit (CEU) as part of a major initiative to transform disabled access to public transport, with plans to import specially equipped buses from China, AOPT chairman Roy Raphael revealed on Thursday.
Discussions are already underway with the Ministry of Transport regarding trial routes for the new accessible vehicles.
“We will have a team to go off to China very shortly, where we will engage in discussions with the Chinese government, to ensure that the buses that we are going to bring in are equipped for persons with disabilities,” he told Barbados TODAY.
The announcement follows Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s proposal in Parliament on Tuesday for new regulations to ensure equitable funding for disability-friendly modifications across all mass transport vehicles.
Raphael highlighted several challenges facing disabled passengers, including inadequate bus stop infrastructure.
“A number of our bus stops are not catering to the disabled community, and we want that to change,” Raphael insisted, adding that the organisation would petition the Ministry of Transport to install ramps at bus stops nationwide.
The AOPT chairman also expressed concern about transport costs for disabled passengers, indicating that the new unit would assist both disabled people and senior citizens, particularly those in the TAP programme.
During Tuesday’s parliamentary debate on a policy roadmap for improving the lives of people with disabilities, Mottley emphasised the need for careful policy development.
“I want the policy work done because a time may come when we may have to regulate within public transport and make a fund available, to those who may need to borrow, to be able to have all mass public vehicles have some capacity for persons with disabilities,” she told the House of Assembly.
The prime minister advocated for an “equitable burden” across all public service vehicles, whilst cautioning against hasty policy implementation. She called for consultations between the Ministry of People Empowerment, the Ministry of Transport, and transport providers to ensure sustainable mobility.
“The question will be for us now, the engagement between not just the Transport Board buses, but the other buses within the system, or the other taxis within the system to ensure that there is equal access at the level of all ranges of buses as far as possible,” Mottley said.
She added that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Works Santia Bradshaw had already committed to securing dedicated disabled-access buses, along with making regular buses more accessible.
Mottley stressed that private operators buying new vehicles must consider their obligations to disabled passengers, noting that while full fleet accessibility might not be achievable immediately, “if we fail to do so, we are not maintaining our obligations”.
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb
