RNIB Bus Survey 2014: Summary
From early July to October 2014 we ran a short survey about bus
services across the UK. We wanted to find out if there had been
any improvements since our last research carried out in 2012.
305 people completed the survey.
The good news
It appears that blind and partially sighted people believe that some
aspects of bus travel are improving.
Nearly half think that bus drivers have become more helpful. With
a further 20% thinking drivers have always been helpful.
Around a quarter of blind and partially sighted people think that
more buses are actually stopping for them now. Maybe more
surprisingly, 60% said that buses have always stopped for them.
Two years ago the majority of people spoke about missing buses,
now the majority say that buses do stop. This is encouraging but
many of the comments left in the survey are about when buses fail
to stop.
Since the survey in 2012 more blind and partially sighted people
think that bus drivers are reliable at providing verbal information.
Two years ago 39% said that drivers were “quite reliable” at
providing verbal information. In 2014, 56% say drivers are reliable.
(15% say “very reliable” and 41% “quite reliable.”)
Some of the positive quotes from respondents are:
“In Nottingham the bus drivers are loads better than they used to
be. Some even get off their bus to alert me they are there if I'm not
in calling distance.”
“When I get a good driver they tend to be good at all aspects of
their job, e.g. telling me the number, the direction, they wait before
they drive off, they tell me when I am nearing my stop, and when I
reach it etc.”
“Drivers have become much better over the past year, not just for
VI people but for everybody.”
The bad news
Unfortunately, despite progress in some areas, in others there
seems to have been little or no change.
45% of blind and partially sighted people say that they have
collided with something on disembarking from a bus. This is the
same as in 2012.
12% still say that drivers are unreliable at providing them with
information about reaching their stop, with 27% saying drivers are
not very reliable. This means that well over a third of blind and
partially sighted people consistently don’t receive vital information
from drivers. We know one effect of this is that blind and partially
sighted people feel less confident about travelling independently.
30% say drivers never, or rarely, wait for them to be seated before
pulling away. For 44% of respondents sight loss is not their only
disability, so it’s essential that drivers wait for them to be seated to
avoid injury.
Nearly half of blind and partially sighted people say they miss
buses, because the bus they are waiting for pulls in further away
from the bus stop. This is most often caused by multiple buses
arriving at the bus stop at the same time, and queuing up behind
each other, rather than pulling in directly at the bus stop.
A frequent complaint from blind and partially sighted people is the
lack of consistency between services. Some pointed out, that even
within the same bus company, there can be huge differences in
the service provided.
Only 12% of respondents are using bus apps on smart phones to
help them locate buses or know when to get off a bus. Yet we hear
from bus operators and government that these apps are the way to
make bus travel more accessible. Even when we only consider the
under 35s who completed the survey, not quite a 1/3 are using bus
apps. That said, those who do use them say they are useful and
others say they would like to use an app but either don’t have a
smart phone or don’t know which apps are accessible.
Conclusions
Blind and partially sighted believe that progress is taking place to
make bus services more accessible, but unfortunately there is still
some way to go.
Areas that still need improving are:
 Being consistent when ensuring all bus operators train their
drivers to slow down when approaching stops and pull in
where passengers are waiting.
 Bus drivers consistently providing verbal information to
passengers who are blind or partially sighted.
 Drivers waiting for passengers to be seated before driving
away.
 Drivers being more aware of what their doors are opening on
to, so that blind and partially sighted people are not colliding
with obstacles when disembarking.
 The problem of “stacking buses” at bus stops. Too many
buses are being missed by blind and partially sighted people
because they pull in too far away from the stop.
 Better use of technology such as talking buses and more
accessible apps.