Briefing to:
Hon Gerry Brownlee
Minister of Transport
13 March 2012
Contents
Key recommendations ..................................................................................... 3
Introduction ...................................................................................................... 4
Including all in transport ................................................................................... 5
Quality information ........................................................................................... 7
Consultation in planning processes ................................................................. 9
Public transport .............................................................................................. 11
References..................................................................................................... 12
2
Key recommendations
CCS Disability Action recommends that:

The recommendations from the Human Rights Commission report ‘The
Accessible Journey: Report of the Inquiry into Accessible Public Land
Transport’ are incorporated into Ministry of Transport and New Zealand
Transport Agency work programmes.

The Ministry of Transport and New Zealand Transport Agency
undertake or commission quality research that provides comprehensive
and detailed data on the transport needs of disabled people that can
provide the basis for meaningful evaluation and analysis.

The Ministry of Transport and New Zealand Transport Agency fund
further development of accessibility modelling.

The Ministry of Transport develop effective mechanisms that enable
disabled people to be engaged and be heard at all levels and stages of
planning processes.

The Ministry of Transport and New Zealand Transport Agency ensure
Local Authorities accommodate the identified transport access
requirements of disabled people.
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Introduction
CCS Disability Action congratulates you on being appointed Minister of
Transport. This is an extremely important portfolio that impacts on the lives of
many New Zealanders.
This briefing provides our perspective on issues pertinent to the transport
portfolio. Connecting disabled people with a range of life opportunities that
every New Zealander might reasonably expect sits at the heart of our work.
Developing an accessible transport system is pivotal to people’s inclusion and
ability to participate in their chosen community and wider society.
We hope this briefing will set the foundation for ongoing discussions with you.
We encourage you and your advisors to take the time to read this briefing and
look forward to working with you.
About us
CCS Disability Action is one of the largest disability services providers in New
Zealand. We have been advocating for people with disabilities since 1935.
Today, our organisation has a strong disabled leadership and human rights
focus.
CCS Disability Action has a National Office and regional management
structure, and provides services nationally from sixteen incorporated societies.
We deliver regular services to over 6,000 people of all ages with disabilities
who choose to access our support. We also administer the Mobility Parking
Scheme for over 100,000 people.
Article 9 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
discusses the need for State Parties to enable persons with disabilities to live
independently and participate fully in all aspects of life. The delivery of
accessible public transport facilities and services is critical to reflecting the
intent of this Article.
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Including all in transport
Transportation is pivotal to people’s inclusion and ability to participate in
society. The ability to independently move between facilities and services
directly affects how we are able to live our lives, study, and work to achieve
our dreams, interact socially with others, pursue sporting and recreational
activities and generally live meaningful and fulfilling lives.
If we expect every disabled New Zealander to live independently in the
community of their choice, it is important that our transport system is designed
in such a way that it does not introduce barriers that prevent access for an
already disadvantaged sector of the population.
Designing transport systems to accommodate the access requirements of
people with disabilities assists in future proofing the transport system as it also
provides easier access for older people, those with temporary impairments
and caregivers with children in buggies and strollers.
New Zealand became a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities in 2008.
Article 9 – Accessibility states:
1. ...States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure to
persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the
physical environment, to transportation, to information and
communications, including information and communications
technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or
provided to the public, both in urban and rural areas. These measures,
which shall include the identification and elimination of obstacles and
barriers to accessibility, shall apply to, inter alia:
(a ) Buildings, roads, transportation...
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Appropriate measures to ensure access to the transportation system for
people with disabilities ‘on an equal basis with others’ must include
consideration of human rights and social issues as well as the practical
measures required to provide access.
Disabled people are human beings, with impairments, who have aspirations,
hopes and dreams as do other people. Disabled people have the right to be
treated with the same level of respect, and be given the same degree of
choice, as others in society.
Transport systems
Universal design principles should be used at all levels of the transport
infrastructure and service delivery planning. This will ensure that, over time, all
New Zealanders will be able to independently use the transport system.
Barriers that prevent disabled people from using the transport system to enjoy
community activities and fully participate in society will be progressively
removed in a planned manner. Improving accessibility of our transport system
will inevitably benefit both disabled and non-disabled New Zealanders.
Recommendation:

That the recommendations from the Human Rights Commission report
‘The Accessible Journey: Report of the Inquiry into Accessible Public
Land Transport’ are incorporated into Ministry of Transport and New
Zealand Transport Agency work programmes.
6
Quality information
There has been some work undertaken in New Zealand about people living
with disabilities. However, more work needs to be done in this area in order to
understand the full extent of the barriers and challenges that disabled people
face when using transport system infrastructure and public land transport
services.
The correlation between patchy data and poor public transport planning
cannot be overstated.
Despite a lack of definitive and comprehensive information there is
nevertheless clear evidence that disabled people do face significant barriers
when using transport system infrastructure and services. More detailed,
comprehensive and accurate data needs to be collected to provide evidence
to underpin the design and development of a transport system that serves all
New Zealanders well.
Currently pedestrian and passenger counts collected by local authorities are
used by New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) as one of the data sets when
considering proposed project funding allocations. We understand that there is
no requirement to include counts of disabled people, or even simply those
using an easily identifiable mobility aid. Inclusion of this type of data is
essential to allow planners to fully understand disabled people’s ability, or
inability, to use pedestrian routes and public transport as it is currently
provided.
If there is a requirement implemented to include those using an obvious
mobility aid in pedestrian and passenger counts, barriers to access will quickly
be identified as disabled people will be present in reduced numbers, if indeed
present at all.
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This would then provide the basis for undertaking a process to identify the
barriers to access. Inclusion of disabled people in routine enumerative
processes could also provide the information required to evaluate the
implications and impact for disabled people, of policy changes such as
NZTA’s 50% fare recovery policy and a review of standards such as NZTA’s
document ‘Requirements for Urban Buses’.
Recommendation:

That the Ministry of Transport and New Zealand Transport Agency
undertake or commission quality research that provides comprehensive
and detailed data on the transport needs of disabled people that can
provide the basis for meaningful evaluation and analysis.
Modelling
Geographic information system based models are currently used to manage
land use and transport system modelling at a national and regional level.
Models that incorporate local traffic, cyclists, pedestrians and disabled people,
such as the accessibility model that Hamilton City is currently developing, will
also help to provide empirical data and evidence of barrier removal. This type
of modelling has the potential to transform disabled people’s access to study,
work and community if used to its full potential.
Recommendation:

That the Ministry of Transport and New Zealand Transport Agency fund
further development of accessibility modelling.
8
Consultation in planning processes
There needs to be more meaningful inclusion of, and consultation with the
disability sector on transport issues.
Currently, consultation is patchy. When consultation with the disability sector
does occur it tends to focus on specific areas and projects rather than a
natural consequence of policy and service development processes.
In October 2005, the Human Rights Commission released ‘The Accessible
Journey: Report of the Inquiry into Accessible Public Land Transport’. The
report recommended that the Minister establish ‘a national ministerial advisory
committee that would have wide representation, adequate resourcing and
training and support for its functions’.
We concur with recommendations made in the 'The Accessible Journey'
report that systemic change is required to ensure that disabled people
become collaborative partners at all levels of transport planning processes.
The transport needs and considerations of disabled people should not sit at
the periphery of decision making processes or be consigned to post-planning
consultation. Rather, these transport requirements need to sit at the core of
transport planning and be viewed as unmovable variables upon which quality
transport systems are designed and developed.
The report recommended that there should be ‘mandatory provision for the
participation of disabled people in all public land transport planning, funding
and implementation processes at central, regional and local government
levels’.
We understand that there are proposed legislative changes underway that will
reduce the size of Regional Transport Committees. The implication of these
changes are that disabled people will no longer have the opportunity to speak
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at regional committee level and have their concerns recorded as Access and
Mobility representatives.
Recommendation:

That the Ministry of Transport develop effective mechanisms that
enable disabled people to be engaged and heard at all levels and
stages of planning processes.
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Public transport
The usefulness of public transport depends on its ability to get people to
where they want to go. Train stations and bus stops should have accessible
pedestrian routes to local amenities, such as community facilities and
shopping centres.
As the Human Rights Commission’s Inquiry into Accessible Public Land
Transport commented, accessibility of public transport is diminished, if not
completely removed, if accessible routes from home to destination are not
provided.
In order for public transport systems to be accessible to everyone, measures
need to be implemented that ensure disabled people can access, on an equal
basis with others, information about public transport services, including
timetabling and accessibility. There is a diversity of information and
communication requirements that must be met.
Recommendation:

That the Ministry of Transport and New Zealand Transport Agency
ensure Local Authorities accommodate identified transport access
requirements of disabled people.
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References
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Optional Protocol.
(2007). Geneva: United Nations. Retrieved January 12, 2012, from,
http://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/convention/convoptprot-e.pdf
Human Rights Commission. (2005). The Accessible Journey: Report of the
Inquiry into Accessible Public Land Transport. Auckland.
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