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The impacts raised by BME, disabled, LGBT, and older people and
carers at our engagement groups were wide-ranging. However these
generally fall into the categories of changes and reductions to
services and scheduling; driver training and attitudes; a workforce
that does not reflect diversity; information provision; and
policies and practices. These issues are outlined below with
quotations from participants.
Changes and reductions to services and scheduling
In particular participants were concerned about cuts in service
frequency in Lisvane, Radyr and Splott, and the route of the number
12 bus in Ely. They highlighted that cuts to routes can affect
older people in particular who may be reliant on the bus service in
order to attend hospital appointments and to socialise with family
and friends. At the meeting Cardiff Bus said that cuts were due to
a decrease in funding by Cardiff Council and participants wanted to
know how they could work with Cardiff Bus to fight Cardiff Council
for increased funding.
“I live in Lisvane, and I am also speaking on behalf of
nearly everyone in Lisvane, one bus an hour, and it's very
difficult to go to somewhere like Sainsbury's, which is fairly
near, you have to go into Llanishen, all the way around and then
when you come back, you come back the other way and that is the
only bus. It's also cut out the hospital link. I used to use that
myself regularly, I can't now.”
(Older disabled woman from Cardiff)
“The buses are a vital connection for older people, without
buses they can't get to hospitals, doctors, see friends,
see family and we have seen
the buses disappear off our roads, particularly on Sundays, which
is the one day that a lot of older people like to get out, when
they can”
(Older woman from Vale)
“One of the big issues, all the people they are suffering
from is changing the routes of the bus stop which is affecting
them, really, really affecting them… I’ve got a group
of people, they live in Lewis Street, it's next to Cardiff Splott
Market. There is a big day centre there for the Indian community.
They are certain most of the ladies that go there is 90 plus but
they stopped going there. And this is the only place they go for
social, for meeting friends, they are going to see other people,
but they stopped because every time Cardiff Bus, they changed the
route for the bus and they are elderly. They cannot walk for
long.”
(BME woman who is a community worker in Cardiff)
“My service user lives in Radyr and is trying to hold down a
job at the moment. There's only a bus at 5 past 8 in the morning.
Then the next one is at 5 past 9. Now I understand what you are
saying about restraints, you know, you think everybody in Radyr and
Lisvane have all got cars and loads of money, so they don't need
buses. And I know that's not you personally, um but her suggestion,
as we are trying to be positive here, is that a number 66 bus could
pick up in Radyr and at least get her to Fairwater so then she can
get to work at a reasonable time, instead if she misses the bus by
a minute, she doesn't get into work for at least an hour later, if
not more, misses appointment”
(Older female support worker talking about a visually impaired
service user in Cardiff)
Driver training and attitudes
a.
Accessibility Ramps
– drivers have refused assistance with accessibility ramps to
participants who use wheelchairs.
“I did a survey a couple of years ago, I stopped 10 buses, I
was by myself and not one of them would help me on the bus, right.
You showed a lovely picture there of the ramps coming down. I'm
sure the bus drivers are paraplegic, because not one of them would
offer to get the ramp down. And I've been told they are not allowed
to, for health and safety”
(Disabled woman from Cardiff)
b.
Orange Wallet -
participants who used the Orange Wallet scheme because of their
learning disability had been ignored by drivers, who had driven the
bus passed them when they had held out their Orange
Wallets.
“It's
obvious that training is a massive issue… I've actually been
on a bus stop with 2 of my members and they have been trained to
hold the Orange Wallet out on the bus stop. Because people with a
learning disability, sometimes, their attention span, they can't do
this, but they have learnt to actually hold the wallet in their
hand. Umpteen times, drivers drive straight past.”
(Older male support worker from Vale)
c.
Courtesy/Health & Safety –
Many drivers don’t wait for people to be seated before
leaving the bus stop, and also allow overcrowding on the buses.
Participants highlighted that this can particularly affect older
people, disabled people and wheelchair users.
“How much training do they have, when people want to sit down
and they take off, whether they are infirm, elderly or with
children, which happens a lot?”
(Older BME disabled man from Cardiff)
“Surely it would be at the bus driver's discretion on how
many passengers he actually lets on the bus? I have actually been
on the bus, as you can see, I am disabled, and I’ve actually
got on buses where the drivers have literally crammed them on so
they were actually like sardines. I would have thought it would
have been at the bus driver's discretion how many people he
actually allowed on the bus.”
(Older disabled woman from Cardiff)
d.
Awareness of issues such as dementia and needs of people with a
visual impairment
– many older people have mild dementia – are drivers
trained to deal with this? Are drivers trained to be aware when
serving customers with a visual impairment, e.g. ensuring there are
no obstacles blocking the bus exit when dropping people off?
Participants appreciated that many drivers were helpful and willing
to offer assistance but felt that appropriate training could help
overcome areas where good customer service is lacking.
“Do your drivers have training for dementia? Specific
dementia training, because a lot of older people have mild
dementia, they get a bit unsure of what they are doing, and do you
give any specific training for dementia?”
(Older woman from Vale)
A workforce that does not reflect diversity
How many Black and Minority Ethnic bus drivers are employed by
Cardiff Bus? Can the company provide ethnic monitoring statistics?
How does the company promote recruitment opportunities, does it
practice positive action e.g., sending out vacancies to community
groups, holding recruitment events in ethnic minority communities.
Are drivers assessed for attitude e.g. towards disabled
people?
I haven't seen any driver from the diverse, ethnic minority
driving the buses and given the chance or opportunity so I don't
know, where does that fit in to equal opportunity with the bus
driver in terms of ethnic minority bus drivers. There is a lot of
unemployed people from the, who have experience from their point of
view.” (Older BME man from Cardiff)
Are there any opportunities for customers to become involved in
recruitment and selection, how is the Customer Panel promoted?
Participants in the forum linked to other community organisations
recommended that Cardiff Bus visit their groups too.
“It would be quite nice if we were invited to your
meetings like, have you got anybody disabled on your groups that
you meet with?” (Disabled woman from Cardiff)
Information provision
Is information presented in accessible formats e.g. large print
(many people are not online); frequently timetable information is
missing from bus stops; people want information from a local
provider. There was also a request for information to be presented
in other languages as many older minority ethnic people do not
speak English.
“Do your timetables come in large print versions, so that
people who have problems with their sight, and not all older people
are online, so it's all very well saying this is on our website,
that's on our website and if you're elderly and you've never
touched a computer, that's a waste of time”
(Older woman from Cardiff)
“So
many bus stops do not have a timetable on, which makes it
impossible for people to know when a bus is coming and when it's
not. And finally, do your drivers know their route? An
elderly person gets on, wants to get off at Westgate Street, or I
mean, that's a bit street, or somewhere in Barry, say and they ask
the driver, Can you put me off at such and such as street and they
turn around and say, Oh I don't know this route, I don't know where
that is.”
(Older woman from Vale)
“I work with older people of the minority ethnic community
and they speak a different language. They don't speak English. All
the leaflets for Cardiff Bus is all in English. I've not seen the
Bengali, Somali language and all the languages. So I just wanted to
ask, what are you going to do about it? And the older ones, because
they don't speak English, they need to know all the information in
their languages. So it’s how we can do that and do something
about the language problem.”
(Older BME woman who is also a support worker from
Cardiff)
Policies and practices
a.
Is there a policy on priority between people who use wheelchairs,
baby buggies, shopping trolleys?
“My question is, "Who has priority on the buses?" A lot of
people are using what they call shopping trolleys and shopping
baskets, whatever it is. And young mothers with babies in the pram
are not getting the room on the bus. Now who has priority? Because
I deem that shopping think is luggage and it should go in the
luggage rack, if there's not enough room they shouldn't be allowed
on the bus”
(Older disabled man from Cardiff)
b.
Is there a policy on passenger on passenger abuse and whether
drivers should become involved?
“Are you saying it's alright then, for a driver to be driving
a bus, and a gang of young boys to get up and verbally abuse a
young mother with a child, to be verbally abusive and that's to be
tolerated? The driver can hear, he knows what's going on. Surely,
the driver should stop the bus and ask those boys to leave the
bus… there should be a policy”
(Older disabled woman from Cardiff)
c.
Participants wanted more clarity on the complaints procedure and
how the results of complaints were fed back to the complainant.
–people
had made complaints but had not received any response from the
company.
“I want to know, what is the procedure regarding complaints
and what is the feedback on that? The second one is, as you
said, they have training in customer care. How much training do
they have, when people want to sit down and they take off, whether
they are infirm, elderly or with children, which happens a
lot?”
(Older disabled man from Cardiff)
d.
Confusion about Cardiff Bus responsibilities and responsibilities
of other organisations.
I.
Cardiff Bus and Traveline Cymru
Participants contacting Traveline Cymru telephone numbers for
information were under the impression that Cardiff Bus provided
this service. They were not sure how they could get information
about bus services. This can be particularly difficult for people
who are not online. Participants were also concerned that phoning
Traveline Cymru costs 10p per minute.
“When you ring for a timetable, you ring, you don't go
through to a call centre in Cardiff any longer, and when you go
through to your call centre, the number of people who do not know,
and I believe it's up in Wrexham, correct me if I am wrong. They do
not know the routes or where the roads are” (Older
disabled woman from Cardiff)
“I'm enquiring about your 0817 telephone line. I imagine
that it is mostly old people that would use it because the
youngsters all have their iPhones. But why should we have to pay
10p a minute to be taking to somebody about a particular bus, you
need to know the number, to get from a to b” (Older woman
from Cardiff)
II.
Cardiff Bus and Cardiff Council
– Participants thought that certain issues such as raised
kerbs, were the responsibility of Cardiff Bus when they were the
council’s responsibility. There was also confusion over
whether Cardiff Bus was owned by Cardiff Council.
“Raised kerbs. What intention do you have of
putting them in in Grand Avenue?” (Disabled BME woman
from Cardiff)
III.
Cardiff Bus and University Hospital of Wales
– Participants complained about the repositioning of bus
stops at UHW and as Cardiff Bus said this was not its
responsibility they wanted to know who they should approach about
this issue. They were concerned as bus stops had been moved from
outside the concourse towards A&E as a result of building work.
This creates a longer walk which participants highlighted can
affect disabled people.
“My question is, at the Heath Hospital, you've moved the bus
stops from outside the main part of the hospital outpatients, right
up to A&E, which is a very long walk for someone who is
disabled. I might not look disabled but I am. When are you thinking
of putting the bus stops back, to make it easier for
people”
(Older disabled woman from Cardiff)
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