Cllr Jason Murphy has requested that Waterford Council contact Bus Eireann and inform them that City buses are regularly arriving without functioning disability lifts, a situation he says is the equivalent of buses arriving without functioning doors.
Speaking at the June Council meeting for the Metropolitan Area, Cllr Murphy said he had received numerous complaints from disabled persons not being able to access local buses, which he said was ‘absolutely disgraceful.
“I have been contacted by quiet a few people with disabilities who use our bus service,” he explained.
“I am quiet outraged to learn that on numerous occasions the bus arrives and the ramp is not working, and the person with disabilities can’t get on the bus. They then are told to wait for the following bus, and the ramp may or may not be working on that.
“I think that’s absolutely disgraceful and outrageous,” he continued. “I think it’s akin to the bus leaving the bus depot with the doors not working.
“People with disabilities have the same right to use our public transport as anyone else and I would like this council to write to Bus Eireann and outline or discuss this situation.
“No bus should leave the garage without the disability ramp working. That’s the least a person with disabilities can expect.”
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
AARON KENT
