Audio visual equipment on buses can support a wide range of disabled passengers to feel sufficiently confident to use buses. It enables them to access education, employment and other services, whether or not they are familiar with the route they are travelling.
I welcome that through the Bus Services Act (2017), accessible information powers will require all bus operators who operate local services across Great Britain to provide audio and visual route and next-stop announcements on board buses. The Government has also committed, through the Inclusive Transport Strategy, to investing £2 million towards ensuring audio visual equipment is installed on buses.
Last year the Government launched a consultation on up-to-the minute and accessible bus information. I understand that officials are analysing responses submitted to the consultation, and that the Government will publish a response in due course setting out its next steps. I look forward to seeing the Government’s response.
I am also pleased that in 2018 the Government amended the legislation underpinning the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme to protect the bus pass for disabled people, as well as the pass for the elderly, ensuring that they can both continue to be offered for years to come.