SINGAPORE – Wheelchair users are concerned that a small bay set aside for them on buses will be taken up by parents with prams under a proposed initiative that is now undergoing trials.
The six-month Land Transport Authority (LTA) trial run, which began in April, allows families with strollers and wheelchair and personal mobility aid users to use wheelchair bays on buses on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Disabled People’s Association (DPA) on July 26 took to social media to argue that strollers can be folded, but wheelchairs cannot be folded when in use.
More importantly, wheelchair users need the bay to travel on buses, which are the only accessible and affordable way for them to get around, DPA said in its post.
The few wheelchair-accessible vehicles on the road are difficult to book and can be expensive, with prices rising to two to four times the cost of a regular cab ride, it added.
Singer-songwriter and educator Sky Shen, 32, who uses a motorised wheelchair, said: “There is a difference between a need and a want. While passengers with strollers may want the convenience of leaving their strollers open, many wheelchair users don’t have a choice, and they need the wheelchair bay to board the bus and travel.”
Now, if a wheelchair user boards the bus and a commuter with a stroller is in the bay, the commuter will need to fold the stroller and carry the child, making space for the wheelchair user, he added.
If the first-come, first-served trial becomes policy, wheelchair users will need to wait for the next bus if the bay is already occupied, said Shen, who has muscular dystrophy, a condition that makes muscles weaker and lose mass over time.
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