ETHEKWINI Municipality Mayor, Councillor James Nxumalo, recently launched twelve custom-designed and specially adapted ‘midibus’-type vehicles for the city’s GO!Durban Dial-A-Ride fleet.
The GO!Durban Dial-A-Ride fleet is a demand-responsive public transport service for people with disabilities (PWDs), introduced in 2011, as eThekwini Municipality’s initiative and response to the access and mobility needs for PWDs.
The sad reality that still needs to be addressed is that the existing majority of public transport services (rail, minibus taxis and buses) are not meeting the needs of persons with disabilities and special needs passengers.
In response to this, the city introduced the service as an interim measure to address immediate needs. Now approximately 3 500 people are registered for the service, with 12 buses carrying about 2 400 passengers per month. This door-to-door transport service has been prioritised for people needing to get to places of employment at peak times, and for those needing to get to clinics, social, religious and other trips during off-peak times. It is also used for special hire and in some cases for special events transport for PWDs.
The new buses are able to take between five and seven wheelchairs, as well as those on crutches in fixed seats. The buses are specially adapted with hydraulic lifts and are SABS-approved to ensure safety. As a standard training procedure, drivers and other operational staff from Vukasambe Investments, the company contracted to operate the service, go through a customer-care programme to deal with people with disabilities.
GO!Durban has made provision for PWDs through universal access (UA) design of all the infrastructure (stops, stations and vehicles). UA is essentially the way in which a public transport system enables all the people of a city to reach their destinations, whether they are in wheelchairs, on bicycles or on foot. It is a means of creating transportation equity.
This then supports people’s independence and ultimately helps make a city more liveable.
The GO!Durban facilities will be designed to allow safe travel by young, old and disabled people who have diminished visual, auditory or ambulatory abilities. For example, stations will be designed with ramps, access to buses will be level, there will be auditory and visual cues for those with visual and hearing disabilities, and priority seating and spaces will be provided for people in wheelchairs.
“Through design of the new network using UA principles, more people will be able to use the system independently, freeing up our para-transit services, like Dial-A-Ride, to people who have needs which preclude them from using public transport at all.”
“The Dial-A-Ride service provides an efficient and safe interim measure as we forge ahead with our plans for GO!Durban, which will provide a seamless and affordable transport experience for our citizens,” said Cllr Nxumalo.
