Wheelchair friendly, but you can't board
By Esther Ng, TODAY | Posted: 02 October 2008 1134 hrs

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SINGAPORE: The message of the little blue sticker seems obvious: We’re a wheelchair-friendly bus. But, as disabled commuters have found out the hard way, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re welcome aboard.

Mr Lee Jun Hui, flagged down SBS Service No 57 outside One Raffles Quay three weeks ago. Though the decal declaring it a wheelchair accessible bus (WAB) was displayed on the windscreen, the driver refused to let him on.

“He said he was not authorised to do so. I’d understand if the bus was crowded, but it wasn’t,” said the puzzled 27-year-old, who works as an auditor at KPMG.

To ensure this was no fluke, Mr Lee, in the company of this TODAY reporter, recently tried to board services 128 and 130 at Robinson Road after 6.20pm. The drivers of all four buses were apologetic.

Despite displaying the blue decal, they told him they did not have approval from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and SBS Transit to ferry wheelchair-users.

Nonetheless, 20 minutes later at Cecil Street, he flagged down service 57. The bus driver got down, laid the ramp on the kerb and wheeled Mr Lee aboard. At Novena, Mr Lee alighted and went the rest of the way home by train – as confused as ever about WAB services.

While there are just 16 official WAB routes, buses on other service routes, such as the three above, do also carry the wheelchair-friendly decal.

“I wished the authorities would be more consistent,” said Mr Lee. “What’s the point of displaying the decal when the bus drivers are not authorised to take users like myself? It gives the wrong impression that there are many more WABs on the roads, when effectively, there aren’t.”

He is not the only one confounded. In June, student Thomas Teo, 19, faced similar rejection by service 14 – in this case, one of the 16 approved WAB routes - at a Lower Delta Road bus stop.

“I was very upset. That experience put me off totally; I prefer to use the MRT,” said Mr Teo.

SBS Transit's explanation

Their frustrations follow expectations that were heightened when it was announced, earlier this year, that 40 per cent of public buses here would be wheelchair-accessible by 2010, and all of them by 2020.

Recently, SBS Transit revealed it is spending S$147 million on 400 new WABs next year, which would come with low floors, wheelchair lots and retractable ramps at the doors. A quarter of SBS’ 2,800-strong fleet now has such features.

Said Ms Tammy Tan, SBS Transit’s vice president of corporate communications: “Although we only have 16 WAB services, we have many more wheelchair-accessible buses that ply the roads on other routes.”

She added: “Not all routes can be designated WAB routes because of the infrastructure along the way.”

For one to be so designated, 80 per cent of the bus stops along the route must be wheelchair-friendly, or such passengers would have difficulties getting on, off or around the bus-stop.

For these passengers’ safety, said Ms Tan, “bus captains will not allow them to board if they are not plying wheelchair-accessible routes. This was what happened in the incidents cited by Mr Lee.”

As for the bus captain of Service 57 who allowed him on board, SBS Transit said this was “actually not allowed due to safety reasons and will remind all Bus Captains to comply with guidelines”.

Still, Mr Lee’s point is: If the buses are not on designated WAB routes, why display the wheelchair-friendly sticker in the first place?

SBS Transit said this was “for deployment issues”. It is “reviewing what can be done to distinguish” WABs on designated routes from those that are not.

Introduced in 2006, WAB services are gradually: replacing existing fleets. The LTA said: “These services are rolled out by bus operators based on the available pool of WABs and are subject to scheduling and operational considerations.” - TODAY/ra