Monday, March 25, 1974
TRANSPORT NEEDS OF DISABLED
Will Not Be Forgotten
A Transport Department official today gave an assurance that
the transport needs of the disabled would not be overlooked.
The Chief Transport Officer/Public Transport, Mr. Peter Miller,
said, however, that there was "no single simple remedy to assist those
less fortunate members of the community in getting about."
Mr. Miller was speaking at the Rehabilitation Week Symposium
which opened at the City Hall this morning.
He referred to the recently published report on the future needs
of the elderly and handicapped, describing it as "a significant social
document and blueprint for the future".
The Transport Department, in its recommendations to the working
party laid emphasis on improving facilities for the convenience of the
travelling public.
Among these, he said, were the need at the ferry concourses for
more seats for waiting passengers, more handgrips particularly on the
boarding ramps of vessels, and improved queueing arrangements to prevent
rushing when the entry or exit gates were opened.
"In regard to buses, on some routes where there is a preponderance
of elderly people it might be as well to examine the height of steps, the
provision of handgrips and guard rails together with the width of entrances,
exits and gangwaya," Mr. Miller said.
/He pointed