XN000022-1974-03-25 — Page 6

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