PWDA's submission to the NSW Department of Transport for the Trainlink Coach Network Review
14 February 2025
PWDA welcomed the opportunity to provide comment to the NSW Department of Transport as part of Trainlink Coach Network Review.
PWDA are part of national working groups to reform the disability transport standards, on the NSW Accessible Transport Advisory Council and work to co-design disability standards in Aviation.
PWDA want more people in NSW to have accessible public transport that enables them to participate in daily life.
NSW Trainlink is the state's long distance regional public transport provider.
A range of things are needed to make public transport more accessible.
- Wheelchairs and mobility assistance devices require step-free infrastructure and vehicles that enable their access.
- People with communication, sensory or psychosocial disabilities need information about public transport, wayfinding, booking, and the travel process to be accessible using braille, hearing loops, Easy Read and formats that allow assistive communication technologies to be used.
- Guide dog and assistance animal handlers need to have their right to access public transportation with their animal respected.
For people in rural and regional NSW there may be little-to-no useable public transport that enables them to get where they need to go.
The current service levels provided by NSW Trainlink enable a person with disability to book a journey to take a holiday or visit family. They do not run frequently enough to health, education or key commercial hubs to operate as a public transport service for people who cannot access private vehicles.
In some parts of rural and regional NSW community transport can provide accessible travel for some journeys, but services are limited. Currently these services are unable to be used should a person need to evacuate in an emergency.
More data needs to be gathered to understand people's needs and the designs of mobility assistance technology, to better enable safe integration and use on public transport.
Recommendations
Recommendation 1: Transport for NSW to survey the community to identify what they need, and to focus on those communities facing greatest transport disadvantage due to remoteness, a lack of access to trains and other public transport services.
Recommendation 2: States and territories meet with the mobility aide sector to discuss current standards for dimensions and weight of mobility assistance devices, with the aim of identifying:
- the most common dimensions in use
- safe processes and technologies to enable the fixing of mobility assistance devices within vehicles
- crash safety tolerances
- how public transport and the built environment in Australia can be made accessible for more people, in greater numbers, more often.
Ends | Contact us
