Bites: March and April 2002
Transport
DPA believes that transport is a basic right of all people. Recognising this, government must ensure that all forms of transport and its infrastructure, both in the community and nationally, must be fully accessible to people with disabilities.
Moving Forward — a transport vision
All motorists, including those with disabilities, have been digging deeper into their pockets to fund the government's new land transport initiatives, following the 4.7 cents per litre rise in petrol tax on 1 March 2002.
That tax rise was introduced as part of the government's $227 million land transport funding package, called Moving Forward, announced on 28 February 2002, which is a pre-cursor to a new NZ Transport Strategy.
DPA provided a comprehensive submission to the government on the proposed transport strategy last year. The strategy will provide direction across all modes of transport — land, sea and air — and aims to reduce severe traffic congestion, improve passenger transport, promote walking and cycling, assist regional development and alternatives to roading, and improve road safety.
The government says the new transport deal will ensure crucial roading projects proceed while also giving greater emphasis to social, economic and environmental priorities. The vision for transport is that by 2010 New Zealand will have a transport system that is affordable, integrated, safe, responsive, sustainable and designed to:
- assist economic development
- ensure safety and personal security
- improve access and mobility
- protect and promote public health
- ensure environmental sustainability.
To this end the Moving Forward funding package, which also introduced a 30 percent diesel tax increase and paved the way for toll roads, includes:
- an extra $94 million for roading, particularly for severely congested roads
- $30 million in regional development land transport funding
- another $30 million for alternatives to roading, such as rail, in addition to the $9 million allocated in 2001/02
- $36 million more for public transport on top of approximately $70 million already allocated in 2001/02
- $3 million to promote walking and cycling
- an extra $34 million for road safety education and enforcement.
DPA — a strong interest in transport
DPA represents the coordinated interests of transport users with disabilities with and without mobility aids such as walking sticks, walking frames, guide dogs, crutches, wheelchairs and motorised scooters, as well as people with a wide variety of visual, hearing and cognitive capabilities. This group of transport users comprises about 20 percent of the population and is not only motorists.
We believe the other 80 percent of the population who are land transport users will experience varying levels of disability throughout their lifetime, particularly as they age, affecting their ability to use all the forms of transport covered by the proposed Transport Strategy.
DPA president, Bill Wrightson, who has convened the NEC working group on transport, says that during its 18 years of existence DPA has successfully advocated for solutions to the variety of transport needs for people with disabilities:
- air transport — ticketing procedures, terminal and aircraft facilities
- taxis — the Total Mobility (maxi-taxi) scheme established and coordinated through DPA
- motor vehicles (rental vehicles, camper-vans and motor homes, vehicle modifications, licensing, the Mobility Card car-parking scheme and parking spaces)
- provision of accessible buses on urban bus routes, inter-city routes and tour coaches
- provision of accessible trains
- boats (inter-island ferries, and tourist operations)
- footpath and pedestrian crossings.
Of course, while DPA welcomed the prospect of a coordinated New Zealand Transport Strategy, our submission last year highlighted our concern that any New Zealand Transport Strategy needed to incorporate requirements for people with disabilities early in all planning processes. We wanted:
- an advisory group created within the Ministry of Transport to address disability issues raised in our submission
- adequate data on transport for people with disabilities
- minimum guidelines establishing basic national requirements and expectations for both providers and users
- accurate information about all forms of transport servicing available in formats accessible to everyone (including those who are blind or partially sighted, deaf or hearing impaired, those with cognitive and / or manipulate impairment).
Our argument was that the NZ Disability Strategy identified actions necessary to enable movement around the community. We said:
- new scheduled public transport had to be accessible
- accessible routes connecting building, public spaces and transport systems had to be developed
- access to passenger services where there is no accessible public transport had to be consistent around the country.
We also drew attention to the fact that the rights of people with disabilities to access and use all forms of transport systems are established under the Human Rights Act 1993. Also, our right of access to footpaths and access-ways around and between transport-public space transition facilities are established in the Local Government Act 1973 and the Building Act 1991.
DPA expects the full NZ Transport Strategy will be announced later this year.
Want to know more?
If you need more information from the DPA National Secretariat on any item in Bites simply phone /ITTY us on (04) 801-9100, fax your request to (04) 801-9565, send it email: gen@dpa.org.nz, or to DPA (New Zealand) Inc, PO Box 27-524, Wellington or check our website www.dpa.org.nz.