As ever, let’s talk. Let me demonstrate these challenges to the people with the power to rectify them, and let’s constructively co-produce an accessible public transport system which works for all people and planet. The offer’s open. 9/
The tram has the potential to be the most accessible way of getting around South London. There’s lots of level access, well designed infrastructure, and reliability. But if the absolute fundamentals are completely overlooked, you create an inaccessible and stressful system. 8/
So, there I was, at an unfamiliar tram stop, needing to get across the tracks and to the other platform to go back on myself. The tram network operates like the buses, so tram stops are not staffed and there’s no one necessarily there to help. 7/
It transpires that this occasional lack of confidence from the app should probably be more widespread: I boarded the tram based on the app info… Only to find that the tram was only announcing the next stop, not its destination, and was in fact heading the wrong way. 6/
Given the lack of consistent announcements, I used the TfL Go app to check the departures.
Quick side note, this app often says “check front of tram”… Which is really helpful, when you have no eyes. 5/
A black dog with a shiny coat resting its head on my khaki-colored trousers. The dog has soulful, brown eyes and appears calm or perhaps a little sad.
You can see where this is going…
The trams operate a town centre loop, meaning for some journeys, the destination of the tram really does matter. Today, I chose to take the tram rather than to walk, as I had 3 heavy and unwieldy bags, and a tired Labrador (evidence attached). 4/
When there are announcements, they are often given at useless times. e.g, announcing where the tram is going after the doors have shut and the tram is moving, meaning that if you rely on those announcements to know if you’re getting on the right tram, it’s already too late. 3/
First and foremost, audio announcements. I’ve never encountered the system with such inconsistent onboard announcements: sometimes they work well, sometimes they say nothing, sometimes they announce the next stop, but not where the tram is going, other times, the opposite. 2/
FAO TfL, I’m totally blind and live in Croydon. Thrilled to have trams, less thrilled by the omission of some fundamental accessibility considerations, which have today resulted in my tram ride home (with 3 heavy bags) including a visit to a completely unfamiliar tram stop. 1/
I am sitting on a wooden jetty by the Thames, with Lacey, a black guide dog wearing a yellow harness, sitting beside me. I am wearing a white t-shirt with a floral design and light-coloured trousers, and I have a black shoulder bag. In the background, there is a bridge and city buildings under a blue sky with wispy clouds. The sun is shining brightly, reflecting off the water. Trees line the riverbank on the left side of the image.
I’ve been quiet online as of late — don’t really intend on that changing —, but I had a lovely evening on the Southbank last night, and whilst the world feels like it’s spinning faster and faster these days, a moment of tranquility feels worth savouring.
If you’re still looking for folks, I’ve got experience — both historically, and with Sky, LBC, and more to follow on this latest attack on disability rights — and would be happy to help. Don’t post much here but more posted on the bad place, and the really bad place (LinkedIn) for a sense check.
A homemade cake on a wooden cutting board with three lit candles on top. The cake is frosted with a light-colored icing and has the name "LACEY" spelled out in orange letters, made from carrots. In the background, Lacey, a black labrador retriever, has her head resting on the table, looking towards the cake.
Lacey is lying on a wooden floor. She is holding a green plush toy bear (yet to be named) in her mouth.
Lacey is standing indoors on a wooden floor. She is looking up with her mouth open and tongue out, appearing happy and attentive.
Lacey is lying on a checkered floor with black and beige tiles. She is wearing her guide dog harness, and is looking up towards the camera with a calm expression. I am sitting on a chair next to her, wearing blue jeans and resting my hand on her back.
🐕🦺 Lacey turned 9 yesterday, which of course couldn’t go without celebrating.
This will be her last working birthday and her last living with me, so we made sure she was treated (more so than usual) like the utter princess she knows she is… with plenty of carrots to go around 🥕
I read said apology immediately after yet another assistance failure on the network at Moorgate (I have raised this in my reply). i'm genuinely pleased to see a commitment to improvement. But time is a luxury we don't have; this is clearly an immediate and pervasive problem. 2/2
I was pleased to receive an apology for these experiences from TfL yesterday evening, and was reassured by their commitment to ensuring those with lived experience of disability are at the heart of future training. However (because there is always a 'however')... 1/2
There are so many uncertainties facing disabled people, daily. An understanding of this at the heart of government would go a long way in acknowledging that whilst the markets may be calmer, the prospect of losing my freedom and independence makes me more shaky than ever. 3/3
For so many disabled people, including myself, these payments facilitate us living independent, fulfilled, and (though it shouldn't need to be part of a winning argument) economically active lives. My independence is being offered up as a trade-off for 'market stability'. 2/3
It's a difficult pill to swallow, the government trailing £3bn cuts to welfare, notably from Personal Independence Payments, thereby prioritising calming the markets over calming the legitimised fears of millions of disabled people now facing the loss of our independence. 1/3
They claim to have ‘accessibility champions’ in the team, but 3 attempts later, I was categorically unable to speak to a human being. Accessibility champions really don’t count if I can’t get through to speak to them. 12/
https://t.co/E8qVgNFevj
PS: I tried to phone TfL to ask about assistance availability on the night Overground (which I then realised wasn’t running this weekend anyway), as their website doesn’t clarify. 11/
https://t.co/WzrFG2VkIy
So, overall? This was a weekend of appalling experiences with TfL. From putting my safety at risk to disempowering me and refusing to listen to my voice and my needs, it’s the first time in a while that I have genuinely felt a confidence knock travelling in London. 10/
This request is repeatedly refused, and I’m told that they *must* hand me over to a member of national rail staff — for my own safety, of course. What a masterclass in disempowering disabled people. It’s patronising, it’s ableist, and it’s a waste of everyone’s time. 9/
Then Sunday. A more successful tube assistance experience. At Euston I asked to be taken up to the mainline station via the shortcut to the Overground platforms — I’ll be alright from there, I know this part of the station. 8/
Rule no. 1 of disabled passenger safety is surely to prevent us being stranded at unfamiliar stations, late at night, when assistance has been requested and confirmed. Just a thought. I felt vulnerable — which as people who know me will attest to is not a common occurrence. 7/
The worst part? They did precisely the same thing on my way home, this time at 11pm. Assistance at my first station phoned ahead, and helped me onto the train. Arrive at Willesden to change… no one there. 6/
As a totally blind person, TfL left me without the assistance I asked for, in unfamiliar stations after dark — a journey between 8-9pm. 5/
Finding my next train, I’m now on my way to a totally unfamiliar station to me, where there will now be nobody to assist. A quick pause here to shout out Geoff Marshall’s StationMaster app, which I used to at least give me an idea of where to head to exit the platform. 4/
… Where nobody is waiting to meet me. I wait a few mins, with no luck, and am forced to find my own way through a multilevel station. I’m lucky — and I mean lucky — to have good mobility skills with my cane, and the confidence to ask strangers for help. 3/
Firstly, Saturday night. I requested assistance on a 2-leg journey, changing at Willesden junction — a complicated station —, and heading to a station I’ve never used before. Assistance sorted, and I’m on my way to Willesden. 2/
As a disabled passenger, I had a weekend of appalling accessibility experiences with TfL. As per, let me detail them — not because this is how I enjoy spending my time, but because it’s vital, first and foremost for safety, that this improves, fast. 1/
(Edited 16:11 via @skeetsapp.com)
I thought this went without saying: *pretending* to be blind is deeply offensive, and in no way improves the accessibility of services for people, like me, who so often find them difficult to access.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jan/05/barclays-mystery-shoppers-banks-pretend-blind-deaf
