Five disabled peers have called on the government to strengthen a new bill to ensure that all new buses have to be fitted with audio-visual announcements. They were taking part in last week’s second Lords reading of the bus services bill, which aims to give local authorities a greater role in providing bus services and improve information for passengers. But the five peers said more needed to be done in the bill to improve the accessibility of buses for disabled people. All new buses will already have to meet accessibility regulations by the end of this year, and government statistics show that 89 per cent of buses in England already do so. But those regulations – which include facilities such as low-floor boarding, visual contrast on step edges, handholds and handrails, priority seats, and spaces for wheelchairs – do not include audio-visual announcements. Baroness Campbell said that access for disabled passengers “remains a major challenge for the bus industry”. She said that
Source: Five disabled peers call for audio-visual systems for all new buses | DisabledGo News and Blog
61chrissterry 
In addition to AV more allowance for wheelchairs needs to be considered.
The space already provided should be legally enforceable that the space as to be vacated for wheelchair access and not a recommendation as it currently is.
Also while in many buses the wheelchair space is to a degree to the front of the vehicle it still means that when the vehicle as many standing passengers, persons in wheelchairs can not alight from the vehicle as the standing passengers are more than likely to be blocking the only way to exit in busy periods. This wheelchair space or even spaces needs to be at the nearest point to the exit so access and exit are not blocked by standing passengers.
LikeLike