In response to concerns from residents that a number of bus stops were not accessible for disabled passengers; Ealing Council’s Transport Planning Team commissioned Hup Initiatives to undertake a full accessibility audit of bus stops in the borough (c700).
A London-wide audit previously commissioned in 2015, had suggested a high-level of accessibility compliance, but the assessment considered only 3 basic parameters, these were:
- Bus Stop Clearway in place (yes/ no)?
- Kerb height at bus stop being greater than 100mm (yes/ no)?
- Access free of impediments (yes/ no)?
Although in line with advice from Transport for London, the above parameters did not provide a true representation of accessibility. For example, to determine if buses could pull-up to the kerbside footpath and allow step free access – stops were considered compliant if a Clearway was in place, yet the length of bus stop cages, or peak hour frequency were not recorded.
To better understand the level of accessibility, and to check asset condition, Hup Initiatives developed a more detailed assessment tool utilizing a simple set of compliance parameters, that better reflected Bus Stop Accessibility Guidance.
The compliance assessment was a simple Yes/ No against the following parameters:
- Length of Bus Cage (bus stops with peak hour frequency of 30 buses per hour or less)
- in areas of unrestricted parking – 33m to 37m
- downstream side of junction – 29m
- downstream of Zig Zag Lines – 23m
- Length of Bus Cage (bus stops with peak hour frequency of more than 30 buses per hour)
- 52m or split into two bus stops.
- Length of Bus Cage (Bus Boarders/ Buildouts)
- Full Width – 2m deep x 9m to 17m long bus cage
- Half width – 1m deep x 27m long cage
- Kerb height at boarding and alighting points of bus stop – (including any rutting)
- Min 100mm
- Max 140mm
- Access to Boarding and Alighting zones (free from obstructions/ impediments),
- 2m x 2m at Front access door
- 2m x 4m at side access door
Each bus stop was visited in person (not remotely through mapping software). The full results of the audit were provided in Excel spreadsheet format, including details of each bus stop with a Yes/ No (pass/ fail) recorded against each parameter. Bus stops where then deemed as either ‘Accessible’ or ‘Not Accessible’ with comments provided for each Non-Accessible stop. Headline findings and summarized charts were also included as part of the final Report.
The assessment has provided Ealing Council with a much clearer understanding of the level of accessible bus stop provision in the borough. The report is used to target and prioritize bus stops requiring improvements, and to assist in the bidding process for associated budgets.
Client – Russell Roberts – Principal Transport Planner – LB Ealing.