Using a wheelchair while travelling on public transport can be fraught with difficulties many of which were highlighted to First Bus at the Nailsea & Backwell Disabled Access Café in April.

Café organiser Alison Morgan replayed the travelling traumas experienced by passengers of the group.

There to listen to the issues were bus driver trainer Miles Dolphin and Weston depot boss Ilyas Hafezji.

This led to Miles coming to Nailsea to give advice on how to best use a roadside ramp and ‘park’ a wheelchair onboard one of their buses.

Thanks to this initiative, a few weeks later Miles bought a training bus and trainee drivers to Nailsea where he demonstrated proper techniques for drivers when bus stops aren't perfectly aligned with kerbs, emphasising that ramps should be deployed without passengers having to ask.

Alison was able to practice boarding with her wheelchair multiple times, regaining her confidence to use public transport again.

North Somerset MP Sadik Al-Hassan said: “I have met with the Disabled Access Café several times; they provide a safe space for people to raise accessibility issues and build constructive relationships with businesses and service providers like First Bus—turning problems into solutions through collaboration.

“I am proud to support initiatives that make our community more accessible for everyone!”

Alison said: “The bus crew came to the stop in Trendlewood Way, where I had  such an awful experience back in 2023.

“Miles was horrified that I had been told by a driver to use a different stop and that I had been forced to plead to be able to use the ramp and was told I was a pain.

“He reassured me that this is not how drivers are trained. 

“The problem with a lot of bus stops is that our roads are not straight, so it is difficult for drivers to get properly aligned with the raised kerb.

“Miles demonstrated that if this is the case, the driver should pull up just beyond the raised kerb, get out, check that it is safe and lower the ramp accordingly.

“He also stressed that the driver should put the ramp down without the passenger needing to ask. 

“My other concern was that my wheelchair would be too big to manoeuvre on and off the bus, and into the designated wheelchair space.

“This was not the case at all and Miles let me practice several times to get my confidence back.

“Steve Ledbrook was able to discuss a problem he had faced travelling on the new electric X1 bus to Weston and again Miles was able to reassure him of an easy solution.

“Evidently, the safety bars on the new buses can swing out to make it easier to manoeuvre in and out of the wheelchair space, again with the drivers help.

“You learn something new every day.

“We then went to the Link Road and met with another member of our group.​

“Once again it was necessary for the driver to pull up after the raised kerb and we had a further discussion about the complexities of travelling in a wheelchair.