How do you get around with a disability?
After the 大象传媒's security correspondent Frank Gardner when special assistance didn't arrive, we asked people to get in touch with their experiences, using #Right2Ride .
Four wheelchair users told us about the challenges they face when they travel on public transport.
'Getting off the train can be quite distressing'
Jordan Bone is a successful YouTube beauty blogger.
She was paralysed from the chest down following a car accident in 2005 and now uses a wheelchair. She described the problems she faces when travelling by train:
“99% of the time I’m waiting on the train as everyone has left and there’s no one there to help me, there’s no ramp available.
"Someone has to leave the train and leave me on the train to help us get off and that can be quite distressing as the train could just leave again.”
'I couldn't go to the toilet for 3 hours'
Actor and disability campaigner Samantha Renke was born with a brittle bone condition.
She has suffered an estimated 200 fractures throughout the course of her life.
'One of the most horrible experiences ever'
Actor Samantha Renke says public transport is unsafe for her with her disability.
For her, travelling on public transport can be dangerous:
"The train was fully booked, it was absolutely jam-packed. My wheelchair was boxed in by other people's luggage that basically meant I couldn’t, for approximately 3 hours, go to the toilet.
"It was very unsafe because people were walking past and tripping over the luggage.”
'Curbs higher than Mount Etna'
Tess Daly is a fashion and beauty blogger with more than 100,000 followers on Instagram.
She said she struggles to get around on a daily basis:
“As an electric wheelchair user, issues relating to access are unfortunately extremely commonplace in my everyday life.
"Taxis with broken ramps, trains with seven thousand bags piled up in the wheelchair space, accessible bathrooms that are more like storage cupboards, lifts in public places that haven’t seen an engineer since the dark ages, curbs higher than Mount Etna…
"I could go on, but I would be here all day.”
'I dream of a day I can book assistance via an app'
Sophie Christiansen, CBE is an eight-time Paralympic champion who was born with cerebral palsy.
Recently after a gig she had difficulty getting home due to a broken lift, no ramp and no assistance at a train station.
Sophie said she believes mobile technology could be used to help wheelchair users plan their journey:
“I dream of day when I can book assistance easily and quickly via an app - then they could have had the ramp ready for me.
"I work so hard to remove the barriers in my life, that it depresses me when society stays holding them in place."
大象传媒 Radio 5 live Breakfast asked listeners to get in touch with their stories of using public transport with a disability:
Your Call: What's it like getting public transport with a disability?
5 live listeners share their experiences of getting public transport with a disability.
