Most local bus services now operate with low floor buses, making is easier for those of you who usually find it difficult to get on and off a bus.
Many of the bus services operated within South Yorkshire are operated using fully accessible, low floor vehicles. Modern, low-floor buses are much easier to get on and off, particularly for people with reduced mobility, including wheelchair users, the elderly and those travelling with children or heavy luggage. The number of these buses across the county is steadily increasing, with most buses in South Yorkshire now being low floor. Legislation requires that all bus services will be operated by fully accessible buses by 2017. All services operated by fully accessible buses are able to accommodate one ‘reference’ wheelchair of 1200mm length by 700mm width. Mobility scooter usersThe Confederation of Passenger Transport and the Department for Transport's Scooter Permit scheme is designed to give users of mobility scooters clarity on using their scooters on public transport. The scheme enables users to take their scooters on the designated low-floor buses of participating operators, providing they have been issued with a permit. For more information, download a leaflet about the Scooter Permit scheme. (PDF)In order to get a permit, passengers will need to have a Class 2 scooter* that is no larger than 1000mm long, 600mm wide, with a turning radius no greater than 1200mm. A free, simple assessment will be conducted by a participating bus operator. The weight of the scooter (including user) is also taken in to consideration and must be no more than 300kg (47 Stone). These requirements are designed to ensure that a scooter can fit in the designated space on board all accessible low-floor buses and can board in a safe and controlled manner. In South Yorkshire, Arriva (www.arrivabus.co.uk), First South Yorkshire (www.firstgroup.com) and Stagecoach (www.stagecoachbus.co.uk) have signed up to the scheme and will be offering assessments and issuing passes to those who meet the specification outlined above. Anyone wishing to apply for a permit needs to contact the appropriate operator. Please call the numbers below for more details.
Arriva - 0844 800 4411
First – 01709 566 000 Stagecoach – 0845 266 6606 Some other bus operators in South Yorkshire are not issuing Scooter Permits but will accept them for travel on their accessible vehicles operating scheduled services. Operators accepting permits include: Hulleys of Baslow, Redline Barnsley, Sheffield Community Transport, TM Travel and Wilfreda Beehive. If you are hoping to travel on a service operated by a different bus company not listed above, you may wish to contact them directly to ask about their policy on mobility scooters.*A Class 2 scooter is one constructed or adapted to be incapable of a speed of more than 4mph
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