Ms Anne Graham:

We hear from people on the ground in multiple ways. We have our own transport users advisory group which is made up of customers across all the modes but also customers with a disability or representing groups who are aware of what customers’ difficulties are with using public transport. The Irish Wheelchair Association is represented on that. We also engage with our public transport operators. We have a staff member dedicated to gathering together all the issues arising across our public transport service. Our accessibility manager liaises with the public transport operators who are hearing complaints or issues through their user groups. That is one way in which we hear from people on the ground.

We also carry out mystery shopper surveys of operators in which we use people with disabilities in order to see it from their point of view. They assess our services and see the issues that are arising from their perspective as customers. We have many different ways of gathering the data. It all feeds into how we can improve and how we can get to fully accessible service. It is very hard to put a percentage on that and how far away we are because some areas are more progressed than others. However, using the principles of universal design, you have to consider the transport from door to door, so that is all aspects of the journey: is it accessible across the footpath to a bus stop onto a bus; off the bus and then to the particular destination? Can the person see and hear where the next bus stop is in order that they can avail of the service and alight at the appropriate place? There are many aspects of the service that need to be improved. One area, particularly outside Dublin, which we think needs to be improved is ensuring that bus stops are wheelchair accessible. That is an area where we need to continue to invest in providing the space whether it is for a wheelchair lift or a low-floor bus. It is even just having hard standing at some of our bus stops to ensure that people can avail of those services. We regularly monitor and report on the level of accessibility across different aspects of our service and we are happy to provide that to the committee. We gave a detailed briefing note in September. We are happy to update that across the different aspects of the services.

I might ask my colleague to talk on the taxis.