I am disabled with very limited mobility and a chronic pain condition which makes commuting incredibly difficult at the best of times. I have my 'please give me a seat' badge and card which I wear whenever I travel, but it is not enough.
No, it never is, is it?
I still find myself having to plead with people for a priority seat (or any seat) on tubes and buses.
Part of the problem is people do not look up at the stops. Sometimes intentionally, sometimes because they are engrossed in their phone or paper.
So what, people should obsessively scan the carriage, never relaxing? You don't expect much, do you?
This petition is to ask TFL and the Minister for Transport to launch a new campaign. A 'Look Up' campaign.
Great. Another new campaign.
TFL have pre-recorded announcements on every bus and tube in the city with upcoming stop information, with mind the gap announcements. I would like TFL to consider introducing an announcement at every stop with the message 'look up, does someone need your seat?'
Which will be 'tuned out' just the same as those other messages.
Having to ask someone to vacate a priority seat is incredibly hard. Not just because of the embarrassment or fear or rejection but because you cannot be sure if the person sitting in it is able to stand or not.
Just like everyone else, then!
We need 'Look Up' to become as common place and as instinctive as 'Mind the Gap'.
And as soon as it does, and everyone treats it just like those announcements, you'll be back demanding more action. Won't you?
5 comments:
Jools, you mean you don't ride the tube or bus in London scanning the carriage the whole time...and wishing for a Browning Hi-Power under your arm? You're either very brave....
Utter bullshit!
I frequently travel on London's trains, tubes & buses . When my arthritic feet are bad, I take a walking stick and find this always results in (mainly young) people offering me a seat in full carriages.
so just another attention-seeking "gimme" moron then.
Better a walking stick and a loud persistent voice.
I speak from experience.
I travel on TfL. I have previously suffered badly from a chronic non viable condition that makes balancing and standing up for any period extremely fatiguing. I asked for a seat once or twice. I stopped asking and changed the way I travel. People are rude and think you’re asking as you have a sense of entitlement. I see where this person is coming from to be honest. But I put it down to the fragmented communities and lack of a sense of personal responsibility. After all, surely the state will step in and help if you need to sit down? Ho ho ho
".....and wishing for a Browning Hi-Power under your arm?"
If PC games are any judge, I'd be better with a rifle!
"When my arthritic feet are bad, I take a walking stick and find this always results in (mainly young) people offering me a seat in full carriages."
I've been offered seats many times. Most often, by Eastern European men! Also, when travelling with my mother, she's never NOT been offered a seat.
"I asked for a seat once or twice. I stopped asking and changed the way I travel. People are rude and think you’re asking as you have a sense of entitlement. I see where this person is coming from to be honest. "
And yet other people's experience (mine included) is different. Perhaps it's related to area?
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