Mobility scooters welcome on board as NCT signs up to voluntary code of good practice

 A press release from Nottingham City Transport

Nottingham City Transport has signed up to the Confederation of Passenger Transport’s (CPT) voluntary code, which means that, as of the beginning of next week NCT will be welcoming mobility scooters with permits on board all its buses.

“Although all of our buses have been accessible to wheelchair users for over a year – five years ahead of the legal deadline to be wheelchair accessible – mobility scooters have up until now been a bit of a grey area,” explains NCT Marketing Manager, Anthony Carver-Smith. “Technically, the regulations which require us to carry wheelchairs specifically excluded mobility scooters as they were deemed to too big and a form of transport in their own right.”

Anthony Carver-Smith continues, “However, the CPT recognised the technical development of mobility scooters over the last ten years, highlighting that they are now much smaller – often smaller in size to wheelchairs – so the regulations had become outdated and unfair to some disabled people.”

It’s for this reason that the CPT has been working as an intermediary between the industry and the government to develop this voluntary code which allows operators to carry ‘class 2’ mobility scooters on buses.  These are vehicles with an upper speed limit of 4mph and are designed to be used on pavements.

Mobility scooter users will need a permit to demonstrate the scooter meets the code and is a class 2 vehicle. The permits are issued by NCT after the customer is visited at home and then given training on how to get on and off the bus, and how to position the scooter in the bay. Once they receive this permit, they can be carried on any bus in the country – as long as the operator is a member of the scheme.

“Ensuring our buses are accessible to people with disabilities is vitally important to us, which is why we’re so far ahead of the wheelchair accessible legal deadline, we’ve added audio ‘next stop’ announcements to help blind or partially-sighted passengers, and our drivers receive disability awareness training as standard,” adds Anthony Carver-Smith. “This is an excellent, inclusive code of practice which clarifies the situation for both our drivers and our passengers, and we’re very proud to be part of the scheme.”

If you use a class 2 mobility scooter and need a permit, call the NCT Travel Centre on 0115 9 50 60 70 or email travelcentre@nctx.co.uk to arrange a home visit.