Disabled Student Films Bus Trips To Show Challenges

A disabled photography student has travelled more than 850 miles on buses across England to highlight the challenges faced by disabled bus pass users.

Dan Bowhay, who is visually impaired, travelled for up to 10 hours a day, catching 26 buses over 10 days from Land’s End to Berwick-upon-Tweed.

The final-year student at Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) has made a 10-hour film documentary about his trip.

He says Between These Times is a “slow cinema” style film which aims to show “how agonisingly slow it is to travel by bus”.

The 22-year-old, from Bishops Waltham, Hampshire, began his challenge on 26 January and completed it on 6 February.

Limitations on his bus pass meant he could only travel after 09:00 on weekdays and could not enter Scotland or Wales.

Mr Bowhay, who developed cataracts in both eyes at the age of four, has limited vision in just one eye.

He says moving out of home after university feels “unviable” due to a lack of public transport.

He said: “I attend a lot of hospital appointments at Southampton, and getting there independently is pretty impossible.

During his trip, he said only three of the 26 buses had audio announcements, and one had visual announcements.

He said: “I had to spend a fair amount of time sort of looking out the window and trying to work out, actually, where I am, where I need to get off.”

Mr Bowhay said he experienced delays of up to 40 minutes, had difficulties scanning his pass, and sometimes waited several hours for connections.

He is calling for more investment in bus services and for more understanding of the challenges faced by disabled people using public transport.

The film will be shown at AUB’s summer show from 10 to 21 July and at Aberrations Collective’s Show in Copeland Gallery, London, from 31 July to 3 August.