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says Ministel
THE GOVERNMENTS 1 flair, South Yorkshire PTE, come in for some praise f Transport Under Secre Lynda Chalker. She likes split-level entrances to I disabled passengers on buses.
Mrs Chalker was commen after the Transport and Roac search Laboratory publishe report on operational experi( with SYPTE's low-step e double-deckers and its kne( Leyland National single-deck The survey, carried out foi TRRL by Cranfield Institut' Technology, looked at whe the modified steps helped elderly and ambulant disabl( also examined the cost of conversions.
The step modification, w has been a standard featur South Yorkshire's vehicles four years, involved no sic cant extra capital or mair ance costs and had no effe( running times. The 27 knel Nationals involved insignifi additional costs.
According to the survey, elderly and disabled opte use the modified buses w possible, although 57 per ce passengers interviewed found moving within the b to be their greatest difficultly The kneeling Nationals, have their air suspension r ified so that the bus is lower stops, were less popular drivers and passengers dic always ask the driver to r the bus kneel, whereas could automatically and ur consciously use the splitsteps.
Mrs Chalker said: "I deighted to see initiatives o kind.
"I would hope other operators might consider a( ing them," she added.