Access Matters Aotearoa wants more thought to be put into changes to help disabled people take part in their communities. (The group is shown at parliament in 2021 during the Hīkoi of Hope, asking for its voice to be heard.) Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas
More than one million New Zealanders have a physical, sensory, learning, mental health or other disability. But despite making up nearly a quarter of the population, accessibility remains an afterthought in transport, Access Matters Aotearoa says.
While the government has recently introduced changes to help level the playing field, there is still so much more that needs to be done, the organisation added.
On 1 October, the fine for misusing mobility parks increased by 400 percent - from $150 to $750.
Announcing the change in August, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston said misusing mobility parks was the "epitome of arrogance", and that the penalty for misusing the spaces had been far too low, compared to other countries.
Louise Upston Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
"We need to get tough on this selfish behaviour, and that is why we are taking action," Upston said.
"Increasing penalties for people who misuse mobility parking will level the playing field for disabled people by helping prevent unnecessary disruptions in their day-to-day lives."
It came as part of an inflation-adjusted increase to all parking infringements, the first since 2004.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Ministry of Transport said a review of the Total Mobility scheme was underway.
The review will look at how the Total Mobility scheme could be made more accessible and operations could be improved.
But Access Matters Aotearoa said the inadequacies of New Zealand's transport systems, which fail to provide equitable access for people with disabilities, extend beyond mobility parking and discounted taxi fares.
Last Wednesday, as part of Access Matters Aotearoa's Kōrero for Change webinar series, the organisation said the absence of essential solutions - such as ramps, lifts, audio-visual aids on buses and trains, and accessible taxis - rendered public transport inaccessible to many.
And while it said there were policies aimed at improving transport accessibility, implementation was slow, and enforcement was weak, resulting in minimal real-world progress.
Auckland man Riley James said he wanted the law to ensure that disabled people have complete autonomy over their bodies and mobility devices in all situations, whether on the street, in public transport, or even on planes.
James, who has low vision and uses a white cane, recalled an incident where a truck was blocking the footpath. When he asked for help, a worker bent down, grabbed the bottom of his cane, and tried to pull him along with it - without saying a word.
"In that moment, I felt stripped of my autonomy over my body and mobility device," he said.
"Although this was the first time something like this happened in such an extreme way, I've experienced people grabbing me before. To avoid the truck, I was forced to walk onto the road, leaving me shaken, angry, and upset."
He was not the only one.
Sally Britnell, who also has low vision, told Checkpoint in July she was fed up with thoughtless and inconsiderate drivers after being forced to walk on the road due to vehicles being illegally parked on footpaths.
Kim Coates said she now had a fear of taxis after an incident where the driver failed to secure her wheelchair restraints.
"I don't have access issues, really, purely because I'm too terrified," she said.
"I never got over that fear, and now the only time I feel safe in a taxi is when it's a special mobility one, such as St John's, where I know the staff are trained and care about your safety, not just your fare.
"That incident shaped how my disabled life would look like with travel."
Another wheelchair user, Marama Gravett, said the lack of accessibility and usability of buses, in particular, was not acceptable.
Last month, a bus driver told her he could not open the ramp because the handle was broken.
"If this were a one-off event, it wouldn't be so frustrating. But I've quite honestly lost count of how many times I haven't been able to get on a bus simply due to this one issue."
"I can understand when a bus is too full - maybe there's a lot of people, maybe there's already two wheelchairs on there, or two prams. It's annoying, but that happens sometimes, and that's not within their control. But when it's factors that are within the control of either the drivers or the bus company, that's when it gets ridiculous."
There had also been multiple times when she had got onto a bus with a fault in the ramp safety feature, Gravett said.
"When the driver goes to drive, the bus will have zero power. Then begins a long process of troubleshooting and conversing over the radio to try to fix it, all while passengers are worried about how late it's getting.
"Logically, I know it's not technically my fault, but emotionally it can feel like it."
Upston told RNZ in August that the government was committed to supporting disabled people, "which is why we provided a record $1.1 billion funding boost to disability support services in this year's Budget".
But Green Party disability spokesperson Kahurangi Carter and transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter disagreed.
"We can and we must do better, and we want to see a government who is taking equity for disabled people really seriously," Carter said.
"We don't currently live in a country that has equity for disabled people, but we can have that. We absolutely can have that.
"Unfortunately, with this government, we have seen that disabled people are being locked out of the decision-making process, and we've had cuts to services and to equipment access, and also a massive cut to Whaikaha (Ministry of Disabled People) and their ability to actually support disabled people the way disabled people want to be supported."
Genter added that there needed to be consultation with the disabled community before any changes were made.
"Making sure that we have the right representation and we have experts from different parts of the community, whether it's blind, low vision, or people who are in wheelchairs, or people with sensory issues.
"We need to have a broad range of input from those people to make sure the decisions that are made by the local and regional councils are enabling that, and we need, at central government level, far more funding and prioritisation for public transport and for complete streets."
