Flone Initiative: Disability Inclusion In Public Transport
Persons With Disabilities are set to enjoy friendly and accessible public transport following an inclusion campaign enhanced by the Flone Initiative Organization which looks forward to mainstreaming disability in the entire public transport system across the country.
Flone Initiative is a woman-led organization working towards creating safe, sustainable, and accessible public transport spaces for women and vulnerable groups in Africa by influencing behavioral change, generating knowledge, and movement-building.
The organization is working tirelessly with several Disabilities and transport stakeholders in discussion groups in the formulation of transport policies, regulations, recommendations, and ways of creating awareness of disability inclusion in the public transport sector.
Speaking during the discussion held on Thursday at a hotel in Nairobi, Persons With Disabilities faulted the public transport sector for being discriminatory and less inclusive of their needs due to a lack of clearly formulated policies and incentives for the inclusion programs.
They also observed that the situation has worsened in the new government projects such as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) which they say have not prioritized their mobility needs in terms of accessibility and safety.
Martin Eshiwani, Director of Road and Railway Transport in responding to whether the BRT is inclusive of PWDs' needs, said the government is working on ensuring proper measures are put in place to accommodate Persons With Disabilities and pregnant mothers.
They further want the government to formulate policies that will help secure jobs in different public sectors.
Meanwhile, organizations and manufacturers are also striving towards disability inclusion in the transport sector by coming up with different innovations such as hydraulic lifts and ramps.
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