Inclusive design is essential for Scotland's active travel
Bus stops are only part of the journey for people with sight loss and other disabilities. Advertising boards, street café furniture, wheelie bins, and cars parked on pavements all add to the hazards. A third of blind and partially sighted people surveyed by RNIB said they had been injured by pavement obstacles when walking outside. Some felt so intimidated they ended up isolated in their homes.
James Adams (Image: RNIB) The result of the bus stop boarder design means anyone stepping off a bus is stepping into a live traffic lane. For someone blind or partially sighted, the journey is even riskier. Bikes approaching at speed often cannot be detected by sound, and the fear of collision forces some people to avoid certain routes altogether. Poor layouts can also pose risks for cyclists, as conflicts can occur when people step into the cycle lane unexpectedly, increasing the likelihood of collisions for everyone.
Public transport is a lifeline for people with sight loss, connecting them to society- employment, healthcare, and social opportunities. When street layouts create barriers, the impact is severe. Impacting on the confidence of blind and partially sighted people engaging in society be that for employment, socialising, shopping or accessing public services.
To understand the scale of the issue, RNIB Scotland submitted a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to all 32 Scottish local authorities asking for the total number of bus stops and details on floating bus stop and bus stop boarder plans. What we learned is that floating bus stop designs are no longer a future idea, they are here, and more are on the way.
Read more:
According to figures received, there are 99 floating bus stops in place across Scotland, with plans for at least 149 more while there are 42 bus stop boarders in place and 56 more planned. Several councils indicated that floating bus stops form part of wider active travel plans, meaning hundreds more could follow in the next few years. These designs now form part of the urban landscape in Scotland's busiest cities.
Yet it is rare that these expansion plans have been matched by meaningful consultation with disabled communities, despite a legal duty under the Equality Act 2010 to consider accessibility and prevent discrimination. Stopping places should be designed so that all passengers can continue their journey without crossing a live cycle lane.
Currently, there are no designs that enable blind and partially sighted people to safely cross the cycle lane to access buses.
Accessibility cannot be an afterthought or a 'nice to have' when rolling out active travel infrastructure.
This issue rightly sits at the heart of Scotland's wider transport and environmental ambitions. However, the Scottish Government's commitment to sustainable and inclusive travel, as outlined in its Net Zero and Active Travel Strategies, must extend to protecting the rights of disabled people. Inclusive design is essential to ensure that sustainable transport does not come at the cost of accessibility or safety. Unless action is taken, thousands of blind and partially sighted people could soon face even greater risks when trying to use public transport.
Over many years, RNIB Scotland and many other sight loss charities have demonstrated to politicians at all levels, and from all parties, the complexities and dangers faced by blind and partially sighted people engaging with floating bus stops. Most of them could understand the concern, see the danger and agree that they need properly reviewed – but there has been no actual action to address the growing problem.
Politicians of all parties must show leadership on this – for the next Parliament, commit to a pause on future bus stop boarder and floating bus stop schemes, ensure a genuine review of safety, and the equality of the schemes.
The Scottish Government must also show leadership by issuing clear guidance to local authorities to immediately pause all floating bus stop projects until a full accessibility review is completed.
This review must be genuinely informed by disabled people's organisations. If blind and partially sighted people cannot travel independently because of street design, then we have knowingly and willingly built inequality into our transport system.
We need street designs that work for everyone and that protect the independence and safety of all users and uphold Scotland's commitment to accessible and sustainable transport.
James Adams is the director of RNIB Scotland
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
5 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Man in his 80s survives 40ft fall into lake after fishermen hear his cries
Rescuers rushed to an area near Rob Roy's Cave after receiving a report that an 87-year-old man had fallen 40 feet from a cliff into the waters of Loch Lomond An elderly man was airlifted to hospital after a terrifying 40ft fall from a cliff at Loch Lomond in Scotland. Despite suffering serious injuries, the man was saved after local fishermen heard his cries. A rescue team rushed to the scene near Rob Roy's Cave on Monday following reports of an 87-year-old man's fall three hours earlier. A passing fishing boat heard his desperate cries for help and alerted the police, who then called in the Loch Lomond Rescue Boat (LLRB). The vast lake is a breathtaking destination often named the UK's most beautiful body of water. The lifeboat's volunteers swiftly began casualty care, providing pain relief and fully immobilising the pensioner to protect his spine and pelvis due to the severity of his injuries. The Scottish Ambulance Service trauma team assisted in the operation to save the pensioner after his 40ft fall, with the man being transferred via lifeboat to Inveruglas power station where he was airlifted to hospital for further treatment. Earlier that evening, the LLRB team had also provided assistance to a 19-year-old German female walker on the West Highland Way who had sustained an ankle injury just north of Ivow Island on the east side of Loch Lomond. Once on the scene, LLRB crews assessed the casualty, strapped her ankle, and moved her onto the boat. She was then transferred over to Inveruglas where she was handed over to the Scottish Ambulance Service for further treatment, reports the Daily Record. A spokesperson for LLRB said: "BUSY EVENING FOR LLRB. Loch Lomond Rescue Boat were paged by Police Scotland at 17:05hrs on 11/8/25 to reports of a 19-year-old German female walker on the West Highland Way who had sustained an ankle injury and required medical assistance." The service continued: "LLRB launched and made way to the location just North of Ivow Island on the east side of Loch Lomond. Once on scene, our crew began assessing the casualty and strapping the ankle before moving the casualty onto the boat and transferring over to Inveruglas where the the patient was handed over to Scottish Ambulance Service for further treatment. "Just as the crew were standing down at 18:50 hrs a radio call came in from Police Scotland to reports of an 87 year old male who had fallen 40ft from a cliff in the area of Rob Roy's Cave 3 hrs earlier. "Luckily a passing fishing boat heard the males calls for help and called the police. LLRB made way over the Loch and once on location commenced casualty care, providing pain relief to the injured male and due to the nature of his injuries fully immobilised him Protecting his spine and pelvis. "Crew requested assistance from Scottish ambulance trauma team and after packaging him with assistance from national park transferred him via lifeboat to Inveruglas power station and handed over to the ambulance crew and helimed five for further treatment. Crew stood down and returned to base at 9pm. "Massive thank you to the fisherman that called this one on."
Daily Record
2 hours ago
- Daily Record
Pensioner falls 40ft down Loch Lomond cliff
An 87-year-old man fell 40ft from a cliff near Rob Roy's Cave. A pensioner has been airlifted to hospital after plunging 40ft from a cliff in Loch Lomond. Loch Lomond Rescue Boat (LLRB) rushed to an area near Rob Roy's Cave after receiving a report at 6.50pm that an 87-year-old man had fallen 40ft from a cliff three hours previous. A passing fishing boat heard the man's calls for help and called the police, who notified LLRB. The volunteers at the lifeboat service commenced casualty care, provided pain relief and due to the nature of his injuries fully immobilised him to protect his spine and pelvis. The Scottish Ambulance Service trauma team assisted and the man was transferred via lifeboat to Inveruglas power station where he was air-ambulanced to hospital for further treatment before the crew returned to base at 9pm. Prior to this the LLRB team provided assistance to a 19-year-old German female walker on the West Highland Way who had sustained an ankle injury just north of Ivow Island on the east side of Loch Lomond. Once on the scene, LLRB crews began assessing the casualty and strapped her ankle before moving her onto the boat and transferring over to Inveruglas where the the patient was handed over to Scottish Ambulance Service for further treatment. A spokesperson for LLRB said: "BUSY EVENING FOR LLRB. Loch Lomond Rescue Boat were paged by Police Scotland at 17:05hrs on 11/8/25 to reports of a 19 year old German female walker on the West Highland Way who had sustained an ankle injury and requiring medical assistance. "LLRB launched and made way to the location just North of Ivow Island on the east side of Loch Lomond. Once on scene, our crew began assessing the casualty and strapping the ankle before moving the casualty onto the boat and transferring over to Inveruglas where the the patient was handed over to Scottish Ambulance Service for further treatment. "Just as the crew were standing down at 18:50 hrs a radio call came in from Police Scotland to reports of an 87 year old male who had fallen 40ft from a cliff in the area of Rob Roy's Cave 3 hrs earlier. "Luckily a passing fishing boat heard the males calls for help and called the police. LLRB made way over the Loch and once on location commenced casualty care, providing pain relief to the injured male and due to the nature of his injuries fully immobilised him Protecting his spine and pelvis. "Crew requested assistance from Scottish ambulance trauma team and after packaging him with assistance from national park transferred him via lifeboat to Inveruglas power station and handed over to the ambulance crew and helimed five for further treatment. Crew stood down and returned to base at 9pm. "Massive thank you to the fisherman that called this one on." Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
The Herald Scotland
6 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Scottish history is rich with kings but what about ordinary folk?
My debut novel, The Foreshore, is set on a fictionalised version of the islands in the first half of the 18th century, a critical era of Scottish history and one of both enlightenment and violent conflict. I had always been fascinated by this era, and writing historical fiction was always going to be the natural path I took as a novelist, but it was the marginalised people of St Kilda who lit the spark. Scottish history has always been rich with sagas of kings, queens and warriors, but what about those forgotten people who existed on the fringes of these narratives? There are no grand statues to these people, nor do they feature on any shortbread tins, but their presence still haunts the loneliest corners of this country. Author Samantha York's debut The Foreshore (Image: free) Beginning my journey as a published author, I devoured any records I could find of the populations of our farthest flung islands. Their way of life became the backdrop, and their folk tales and ballads became the soundtrack to every page I typed. Listening to the waulking songs of the women (Gaelic folk songs sung to the rhythmic beat of fulling cloth) and reading the early 18th-century records of the first Church missionaries on the island, made it possible to capture a fleeting murmur of lost voices. I learned of the hardships of remote island life and used them as a backdrop to the human tragedies within my story. For instance, in 1727, the year The Foreshore is set, an outbreak of smallpox reduced St Kilda's population by more than half. It is moments like this that are often lost to history: the tolls taken by poor, working people reduced to dry statistics. Even in those larger moments in Scottish history, true tragedies are often forgotten or romanticised. When we think of the Jacobite uprisings, which were somewhat dormant, but certainly simmering during the year in which The Foreshore is set, we often forget the shameful legacy of a corrupt class system, extreme religious divisions and the cultural displacement embroiled in them. The British Isles in their entirety and a large portion of continental Europe took part, but it was poor Highlanders who paid the price. Undervalued and bound by fealty to those who would eventually evict them in favour of more profitable livestock, they were dragged into a dynastic conflict which brought no benefit to them, purely to appease the lairds and landowners who owned their homes, and who tactically shifted from one side to another in an attempt to garner the most political favour. It is a tale of class exploitation as old as stories themselves, but one that is often overshadowed in favour of a more glorified interpretation of history. Fifty years after the final rebellion, Scotland's most famous bard would pen the protest poem, Ye Jacobites By Name, which includes the words, 'your doctrines I maun blame', and 'what makes heroic strife … to hunt a parent's life wi bluidy war?'; yet today, Burns' clear cry of outrage is often sung in a sentimentalised, pro-Jacobite context. To ground the lives of my characters, it was important for me to weave these ominous early signs of national upheaval into my narrative, to show how the lives of Scotland's oldest communities became blighted by events which often held no advantage to their own existence. Read more These two worlds are embodied in The Foreshore by the two main characters: aging islander and matriarch Flora McKinnon, and dogmatic outsider Reverend Thomas Murray. Flora's concerns reflect those of her fellow islanders. Grief and famine are natural occurrences in her community's daily struggles to survive and uphold their traditional way of life. In the novel, Reverend Murray's dedication to spreading new religious doctrines and ideas of a more 'enlightened' society, hold little sway over the lives of those he is sent to convert, reflecting the conflict between the culture of the Highlands and islands when confronted with the new ideologies which would pave the way for a modern, industrialised Scotland. The mystery at the heart of The Foreshore, the sudden appearance of a young girl on the island, without giving anything away, is itself grounded in historical narratives of a fear of outside influences and exploitation of the vulnerable. As a novelist, one can never claim to be a chronicler of history, merely someone who uses its influence as a canvas. To capture this inspiration for yourself, I would recommend seeking it out: next time you take a hike in our mountains, glens and coastlines, look out for those ruins of former black houses, those crooked drystone walls turned green with age, nature reclaiming what was lost by humans. See if you can catch a long-lost scent of peat smoke, the warmth of livestock breathing in the byre. Manifesting such stories keeps the voices of marginalised and working people alive. We may bring our own interpretations to their lives, but in conjuring their existence, I hope we can bring some honour to them. The Foreshore by Samantha York is out now on Salt Publishing at £10.99
