One Small Step For The Disabled

The Star reports;

"Show Social Welfare ID to get 50% off on Rapid buses

PENANG: Effective Monday, senior citizens and the disabled registered with the Social Welfare Department need only show the identification cards issued by the department when travelling on Rapid Penang and RapidKL buses to get a 50% discount.

To reduce red tape, the Government has done away with the requirement for them to apply for the Rapid Card, issued by the companies.

“We want to simplify things. It is sufficient for them to show the card issued by the department to obtain the 50% ticket concession," said Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop.

He was speaking to reporters at the St Nicholas' Home here on Saturday."

Common sense, a very rare thing it seems, has finally prevailed.

The elderly and the disabled should all along have been allowed to use their official ID cards issued by the government, so this is no big deal.

A 50% discount is a small, but nevertheless a welcome discount.

Now the bigger issue, all Rapid Penang Buses are inaccessible for those using wheelchairs, as are many RapidKL buses.

Even the few buses which are said to be outfitted to accommodate wheelchair users, are inadequately designed and are potentially dangerous.

Furthermore the two wheelchairs occupy nearly 50% of the floor space due to the poor floor layout and configuration. The resulting lack of seats will annoy the other passengers and could perhaps make them resentful of the disabled persons in wheelchairs.

These are yet more examples of stupidity and the lack of common sense.

Click here for PETPOSTIVE'S Post re RapidKL & Penang

What about the usability of the Kuala Lumpur LRT systems and the KL Monorail vis-à-vis the disabled and the elderly? That's another story.

Watch this space

Gëzuar!