TfL Ref: FOI-1606-2324Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 14th August 2023 asking for information about mobility aid recognition guidance.Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. Specifically you asked:“Please may I be provided with post 1/1/2020 information of: - The official guidance given to staff who operate the Mobility Aid Recognition Scheme and their feedback.
- The official guidance given to TFL front line staff and partners to identify a “recognised” or “unrecognised” motorised or unmotorised mobility aid and their feedback.”
I can confirm that we hold the information you require.
In answer to the first part of Question 1, staff have access to the following information on our website about the mobility aid recognition scheme:
And;
On the bus network, staff are also issued with a copy of the Big Red Book, a copy of which is attached (see, in particular, the section “London’s accessible bus network” beginning on page 82).
In answer to the first part of Question 2, as well as the guidance referenced above, staff are advised of the parameters for mobility aids that are permitted to be used on our network via the TfL Conditions of Carriage, which are published on our website via the following link:
Staff use this information as the basis for assessing the suitability of a customer’s mobility aid. The size of the mobility aid is particularly relevant for our bus and boat services as they have limited space available for customers to manoeuvre their mobility aid safely. The extract below, taken from the Conditions of Carriage, are particularly relevant:
- all of our bus services are accessible for customers using the following mobility aids:
- wheelchairs up to a width of 70cm and up to a length of 120cm unfolded which are within the weight limit shown on the ramp or beside the doorway
- mobility scooters up to a width of 60cm and up to a length of 100cm and with a maximum turning radius of 120cm which are within the weight limit shown on the ramp or beside the doorway
- wheeled mobility walkers up to a width of 60cm and up to a length of 100cm and with a maximum turning radius of 120cm
Staff also have access to additional about mobility scooters and powered transporters on the .gov.uk website via the following links:
In terms of the second part of both questions - asking for staff “feedback” on these matters - I am afraid that it is not possible to determine exactly what we hold in this regard within the costs limit for responding to FOI cases, as set out under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act. Under section 12, TfL is not required to provide information if it would cost more than £450 to determine if the information is held, and to then locate, retrieve or extract it from elsewhere. This is calculated at a rate of £25 per hour, equivalent to 18 hours work.
In this instance the exemption applies because the information has not been collated before and there is no automated, quick or efficient way of doing so. There is no single, formal channel through which staff submit such feedback. However, there are multiple ways in which a staff member - of which TfL has thousands - could in theory have commented on these matters. This would include, but is not limited to, email; the TfL intranet; the annual staff survey; in meetings which may have been minuted; through packages such as Microsoft Teams which are often used for meetings (especially the case during the pandemic), and which have a messaging function. Given the wide scope of potential avenues for such feedback, and the number of staff involved, spanning a period of over three and a half years, it is not feasible that we would be able to find all the information that falls within the scope of your request within the costs limit. However, that said, please note that the team responsible for the Mobility Aid Recognition Scheme inform me that they have no record of any staff feedback, and that the principal way any such feedback would have been given would have been verbally via bus garage road shows (although note that bus drivers are not TfL staff - rather, they are employed by the bus operators).
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely,
David Wells
FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
