DRC: GOJO aims to bridge travel gap on public transport
Wednesday, 09, May 2007 12:00
The first nationwide campaign aimed at increasing young people's confidence using public transport is being launched today (Wednesday 9 May 2007).
'GOJO' is aimed at the thousands of young people - aged between 16 and 25 - who have difficulties or fears using buses, trams and trains.
The campaign is being run by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC), which has found that twice as many young disabled people said they lacked confidence using public transport than their non disabled peers.
GOJO follows changes to the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) introduced in December 2006 which gave disabled people the right, for the first time, to fair treatment on public transport. It comes as more than £6million has been spent by transport providers to make vehicles more accessible to disabled people.
At the centre of the campaign is the GOJO website - at www.mygojo.co.uk - which will provide practical tips to increase young people's confidence travelling on public transport and information on special leisure deals and how to travel there. The site will also include information on rights and how to make a complaint if young disabled people feel they may have been discriminated against under the DDA.
To drive young people to the site, comedians from Abnormally Funny People are performing 'stand up' comedy gigs on buses in five cities across the country with clips from the films posted on the internet.
In an effort to reach young people, the DRC is promoting the campaign online including postings on social networking websites and the production of downloadable website content including viral video clips.
Young people, their friends and families are being encouraged to take trips on public transport from now until the longest weekend in June - from the Summer Solstice on Thursday June 21, to Sunday June 24. Figures show that in the 5 cities where the campaign is being launched (Newcastle, Sheffield, Nottingham, Manchester and Exeter) there are over 32,000 young disabled people aged 16-25 years old. They are being encouraged to consider the benefits of public transport and feed back their experiences on the GOJO website.
Sir Bert Massie Chairman of the DRC said:
"GOJO is all about supporting young people who may think public transport isn't for them.
"The improvements which have made it easier to use buses and trains, should make it easier for young people to be independent and in control.
"We're also working with transport providers in our campaign cities to help equip staff with the skills they need to ensure that more young people are confident about the journeys they make."
The campaign is aimed at young people in Newcastle, Sheffield, Nottingham, Manchester and Exeter and the surrounding regions.