There are a number of reasons why operators should improve the accessibility of their services.
All citizens should have equal access to maritime passenger transport services.
Maritime passenger transport can enable access to work, to education and to leisure activities. It is important that persons with reduced mobility can access these facilities in the same way as everybody else.
Improving accessibility is good for business.
Just under 10 per cent of the population has some form of disability (Census 2006). Because of that, services and facilities that are appropriately designed and managed to accommodate everybody, regardless of their ability or disability, can potentially attract an additional 10 per cent of customers.
The profile of passengers (and potential passengers) of maritime transport is changing. The number of passengers with reduced mobility is growing and the proportion of older people in the population is also increasing. These demographic changes will require improvement in the accessibility of maritime passenger transport services. Such improvements have the potential to attract passengers who would not previously have considered using maritime transport. Existing passengers, who may or may not have disabilities, will be encouraged to make more trips by maritime transport as it becomes easier to use.
Transport operators must not discriminate against anybody on grounds of their disability (under the Equal Status Acts 2000 -2004).
In its Sectoral Plan drawn up under the Disability Act 2005 (last reviewed in 2008), the Department of Transport has stated that obligations to do with accessibility provision 'will apply to all operators of public transport services, both public and private'. The Sectoral Plan highlights the benefits available to many travellers (not just passengers with reduced mobility) from appropriately designed accessible services. The Department's objective is 'that all passenger transport operators must provide the highest possible degree of accessibility, taking into account the availability of resources, the constraints created by competing priorities and the rules of practicality'. The Sectoral Plan explains the 'Transport for All' concept as follows:
'The benefits of improved transport accessibility extend to all transport users, even to the most able-bodied, and issues relating to transport accessibility go far beyond the needs of passengers with reduced mobility. They impact on the transport needs of the entire population because most people, at some point in their lives, are likely to acquire a physical or other impairment or be impeded in some manner, that will make travelling difficult, if not impossible, on what one might call 'traditional' type transport vehicles. This is particularly the case as people advance through the ageing process. It is also the case that there is a high correlation between age and disability.'
Improving access to maritime passenger transport for persons with reduced mobility requires change, and this presents challenges that need to be managed. These challenges can be addressed by: