Transport is a basic need that most of us might take for granted. Many have their own means of transport while others manage to use public transport with all its limitations. Unfortunately many disabled persons, especially wheelchair users, find it extremely difficult to find some form of transport for very basic activities. For some disabled persons, their only means of transport is the "transport for disabled persons" vans which we feel is a segregating means of transport besides being subsidised only for education and employment purposes.

In light of the reform which is going to take place in the transport sector, we urge all those involved to consider reforms which will make transport accessible to everybody. Thus we emphasise four important points which we feel are crucial so that everybody would have the possibility to use some form of transport with ease:

1) We feel that all buses have to be low floor. It was a wise decision to start replacing old buses with new low floor ones, but this process must be completed. If all buses are low floor, then persons who use a wheelchair, persons with mobility difficulty and persons accompanying a small child using a pushchair would have their minds at rest that they would find a user-friendly bus.

2) New bus routes must be planned so that persons with mobility difficulties would not need to walk long distances to catch a bus.

3) All bus stops must have adequate ramps so that everybody waiting for a bus would be in a safe place.

4) The last point is reserved for the white taxis. We feel it is discriminatory towards disabled persons that not even a single taxi on the Maltese Islands can carry a person who uses a wheelchair. What we find unacceptable is that many of such white taxis are luxurious cars which cost thousands of euros and which surely cost more than any suitable vehicle which can be adapted so that it would be able to carry a person who uses a wheelchair.

We finally turn towards disabled persons and their families and urge them to make their voices heard so that the much anticipated reform in the transport sector will truly be a big leap forward for everybody.