There are 1485 bus stops in the Wollongong City Council area – and someone will have to visit all of them in the space of a few months.
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Council has put out a tender for an audit of all bus stops in the Local Government Area (LGA) and gauge whether they comply with the requirements of the Australian Disability Standards for Accessible Public Transport.
The successful tender will need to assess whether the stop has a footpath that is too small, kerb and guttering and obstructions like power poles or trees that could stop people boarding a bus.
A Council spokeswoman said the audit was part of a commitment to its Disability Inclusion Action Plan 2016-2020 that the body signed off on back in 2016.
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“As we developed this plan we consulted with people with a disability, their families and carers and one of their key needs was to enable them to move around the city independently,” the Wollongong City Council spokeswoman said.
“To support this we are now carrying out an audit of bus stops and shelters.”
The spokeswoman said that while bus operators were responsible for the bus stops, it was council that oversaw the infrastructure – including bus shelters, signs seats and footpaths.
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The successful tender will have to visit each of the 1485 bus stops in the Wollongong LGA – a task they’ll have three months to complete.
“Once we have the feedback from the audit we will develop a list of any bus stops that aren’t compliant,” the Wollongong City Council spokeswoman said.
“From there, we’ll look at ways to make the bus stops compliant.
“These options will then be considered for inclusion in our rolling infrastructure delivery programs.”