Your rights to transport
You should be able to get from A to B when you need to.
You should be able to get from A to B when you need to.
Fortunately there are lots of ways to make that happen and our law (the Human Rights Act 1993) protects your rights to have public transport be accessible for disabled people.
Rights to use buses and trains
Our Government created a set of rules to make sure getting around in cities is accessible for everyone. These rules are the same across the country, and local/regional councils need to follow them if they want funding for their services.
This means:
Buses must have wheelchair access.
You can take your service dog with you.
Buses and trains must have a space dedicated for people with sensory, cognitive, and physical requirements.
Rights to other transport when you can’t access public transport
If you can't use buses, trains, or other public transport because of a disability; businesses, like taxi services must make reasonable adjustments to try give you access. They can't say no to serving you, unless the changes they'd need to make are totally impractical.
The Total Mobility Scheme allows eligible people to get around using some taxi services at a 50% discount.
Not all taxi services accept the Total Mobility Scheme. To avoid any hiccups, we suggest giving the company a call beforehand to check whether they take the scheme card or vouchers.
Visit the New Zealand Transport Agency website for more information.
Rights to other transport when you can’t access public transport
Just like transport operators on the ground, airlines in New Zealand also have a legal requirement to make the skies accessible. They should make fair adjustments so that people with disabilities can access their services equally.
For more information take a look Community Law.