Buses are the transport we use least and rely on most when we do, because a bus is usually the fallback — the train is off, the taxi hasn’t come, the town is the kind where everything else has stopped for the day. So it is worth knowing exactly how the bus is supposed to work, and where it doesn’t.
Local buses: better than their reputation
Every full-size local bus in Britain has been required to be accessible for years now: low floor, a powered ramp at the middle or front door, and a wheelchair space. The ramp is deployed by the driver at the push of a button, no booking, no notice. When it works — which is most of the time — it is the most spontaneous accessible transport in the country. Turn up, wave, ride.
The failure points, so you can see them coming:
- The ramp doesn’t deploy. They jam, mostly from grit. The driver is supposed to try the manual override; some don’t know it exists. It is fine to ask.
- The kerb. The ramp needs a kerb of decent height to land on a usable slope. A stop where the bus pulls up on a painted line on flat tarmac gives you a steep ramp; rural stops are the worst for it.
- The space is occupied. The wheelchair space is legally the wheelchair user’s priority — the courts settled that — and the driver is supposed to require, not just request, that a buggy makes way if it reasonably can. In practice this depends entirely on the driver’s spine. Most of the time it resolves with ordinary politeness.
- One space per bus. Two wheelchair users travelling together will almost never fit on one bus. We plan around this rather than test it.
Coaches: a different animal entirely
Long-distance coaches are high-floor vehicles, and access is by lift, not ramp — where it exists at all. The big scheduled operators run wheelchair-accessible coaches on their main routes, but you must book the space in advance, usually at least a day or two ahead, and confirm whether your chair’s size and weight fit the lift’s limits. Powered chairs press against those limits quickly. This is not a turn-up service and never pretends to be; treat a coach like a flight, not like a bus.
The question that matters most, because it catches people: “Is the accessible coach guaranteed on my specific departure, and what happens if it is swapped?” Vehicle swaps happen, and a swap to a non-lift coach strands you at the stop with a valid ticket. Get the answer, and the assistance phone number, in writing.
Our honest ranking
City bus networks: genuinely good, use them freely. Rural buses: good bones, patchy kerbs, have a plan B. Coaches: workable with planning, but the booking-and-confirmation dance means we usually take the train unless the price difference is silly.
Tell us below in the comments of any issues you have with buses and coaches
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