Persons with a disability who have a severe mobility problem experience many obstacles in the built environment, which hinder them from full participation in their community and, consequently, diminish their quality of life. One significant barrier they face is related to transport.

Very often the only means of accessible transport available to them is a private car.

This becomes most apparent when one realises that practically all public transport such as buses, coaches, taxis and self-drive vehicles do not cater for the needs of people with a physical impairment – that is, with the notable exception of the 100 or so new, accessible, low-floor buses. Furthermore, transport-related infrastructure such as roads, pavements, bus terminals and bus shelters are also inaccessible.

Different measures are used to partially mitigate such a serious problem.

Among these measures is a service offered by the Transport Authority (ADT). The ADT offers disabled persons with severe mobility impairments a reserved parking bay in front of their residence.

The application

conditions

(a) The applicant must be a disabled person registered with the National Commission Persons with Disability (NCPD) and must also be in possession of the Blue Parking Card (known locally as the Blue Sticker), issued by the Police Commissioner on the advice of the NCPD.

(b) The applicant must have a severe mobility impairment certified by their family doctor or a medical consultant.

The information is further verified by the ADT’s doctor, who also carries out home visits.

(c) If the disabled applicant is not him/herself the driver of the vehicle, it is essential that the official registered address of the actual driver and the disabled person are one and the same.

(d) The vehicle must be registered at the same address where the reserved parking bay is to be situated.

Summer residences are exempted from this provision.

(e) A reserved parking bay will not be granted if:

(i) the applicant has an adjoining garage or one in close vicinity to their place of residence

or

(ii) the reserved parking bay causes an obstruction to the flow of traffic.

The application

procedure

(a) Special Identity Card and Blue Sticker

If the applicant is not already in possession of the Special Identity Card issued by NCPD and the Blue Sticker issued by the Police Commissioner, then she/he will need to apply for both documents. Application forms may be obtained from NCPD’s offices or downloaded from NCPD’s website: http://www.knpd.org/

(b) Reserved parking bay application form

Applications for this service must be made on the prescribed form which may obtained from ADT’s offices. The form, duly filled in, must include a medical certificate from the family doctor or a medical consultant, indicating that the person has a severe mobility impairment.

(c) Other documents

The application must include photocopies of (i) the vehicle’s logbook and (ii) the applicant’s police identity card. If the applicant is not the driver of the vehicle, then a photocopy of the actual driver’s police identity card must also be included. The three documents must all show the same address.

The processing

procedure

(a) Once the ADT receives the application, it passes the relevant information on to the local council concerned and asks for its views. The local council must reply within the deadline. The ADT is empowered to proceed with the processing procedure even if the local council fails to meet this deadline.

(b) The ADT’s doctor then proceeds to visit the applicant in his/her home visit.

(c) A board, specifically set up for the purpose, examines all applications as well as documents received and then decides which applications are to be granted or refused.

(d) This service is granted for a period of one year. The ADT has the right to carry out an annual review of each individual application.

(e) If the application is successful, then the ADT will request its Roads’ Section to paint the necessary yellow lines on the road in front of the applicant’s home.

(f) Repainting of the yellow lines is the responsibility of the local council.

The review procedure

Both disabled applicants whose application is refused or local councils who disagree with the ADT’s decision to grant a particular reserved parking bay, may request that the application is reviewed by a Review Panel set up for this purpose.

The Review Panel was set up on the recommendation of the Ombudsman and is administered by the NCPD. However, it does not have executive powers and can only put forward its recommendations to the ADT. As a rule, the ADT tend to accept and implement the panel’s recommendations.

The Review Panel is composed of a representative from the Association of Local Councils who acts as its chairperson together with representatives from the NCPD, ADT and Health Division.

Keep clear bays

Since vehicles are often parked bumper-to-bumper in front of their residence, a number of wheelchair-users find genuine difficulty in accessing both the pavement and their own residences. In such circumstances, if a wheelchair-user is experiencing such difficulty and, nevertheless, does not qualify for a reserved parking bay, he/she can apply to the ADT and request a 1.5 metre wide Keep Clear bay.

The Blue Sticker and the reserved parking bays

The Blue Sticker is a card issued by the Police Commissioner on the advice of the NCPD. It is provided to disabled persons who have a mobility impairment as certified by their family doctor or a medical consultant.

Clearly, not all disabled persons are eligible for a Blue Sticker. For example, as a rule, people who are deaf or have a hearing impairment, are not eligible for a Blue Sticker. Furthermore, not all disabled persons in possession of a Blue Sticker are eligible to be granted a reserved parking bay in front of their residence. Whereas a Blue Sticker may be provided to a person who has a mobility impairment of medium severity, a reserved parking bay is only granted to a disabled person with a severe mobility impairment.

As stated earlier, a disabled person must be in possession of a Blue Sticker in order to apply for a reserved parking bay in front of his/her place of residence. When parking in such reserved parking spaces, the disabled individual’s Blue Sticker must be clearly displayed on the vehicle’s windscreen at all times. If the Blue Sticker is not properly displayed you risk the police or local warden issuing a parking ticket.

For further information about the service, contact the Traffic Management Directorate of the Transport Authority, Sa Maison Street, Floriana or the National Commission Persons with Disability, Centru Hidma Socjali, Santa Venera or access the website: http: //www.knpd. org/

Fred Bezzina and Joe Camilleri are respectively executive director and chairman of the National Commission Persons with Disability