‘Is this my bus or not?’: People with insecure vision problems when they are all the same color

Rebranding Canterbury buses to a single ‘teal’ livery has left visually impaired people feeling powerless and as if they are “not part of society”.

The new teal livery was unveiled in September, but the changes have concerned at least three organizations that advocate for the rights of the elderly, visually impaired and disabled communities.

Environment Canterbury (ECan) said that consultation with a disability reference group did not take place due to the Covid-19 lockdown and that the broader public consultation was not standard practice for marketing matters such as a livery change.

Before the changes, Metro operated its five main routes with different color schemes, while red or white bus operators could establish other numbered routes.

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Bishopdale resident Tracey King is visually impaired and unable to drive. You tend to use four routes that previously had a blue, red, white, or green bus.

“The bus has to literally be on top of me before I see the number, so having the same color, you will always be stopping buses all the time,” he said.

“You actually feel powerless … like you’re not part of society.”

At Riccarton Mall on a Friday night, just before 6 p.m., four buses traveling on four different routes were scheduled to arrive in five minutes.

Having multiple buses stopped at the same time caused problems, King said.

“By the time they get to a bus [and see] ‘no, it’s not that’, the other two have whizzed by “.

‘We would like to be involved’

Blind Low Vision NZ, formerly the Blind Foundation, wrote to ECan with their concerns about the unique teal color in October.

The group, along with Age Concern Canterbury and the Assembly of People with Disabilities, were concerned about the impact of the changes and the lack of consultation.

“We would like to be involved in decisions from the beginning, so we can advocate for people who are blind, deafblind or low vision and collaborate to build accessible cities,” said Blind Low Vision NZ CEO John Mulka.

Disability Assembly executive director Prudence Walker said she wanted ECan to mitigate the difficulties created by the livery change.

Age Concern Canterbury CEO Simon Templeton said that people who took the colored buses would now wonder “is this my bus or not?”

“The colored buses were one of his good ideas … we have certainly heard from older people in the community who are not happy with the change.”

‘Any period of change can cause uncertainty and confusion’

ECan said it switched to single color as it was best practice in New Zealand and around the world.

“Our studies showed that the old system … worked well for those who knew it, but not for those who did not know it,” said a spokesperson.

“We understand the concern and recognize that any period of change can cause uncertainty and confusion.”

The spokesperson said the council had spoken with Blind Low Vision and other reference groups, and was committed to finding “more practical solutions.”

In a letter to Blind Low Vision NZ, ECan CEO Stefanie Rixecker said she understood that something that worked well for people with visual impairments had been removed.

“We would take a different and more consultative approach to similar issues in the future,” he wrote.

Metro Christchurch could provide route number / name signs for visually impaired people to hold while waiting for their bus.

The ECan spokesperson said drivers knew to keep an eye out for those and stop to pick people up.

The new teal design for Christchurch buses cost taxpayers nearly $ 94,000, not including the paint itself.