All for the low life
Page 48
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When he gave the national and technical press, radio and "TV a run-down on the BI5 last week, at the LTB function reported elsewhere in this issue, Ron Ellis had a great deal to say about the way in which a low-step bus will help the aged and infirm.
Like the National, but to a greater extent, the B15 design (as mentioned in our November 21 article) has drawn tremendously on the joint Leyland-TRRL study of "human factors engineering." This really amounts to making steps, stanchions and doorways suitable for the disadvantaged passenger. In Britain there are a staggering 81m over-65s and disabled people, or about 20 per cent of the population. In London alone tne total is lim.
So by taking as a criterion that anyone who was able to walk to a bus stop must be able to board the bus, the B15 has made bus travel possible for a further 2m people in the UK—and 400,000 in London, according to Ron. A warming thought—and a magnificent selling point when dealing with local authority undertakings !