Dementia-friendly bus transport

For bus operators, becoming more dementia-friendly means:

1. Becoming Dementia Friends - Our initiative can improve awareness and understanding of dementia across the sector. Become a Dementia Friend today!
    
2. Making spaces dementia friendly - Be aware of how the physical environment in travel hubs can affect people living with dementia. Help to make your public spaces more user-friendly. Download our Dementia-friendly business guide to find out more.
    
3. Taking small actions - Small actions can demonstrate an understanding of how dementia affects someone and their needs as a bus user. This could include:
   • making it easier for someone to board the bus
   • being patient while they find their bus pass
   • waiting for them to sit down before driving
      
4. Reaching out - Reach out to everyone living with dementia or with caring responsibilities including staff, volunteers and customers.
    
5. Improving accessibility - Focus on improved accessibility when creating new fleets. Making changes for people affected by dementia makes life easier for everyone including people with a range of other long-term conditions. Examples of this include grab bars, more obvious stop buttons and clearer priority seating.

We need all buses, bus drivers and bus companies take action and support people affected by dementia during the coronavirus pandemic to keep them connected to their community in new and creative ways. 

Here are some of the key actions you can do today to make a difference to people’s lives:  

• Reassure customers of how keeping clean and sanitised, provide sanitiser or wipes at the front of the bus for customers getting on and off. 
• Using bus stops, bus stations and railway stations as central points to put up posters with information on what is going on in local area and what is and isn’t available.
• Update bus stops with schedule information. 
• Encouraging social distancing on buses – designated seats for the vulnerable.
• Ensure staff are aware of invisible disabilities and exceptions to mandatory face mask regulations.

Please make sure to read our regularly updated information on face coverings for people affected by dementia.