Passenger Charter
We have written this charter with children and young people who use our service. They told us what an excellent Travel Assistance Service looked like to them. Please take some time to look through the following ten ‘golden rules’ of the Travel Assistance Service.
Our Transport providers have been provided with this information so they are aware of, and have agreed to, the expectations our passengers have of the service they deliver.
People who arrange and deliver my transport, should:
- Be honest, professional and friendly
- This means: Saying “Hi” and “Bye” to passengers, smiling, telling the truth, talking in English, being trained, helpful and care about the job that they do.
- Think about what they do with information about me
- This means: Don’t tell anyone or share information about me with others who don’t need to know.
- Respect my methods of communication and communicate with me in a way i understand
- This means: When I want to interact, people should talk to me, even if I use other ways of communication. I should not be left with no one talking to me or acknowledging me. Don’t talk about me as though I’m not there or presume that I can’t understand you.
- Do what they say they are going to do and if this doesn't happen, I have the right to complain
- This means: If I am unhappy about my transport or transport staff I can talk to my parents/carers or school/centre staff and they will tell the right person to help me fix this. People should listen to my complaint and do something about it.
- Make sure that I am safe in the vehicle and safe with transport staff. I have the right to not be abused, hurt or neglected
- This means: The people making my transport arrangements will make sure that the vehicles are safe and transport staff have a DBS check and the training they need to do their job well/ They are safe to work with children, young people and adults.
- Ensure that I am helped to be as independent as I can be. This does not mean doing everything for myself, because no one does this; we all rely on others for support
- This means: I should be given support to do as much as I can do for myself
- Understand the importance for me to be at school/centre on time
- This means: My education/time is very important! When I am late I miss out on experiences and opportunities that are good for me and I may fall behind my peers.
- Understand that every passenger can have good days and bad days, just like everybody else
- This means: My mood and behaviour can change just like everybody else’s. It’s important to understand that I don’t choose to travel to my school/centre in this vehicle, with these staff or with these people and they are not all my friends. Sometimes we might upset each other, and we might need your help to sort this out.
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Sometimes my journey to and from my school/centre can be a very long time on top of my day. I may be tired, need my medication, not feel well or make a mistake. Tomorrow is a new day.
- Provide nice, clean vehicles and give me the oppotunity to meet the people who will be taking me on my journey before they take me
- This means: Transport staff should try to come to meet me before they have to take me to school, I may feel anxious and need to see the staff and the vehicle who will be taking me. Try to provide the same vehicle and staff as often as you can as I can find changes difficult.
- Keep my parent(s)/carer(s) up to date with my journey when things have gone wrong
- This means: They worry about me, they will want to know I’m ok and when I will arrive at school or get home. If something happens they will want to know the truth.