Georgie visits APD
The GO GEORGE mascot Georgie paid a visit to the Association for People with Disabilities (APD) in Pacaltsdorp last Friday, bringing joy to the group celebrating the APD Western Cape’s 80 th birthday.
team.
The GO GEORGE drawstring bags that were handed out contained some handy information about the bus service, and were received with much excitement. The star of the day, however, was Georgie, who’s appearance evoked loud cheers and applause and caught the audience’s attention for a short, informative talk on the accessibility of the buses.
Appeal for courtesy on buses
The GO GEORGE public transport system has been designed to be user friendly and accessible to passengers with special needs. Amongst other features, all buses have a number of red priority seats for the elderly, pregnant women, people with special needs and adults accompanying small children, using strollers that take up extra space. Passengers have to be reminded constantly to respect this facility and give up these seats for people who qualify for priority treatment – even though they have paid the same price for their ticket.
“It is common courtesy to respect and assist the elderly and people with special needs,” says James Robb, GO GEORGE Manager. “Those segments of the community are extremely important to GO GEORGE. Therefore, we’d really like to urge the public and other passengers to help those commuters when getting on and off the bus, and to voluntarily offer them the more convenient seating. To accommodate a walking frame or crutches in the confined space of an ordinary seat is very difficult if not impossible.”
