28 October 2026
Street accessibility for blind and partially sighted people was the key message that Guide Dogs brought to the autumn’s political party conferences, with a specific focus on pavement parking and the danger of inaccessible bus stops within local communities.
Blocked pavements and inaccessible urban design are causing fear for blind and partially sighted people, Chris Theobald, senior policy, public affairs, and campaigns manager at Guide Dogs, told OT at the Labour Party Conference (27–30 September, Liverpool Experience Campus).
“We are known for services that enable people to get out and about independently, but there are so many challenges and barriers that stop people from living the life they choose. We are here talking about transport issues in particular,” Theobald said.
Guide Dogs had a stand at the Labour Party Conference, where it hoped to engage policymakers with the issues at hand.
Pavements are regularly blocked by parked vehicles, and by e-bikes and e-scooters that have either been dumped or used illegally, Theobald told OT.
He noted: “There are problems in urban design as well, including with certain bus stop designs that integrate cycle paths directly into the design. There’s a conflict there.”
The issue of inaccessible bus stop designs is a complicated one, Theobald explained.
The Government has requested a pause to the rollout of bus stops where users alight or board buses directly from or onto a cycle path in England, but the development of these bus stops has continued in Wales and Scotland and Northern Ireland also has its own rules regarding this, he told OT.
“There is no island there, which is very hazardous,” Theobald explained.
Floating island bus stops, where islands do exist, also present problems, he told OT.
Guide Dogs is working with the Government in England around new guidance and is trying to ensure that the voices of people with visual impairment are heard within this.
New guidance is in the early stages of development and is being led by the Department of Transport with support from Active Travel England, Theobald revealed.
Guide Dogs is contributing to the research involved, including one piece of research that is looking at floating bus stops and bus stop borders and what might make them safe, and how cyclists can be encouraged to stop and give way to pedestrians, Theobald explained.
A second piece of research, led by Guide Dogs themselves, will look at the accessibility of bus stop more generally.
Guide Dogs wants to “really make sure that it’s got the voices of people with lived experience at the heart,” Theobald told OT.
There are so many challenges and barriers that stop people from living the life they choose. We are here talking about transport issues in particular
An inaccurate picture
OT asked Theobald what Guide Dogs is hearing from blind and partially sighted people as it conducts its research into the issue of inaccessible bus stops.
“The main thing is the fear and the avoidance that people have in using some of these designs,” he explained.
“People don’t go independently to use bus stops that are inaccessible if they’re not comfortable with them, and that has a really inhibiting effect.”
He explained that the statistics on people injured as a result of these inaccessible designs is likely to be inaccurate, because a record is only made if a person is killed or seriously injured.
The measure for the latter is an overnight hospital stay, which Theobald described as “a very high bar.”
He noted: “Things aren’t always accurately recorded. You could have quite a serious injury, but be discharged on the day. We don’t think that the stats fully depict the picture.”
Theobald noted that more qualitative data does not take into account the full picture either.
“They’re asking people how they find a bus stop, and how it works for them. But if you’ve got people avoiding it altogether, you’re not speaking to the right audience,” he said.
Theobald emphasised that Guide Dogs supports safe cycling, and believes that this mode of transport is “really important.”
“But they’ve essentially moved the conflict away from cyclists and cars to cyclists and pedestrians,” he said, adding: “For people with sight loss, it’s incredibly hazardous.”
OT asked Theobald what the key message is from Guide Dogs to policymakers.
“It’s about considering the impact on people with a vision impairment of what you do, but also the wider picture,” he said.
“It’s not just about being stopped in the moment. It’s not just about not being able to get down that street because of the pavement parked car or because of the bus stop, but asking: can you get to your job? Can you go see your loved ones? Can you socialise, or take part in the economy?”
Theobald added: “It has a really huge impact on everyday life, and every aspect of life. If you can’t make that first step down your street, that stops you from doing anything that you want to do or need to do.”
He hopes that policymakers will “put the voice of lived experience at the heart of that decision-making process.”
It’s about considering the impact on people with a vision impairment of what you do, but also the wider picture
More power for local authorities
Theobald is keen to emphasise to OT the progress that has already been made, including on the issue of pavement parking in England.
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026, which received Royal Assent in April this year, was an example of positive progress after what Theobald described as “decades of campaigning on pavement parking.”
The Act includes ability for local authorities to restrict parking on pavements and grass verges, and increased powers for councils to tackle e-scooter and e-bike rental schemes.
Some e-bike and e-scooter companies have been good at engaging with concerns, Theobald acknowledged.
However, he noted that previously there has been “an honour-based system” that has relied on the “goodwill of some of these companies.”
He explained: “The new rules around this regulation of e-scooter rental and e-bike rental schemes mean that they [the companies] will have to get permission from the council, and eventually the council will be able to set the terms of how they can operate, where they can park, where they might be required to be low speed or not able to go.”
Theobald added: “If a council doesn’t think it’s right for them, they will be able to say that the schemes cannot operate in their area.”
The law might be in place, but it will take “a few years” for regulations and guidance to come about as a result of it, Theobald believes.
“It has been great, but we need to see what has been put into law put into reality,” he said.
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