Green Mayoral candidate Jenny Jones unveiled her fully-costed pledge to make one third of tube network step-free by 2018.
Jones was joined by MEP Jean Lambert and Lambeth and Southwark candidate Jonathan Bartley with Jonathan’s disabled son Samuel at the inaccessible Stockwell Underground Station to draw attention to how difficult moving around London can be.
The Party also issued a Tube Map showing only inaccessible tube stations, highlighting the limited journeys that can be made (www.jennyforlondon.org/fresh-ideas/accessible-london/).
Jones said: "We need to aspire to an inclusive transport system, where no one is prevented for using London’s public transport."
"In the year that the Paralympics will be held in London it is shameful that the overwhelming majority of the tube system is still inaccessible to hundreds of thousands of people.
"This is nothing short of transport apartheid."
The London Underground has 270 stations, yet a mere 63 are step-free from street to platform, meaning older and disabled passengers are left to run a gauntlet of escalators, stairs and uneven surfaces to access the platform.
Once there, passengers can be faced with a vertical step-up into the train of as much as 12 inches. Transport for London claim to be working on installing platform humps to reduce this gap, but currently these are only available at a handful of stations.
Ken Livingstone promised 90 out of 270 stations would be step-free by 2013. Boris Johnson made the promise of 68 step-free stations by the end of 2010. Neither promise has been fulfilled.
Jones’ accessibility manifesto, launched on the same day, focuses on:
• Accessible transport-including making all bus stops accessible by 2018
• Accessible Olympics-making sure there are enough staff on hand to help those who need it
• Accessible homes-making sure that 15% of new homes are wheelchair accessible
• Accessible high streets-making sure essential services and amenities are accessible
• Accessible green spaces-making sure everyone can access parks, play spaces and animal habitats
Bartley said: "As anyone with a disabled family member will tell you, it is incredibly difficult to move around London together, let alone if you are on your own. But when you talk to other disabled Londoners, their friends and relatives, it is abundantly clear that there are many creative and affordable options for opening up the closed transport system to everyone.
"From ensuring that there are always staff at stations, to installing stair lifts and thinking creatively about the use of escalators, what is required more than anything else is the political will to make it happen."
The manifesto is available here: www.jennyforlondon.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/London-GP-2012-Accessibility-Manifesto.pdf