Campaigners for blind and partially-sighted people will be out in Huddersfield today pushing for improvements on the buses.
David Quarmby, 66, of Kirklees Visual Impairment Network, will join other campaigners from the charity Guide Dogs collecting signatures on a petition.
The campaigners want all the “big five” bus companies to ensure audio visual announcement technology is installed on all new buses.
Some buses in parts of West Yorkshire, such as Leeds and Keighley, have the technology but services in other towns and cities don’t.
That means blind and partially-sighted passengers have to rely on the driver – or other passengers – to make sure they get off at the right stop.
Guide Dogs hope thousands of people across the country will back the petition to bus companies First, Arriva, Go Ahead, Stagecoach, and National Express.
Campaigners will be in St George’s Square from 9.30am and David said: “We need audio visual announcements not just for visually impaired people but for everyone.
“They have them in Leeds, Keighley and London and we want them everywhere. Bus drivers have enough to think about without having to remember where someone needs to get off.”
David, of Newsome, said he had first hand experience of the problem, once missing a stop and ending up going down Calderdale Way into Elland and having to catch a bus back, and another time when a conductor in Leeds thought he knew best and put him off the bus in a strange place with no one around to ask.
David added: “This isn’t a financial problem for the bus companies. We are only talking about new buses not fitting this technology to existing buses.”
In a survey by Guide Dogs, 65% of blind or partially-sighted passengers said they had missed their stop a least once in the last six months.
The charity’s community engagement officer Debbie Linford said: “Almost two million people in the UK are living with sight loss. By 2050 this will have doubled.
“Too many passengers are still being forgotten, ending up lost and disorientated. As the industry leaders, we are hoping the ‘big five’ will listen to our call and set the standard for all bus companies.”
