Bus and rail workers back call for relaunch of card for passengers with hidden disabilities

Members of the National Bus and Rail Union have unanimously backed a call for the relaunch of a special card for people with hidden disabilities, which they say will help create greater and more equal access to public transport.

Delegates at this week’s biennial NBRU conference in Cork backed a motion by Dublin delegate Noel Fagan calling on the National Transport Authority to relaunch the JAM (Just a Minute) Card to help provide equitable access to transport to people with non-visual disabilities.

Mr Fagan proposed the motion after Minister for State with responsibility for disability, Anne Rabbitte, also proposed the relaunch of the JAM Card to help people with communication barriers tell others they need ‘just a minute’ discreetly and easily.

NBRU General Secretary Dermot O’Leary explained that the JAM Card was originally launched in late 2019 but its benefits were somewhat lost in Covid 19 when numbers using public transport were cut due to public health concerns, and the take-up wasn’t as widespread as it might have been.

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Ms Rabbitte said a relaunch of the JAM Card had the potential to hugely improve access to public transport for people with hidden disabilities such as autism as the card would be recognised by public transport staff who would give them more time when dealing with them on buses or trains.

“We have to have inclusive transport …. I would hope that we could refresh the JAM Card, launched in 2019 - relaunch it, as it were, to create that awareness to give people using public transport and other services more time,” Ms Rabbitte told the 70 or so delegates at the conference.

Cheryl Ball, training development manager with Belfast based social enterprise outfit NOW Group, which helps support people with learning difficulties and autism into jobs, explained how the group developed the JAM Card to reduce anxiety for people who had difficulty communicating.

“The Just a Minute card is simple discreet and effective,” she said. “It allows the holder to tell the person that they are interacting with that they have an intellectual disability and asks them to be patient. It makes for an improved level of customer service as it reduces anxiety for the card holder.”