Rights of bus and coach passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility | Traficom
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Transport and Communications Agency

Rights of bus and coach passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility

If your mobility is reduced for example as a result of old age or disability, you are entitled to assistance free of charge at bus and coach terminals that have been designated to provide such assistance. Some assistance is also available on board vehicles. The best way to ensure you will get the help you need is to inform the carrier or operator of your needs in advance. Learn more about special assistance and your rights in different situations.

Special assistance is always free of charge. The purpose of assistance is to make travelling easier and guarantee everyone equal rights to travel.

Who is entitled to assistance?

Different disabilities may make it difficult to use transport services. Not every disability is visible to the eye.

ASSISTANCE IS PROVIDED TO PERSONS WITH PERMANENTLY OR TEMPORARILY REDUCED MOBILITY

Assistance can be provided, for example, to elderly passengers, persons using a wheelchair or persons with hearing or visual impairments. 

Assistance is also provided to disabled persons and, for example, persons with autism spectrum disorders or memory disorders.

What kind of assistance can I get on bus and coach journeys?

The right to assistance applies to regular bus and coach service if the distance is at least 250 km. The right to assistance does not apply to charter services.

The rights apply in the EU. The EU regulation concerning the rights of passengers in bus and coach transport also applies to services between Finland and Norway.

Regulation (EU) No 181/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the rights of passengers in bus and coach transport will be applied to regular services between Finland and Russia as of 1 March 2021.

At designated terminals, you are entitled to assistance to enable you to: 

  • communicate your arrival at the bus or coach terminal and request for assistance at assistance call points 
  • move from the assistance call point to the check-in counter, waiting room and embarkation area
  • board or leave the vehicle with the provision of lifts, wheelchairs or other assistance needed, as appropriate
  • proceed to your seat
  • load your luggage
  • carry a recognised assistance dog on board a bus or coach.

Contact an assistant at the terminal

Please arrive at the designated terminal in good time before your scheduled departure and contact an assistant. You must contact an assistant by the time indicated by the carrier. If no time has been specified in advance, you must report to the assistance call point no later than 30 minutes before the bus or coach departure time.

You can contact an assistant at the assistance call point. The call point is clearly signposted. 

On board a bus or coach, you are entitled to assistance to enable you to: 

  • be provided with essential information on the journey in accessible formats upon request
  • get on or off the vehicle during pauses in a journey, if there are personnel other than the driver on board.

Terminals providing special assistance

You are entitled to assistance free of charge at designated bus and coach terminals. 

THERE IS 1 DESIGNATED TERMINAL IN FINLAND

  • Helsinki Bus Station (Kamppi Shopping Centre, long-distance coach terminal)

Notify your need for assistance in advance

We recommend that you bring up your need for assistance already when you book your journey. That way you can ensure you get the help you need.

Inform the carrier, body managing the terminal providing assistance, travel agent or tour operator of your need for assistance. You can provide the details of your special needs in the booking system. Sometimes you may need to give the information by telephone or by filling in a separate online form, for example.

NOTIFY YOUR NEED FOR ASSISTANCE AT THE LATEST 36 HOURS BEFORE THE JOURNEY

Notify your need for assistance when you book your journey or at the latest 36 hours before the journey. 

If you have not made an advance notification of your need for assistance, efforts will be made to ensure you can travel on the service. However, it may be that not all your requests can be fulfilled.  

No extra fees can be charged for notifying the need for assistance. 

Assess your real need for assistance

No medical certificate or other document is required to receive assistance. You must assess the type of assistance you will need for the journey. When you notify your need for assistance, please be as specific as possible. 

How to request special assistance

  • Step 1

    Notify your need for assistance in advance

    Notify your need for assistance when you book your journey or at the latest 36 hours before the journey. 

  • Step 2

    Tell what assistive devices you need

    Remember to mention the mobility equipment you need, such as a wheelchair or assistance dog.

  • Step 3

    Request confirmation of the assistance

    Request written confirmation of the assistance.

  • Step 4

    Contact an assistant at a designated terminal

    Contact an assistant via an assistance call point by the time determined. 

Your rights in different situations

Carriers, travel agents and tour operators are not allowed to refuse to accept your reservation or to take you on board on the grounds of disability or reduced mobility.  

Reservations or transport may only be refused for safety reasons or if the design of the vehicle, bus or coach terminal or bus or coach stop makes it impossible for you to travel on the service. Your safety must always be ensured during a journey.

You must be immediately informed of the reason why you cannot be taken on board the bus or coach or why your reservation cannot be accepted. The grounds for the refusal must be given in writing within five working days. 

Assistant travels free of charge

Sometimes travelling by bus is possible with your own assistant. If your reservation is not accepted or you are refused boarding, you may request to bring an assistant to support you during the journey. In such cases, the assistant may travel free of charge and, where feasible, be seated next to you.

Passengers travelling with an assistance dog are recommended to sit at the front of the bus or coach. This makes it easier to communicate with the driver and receive instructions to get off at the right stop.

MAKE A COMPLAINT: RIGHTS OF BUS AND COACH PASSENGERS WITH DISABILITIES OR REDUCED MOBILITY

If your rights have not been respected when travelling by bus or coach, you can make a complaint. In the event of a problem, always first contact the carrier or terminal managing body.

If necessary, you can also contact the authority overseeing passenger rights. In Finland, the rights of disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility in bus and coach transport are supervised by Traficom.

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