Response to interpellation 2024/25:662 on clearer criteria for transport service permits
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns the need for clearer criteria and a legislative amendment for transport service permits. KD argues that the transport service act is a framework law where municipalities and regions are responsible for organizing transport services of good quality 1 2 3. KD emphasizes that the law does not prevent a more generous application and that the report from Trafikanalys is being prepared within the Government Offices 1 2 4 3. S argues that it is deeply upsetting that some authorities follow strict court rulings and deny transport services to the visually impaired 5. S wants Trafikanalys' investigation to serve as the basis for a legislative amendment to address differences in interpretation 6 7.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Mr. Speaker! Ewa Pihl Krabbe has asked me if I share Trafikanalys' assessment that a legislative change and clearer regulations are needed, and whether I will work to ensure that such a legislative change is implemented as soon as possible. Ewa Pihl Krabbe has also asked me if I intend to compensate or support visually impaired people who are deprived of the transport service (färdtjänst) while waiting for a possible legislative change, and if so, how.
Ewa Pihl Krabbe asked a similar question to me in January this year. My answer is that the Act (1997:736) on transport services is a framework act that sets the outer limits for the application. The Transport Services Act does not regulate in detail all the conditions that shall apply in the transport service or when assessing the right to transport service.
It is clear from the provisions in the Transport Services Act that it is the municipality that is responsible to the municipal residents for ensuring that transport services of good quality are organized within the municipality. The Transport Services Act does not set up any obstacles for a more generous application. Permits for transport services are granted by the municipality or, where applicable, the regional public transport authority.
From Section 7 of the Act, it appears that "permission for travel services shall be granted to those who, due to a functional impairment that is not only temporary, have significant difficulties moving on their own or traveling by public means of transport." How certain principals in the form of municipalities or regional public transport authorities may interpret that visually impaired persons do not have a functional impairment involving significant difficulties moving on their own can only be answered by them.
In recent years, it has become clear that certain groups with disabilities have found it more difficult to obtain permits for travel services. This is a worrying development that I take very seriously. Trafikanalys' assessment is that the causes of this development can be found in the practice of the implementing municipalities, regional public transport authorities, and, in some cases, the courts.
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities entered into force in Sweden in 2009. This means that Sweden has committed to realizing it and its provisions in their entirety. The responsibility does not rest solely with the government. Municipalities and regions are also responsible for meeting the requirements of the UN Convention.
The report from Trafikanalys is being prepared within the Government Offices.
Ewa Pihl Krabbe (S)
Mr. Speaker! It is true that I have previously posed a question to the Minister in the same matter. I pose the same question again, because I still find it deeply distressing how certain transport authorities and municipalities treat their residents who, in many cases, have been severely disabled since birth or have been affected by a disability later in life.
The Transport Service Act does not set up any obstacles for a more generous application, and the municipalities have the responsibility to ensure that transport services of good quality are organized within the municipality. That is how it is, just as the Minister also says. Many municipalities or transport authorities also take their full responsibility. But when one, as in the case of Region Skåne, continues to follow the harshest judgments and refers to a minimum level, I must react. I see the consequences for these people who are already severely affected by their disability.
Let me give an example of many of how Region Skåne acts. A man who was born in 1979 in northeastern Skåne is completely blind in one eye, has 2 percent vision in the other eye and can see some color difference. He has what is called congenital glaucoma. About 300 people in Sweden have that diagnosis. He learned braille already as a six-year-old, has been integrated in school from lekis – as it was called at that time – all the way to upper secondary school.
He says himself that he grew up in a time when there were investments in people with disabilities. He received a white cane, a guide dog, basic rehabilitation, and instruction in braille, cane technique, orientation, and mobility. All of this has helped him very much in life.
He has a full-time job and travels by train from northeastern Skåne to Malmö every day with the support of his guide dog. The route from home to the workplace is well-practiced and poses no problem, if everything works as it should. He was granted his travel service in 1992. But in 2021, he received a notification by email – however one can send that to a blind person – regarding the rejection of his travel service application, with reference to the famous judgment in the Stockholm District Court, which states that one can practice one's travel route.
In Blekinge, which is just a stone's throw away, not a single blind person has been affected by a rejection with reference to the court ruling.
Sometimes it happens that a person has to get not just from point A to point B. That is when the worries begin. How can one practice a route that might only be temporary? One might end up in a situation that one cannot foresee, want to meet comrades or participate in an activity that one cannot find the way to.
Blind and visually impaired people are not different from the rest of us. Some have difficulties orienting themselves. Others do not. Should one not be able to get paratransit in those situations, since one otherwise uses public transport where one manages, and risk life and health by venturing out into situations one cannot master?
Mr. Speaker! In recent months, I have been called and also received information about several people who are blind who have now been denied their application for transport services. They now have to resign from their jobs. They simply do not dare to go out into traffic because of the risk of falling onto tracks or ending up in the roadway. It is not all blind people who have the possibility to orient themselves in public transport. That must be respected.
Unemployment among the blind is upwards of 50 percent. It does not need to become higher. These are people who have fought to secure a job. According to information, 850 people in Skåne with disabilities, including the visually impaired, risk losing their travel service.
Trafikanalys was commissioned in 2021 to analyze whether the current application of the provisions in the Act on Transport Services from 1997 follows the intentions stated in the preparatory works for the act. I request to return to the investigation.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Ewa Pihl Krabbe, for the question and for the commitment! I know that it is a commitment for transport service issues and the rights of people with disabilities that has existed for a long time.
As appears from the paragraph in the legislation that I read out, Mr. Speaker, permission for transport services shall be granted for those who, due to a functional impairment that is not only temporary, have substantial difficulties moving on their own or traveling by public means of transport. Here I want to emphasize what I said earlier, which is also reflected in the problems that many are now facing: That certain principals – municipalities or regional public transport authorities – can make the interpretation that visually impaired people do not have a functional impairment involving substantial difficulties moving on their own, can only they be held responsible for.
Even though I cannot comment on individual cases, Mr. Speaker, it is clear that the stories that have come to my attention testify to a great distress over the state of affairs. I believe it is difficult for anyone not to be moved by those stories. This is important, and that is why we have the transport service act.
Just as I also said, Mr. Speaker, there are no obstacles to having a more generous application. It is, as I also said, in the practice of municipalities and regional public transport authorities and also in courts that the reasons for the development can be found. That was also why Trafikanalys was commissioned to analyze and investigate this. The conclusions that came from that report are being prepared within the Government Offices.
The member said, Mr. Speaker, that one must be allowed to react. No one is depriving the member of the opportunity to react – I believe it is quite a few who are doing so.
I want to be clear that the Trafikanalys report is being prepared within the Government Offices. This answers the questions that the member has asked. I cannot today give any timeframe for when this preparation can be completed and a legislative change could then take place. My statement in the Chamber today is that the report is being prepared.
Ewa Pihl Krabbe (S)
Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer! It testifies to an understanding of the situation that actually prevails.
In 2023, that is more than two years ago, Trafikanalys presented conclusions following the assignment it received from the government in 2021. They wrote then that "the transport service (färdtjänst) does not fully fulfill its intended role as a complement to public transport." They further wrote: "The application of the law deviates in some respects from the intentions of the preparatory works and has been tightened several times since the law's inception. This is primarily about the fact that the applicant's distance to the nearest stop is not taken into account in case law. If the distance exceeds some hundred meters, transport service does not need to be granted."
In addition to this, requirements have developed in more recent practice for the applicant to retrain, as well as to have a companion in public transport, which has, among other things, affected the visually impaired and other persons with orientation difficulties.
I want to interject that we are still waiting to have the investigation on accompaniment in special legislation, as was decided through an announcement last year.
Trafikanalys assesses that this deviates from the goal regarding functional impairments, and the investigation resulted in a proposal for a legislative amendment so that differences in interpretation can, at least partially, be met with clearer regulations.
It is not only Trafikanalys that has observed the injustices affecting already severely disadvantaged persons, but also the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) has directed criticism at Sweden regarding how applications for functional support are handled. The criticism concerns, among other things, cases where transport services or equivalent support are denied and is part of a broader criticism of the deterioration of rights for persons with disabilities.
I think the Trafikanalys investigation is very well-written and deserves a better fate. I hope that it will be considered in the Government Offices and that a proposal for a legislative amendment will be submitted.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Mr. Speaker! Sweden has committed itself to realizing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its provisions in their entirety. This is a responsibility that also rests with regions and municipalities – to live up to the requirements in the UN Convention.
When it comes to special transport services, it works, as the member pointed out in the introduction, very well in many places. The special transport service makes the possibility of participating in society visible, and that is why we have the special transport services legislation, according to which this possibility exists.
Svensk Kollektivtrafik conducts ongoing quality surveys of special transport and medical travel. The latest survey for 2024 shows that 95 percent of the passengers arrived on time, 92 percent were satisfied, and 90 percent were satisfied with the booking and travel overall. This survey shows a very high value and a great level of satisfaction generally with the special transport service.
What we are discussing today is when it does not work; the member has pointed out a number of different cases. I cannot comment on them individually, but I thank the member for their commitment and also for the understanding that work is ongoing where the conclusions from this report are being prepared in the Government Offices.
Ewa Pihl Krabbe (S)
Mr. Speaker! The Regional Transport Authority in Skåne has long said that the municipalities want the cheapest option, which means support for the harshest judgments. Now, all six north-eastern Skåne municipalities – I come from there – regardless of party affiliation, have grown tired and are writing to Skånetrafiken: We are strongly considering terminating the agreement if Skånetrafiken does not show a willingness to engage in dialogue regarding, among other things, the increasing number of rejections of applications for travel services with the strangest reasons for rejection.
Funny enough, there is also a large article about this in today's Kristianstadsbladet, where the minister's party colleague in Kristianstad makes a sharp comment. That pleased me.
We all have a responsibility, particularly at the national level, to ensure that those people who have a great need for support receive it. Many municipalities and transport authorities take their responsibility, but some stand out. I am ashamed that my Skåne, during the Funkisriksdagen that we held here in the Riksdag, was portrayed as the worst in the country by the National Association of the Visually Impaired when it comes to pursuing the visually impaired with withdrawn transport service permits. The UN Committee on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities also directs serious criticism toward Sweden. One cannot help but care about that.
There is a solution, namely to base it on the Trafikanalys investigation and make the changes in the laws that are required so that persons with severe disabilities feel like full members of a country that is one of the richest in the world.
Statsrådet Andreas Carlson (KD)
Mr. Speaker! Yes, preparation is ongoing. But as the member's description of the discussion in Skåne makes clear, it is also important that there is a discussion at the regional and municipal level, because that is where the responsibility primarily lies. The responsibility for the quality of the transport service is a regional commitment. The Transport Service Act states that each municipality is responsible to its residents for ensuring that a transport service of good quality is provided. Since the responsibility for public transport is also a regional commitment, it is reasonable that the responsibility for quality in the transport service also lies at the regional level.
As I have also said earlier in the debate, Mr. Speaker, the transport service act is a framework legislation. It does not regulate in detail all the conditions that shall apply in the transport service. It is possible to have a more generous application.
This debate may continue at the regional and municipal level, and we will continue to prepare the proposals that are in the Trafikanalys report.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.