May 21, 2026 — 3:51pmIs our public transport reliable and safe enough for everyone to use?With just six years until the Olympic and Paralympic Games, it’s one of the challenges Brisbane has to confront.And for Julie Neumann, a hairdresser, mother and wicketkeeper for Queensland’s blind and low-vision cricket team, there is still more work to do.Julie Neumann, who takes her guide dog with her while navigating the city.Felicity CaldwellShe was among a group of people, including Guide Dogs Queensland clients and sighted people wearing simulation goggles, who put the city’s accessibility to the test on Thursday.The task was to travel from Brisbane Airport to the site of the proposed Olympic arena at Victoria Park on trains, buses and walking.A guide dog in King George Square.Felicity CaldwellThe fix may not be as expensive as building a whole new train station, but there are definitely improvements to be made.Even just a few more bumps on the ground, and some more talking, would go a long way. It would help people who are blind or have low vision, but also older people, people with a mobility issue or other disability, and parents with prams.The journey, organised by Guide Dogs Queensland and held on Global Accessibility Awareness Day, got off to a rocky start for Neumann, who became legally blind at 33 due to retinitis pigmentosa and has a guide dog named Kelsea.She said just getting onto the Airtrain was difficult.“Apparently my ticket was scanned and no one said anything,” she said.“I had no idea I was holding up a line, so it would have been nice for someone to actually talk to you and say, ‘You’re all good, go through.’”Neumann said train staff were lovely, but when she got off at Central train station, if she was not with a group, she would not have known where to go. It was also dark, which limited visibility.“It’s all these little things that add up to big things,” she said.“It makes it too hard for us to just go out and do it because we’re already on high alert anyway, from the moment we step out our front door to try and get anywhere.”The journey passed through King George Square busway station – which has areas such as this, which lack tactile markings.Neesha SinnyaNeumann said public transport helped people maintain their independence, and reliable timetables were also important.“We can’t just jump in the car and go down and buy a carton of milk and loaf of bread,” she said.I borrowed some goggles that simulated tunnel and low vision, and a cane, holding the arm of Guide Dogs Queensland chief executive Jock Beveridge as we walked city streets, into King George Square bus station, and onto a Metro to Herston.Riding the Metro.Neesha SinnyaTactile paving gave a good sense of where to go in some areas, but was absent in others. The Metro’s announcement of the name of the next stop was useful – maybe it could be repeated when the doors opened.Descending stairs was a moderately frightening experience when I couldn’t see very much. Escalators felt even more intimidating.I walked down one flight of stairs and then gave up, and lifted my goggles on the next.Discovering a lift at the Herston busway station was a relief, cementing for me the importance of working, reliable lifts at public transport stops and stations.My experience was brief, but it drove home for me how proud we could be to show off our public transport network to the world during the 2032 Olympics – but only if we act now, with urgency, and listen to people with lived experience.Beveridge said the new Olympic stadium would be built with accessibility in mind, but “how you get to the stadium is going to be another question”.Guide Dogs Queensland CEO Jock Beveridge.Felicity Caldwell“Any journey is only as accessible as its weakest link,” he said.“If someone has an accessible bus journey, so everything goes well, but then they get planted at the end of Queen Street Mall, and they’ve got no idea how to then make the next connection – if the wayfinding isn’t working, there isn’t the tactile markers they need, the kerbs aren’t accessible – then that journey isn’t accessible.”Guide Dogs Queensland has pledged to repeat the airport to arena challenge each year, to track accessibility progress on the route in the lead-up to 2032.Premier David Crisafulli said hosting the Paralympic Games was a massive opportunity to create venues and public spaces that were accessible for “all people, young or old, able-bodied, disabled”.“If you get that right, it’s actually great for your economy, and it’s also great for who you are as a state,” he said.Queensland Rail is modernising accessibility at Central station, which is its busiest station, including upgrading a lift and escalators, and station staff work at all hours.There are also accessible bathrooms, assisting boarding points and tactile indicators on the ground, and other stations were also being upgraded for accessibility.Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. 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