TAXI drivers give them a miss or pull a long face when they see them.
Others have difficulty using buses.
Though there have been improvements, the disabled are still facing problems when using public transport.
The Asian Women's Welfare Association's (AWWA) spokesman Tarin Ong said it received complaints from 10 of its disabled members a month ago about taxi drivers not stopping for them and not helping them onto cabs.
Mr Leo Chen Ian, 34, President of the Disabled People's Association (DPA), said DPA also receives as many as 10 cases every month about the same issues.
Mr Chen said: 'It's a common problem which has been made worse by the rise in cab fares.
'People with disabilities take a longer time to board and alight taxis - about five minutes longer than normal people - and need to be helped at times.'
National swimmer Theresa Goh, 21, who uses a wheelchair, recounted an especially stressful incident: 'I went to the taxi stand and the first taxi in the queue drove away upon seeing me, the others seemed reluctant to help.
'One cabby moved the taxi next to the ramp for me to get in when I asked him to, but he didn't come out to offer any help.'
The incident has made her consider taking the MRT instead.
Miss Lee Yuan Ping, 22, who uses a wheelchair, said that the situation gets worse when it rains.
'Of course they won't help because they will get wet trying to help,' she said.
She also recounted many incidents when the drivers didn't turn off the meter while she was trying to get in.
Some do take the bus, but there are problems.
Adam Ismail is 13, pram-bound and has spent most of the last eight years within the walls of his family's two-bedroom flat at Boon Lay.
He was born with cerebral palsy - a condition in which the brain has little control over the body's movement.
He can't move on his own because of involuntary body movements and kidney problems. His parents can't afford taxis for his weekly trip outside his home or for his medical appointments. So they take the bus.
Adam's mother, Madam Siti Norain Abdul Samat, 37, said: 'Some bus drivers have been stopping us from boarding the bus, with Adam in the open pram.
'It's difficult to carry him because he weighs 20 kg.'
BACK PROBLEMS
Carrying him around the house itself has been giving Madam Samat some back problems recently.
Madam Samat has limited transport options. The MRT is a quite a distance from her residence and taxis are 'just too expensive'.
The bus is her most viable choice and she usually takes it to the Boon Lay MRT station, which is two stops away.
Ms Tammy Tan, director of corporate communications at SBS Transit, said: 'As a general guideline, we do not allow opened prams on board for safety reasons.
'Unlike wheelchairs, prams do not have a backing which can rest against the backrest that we have installed on our wheelchair-friendly buses.
'In an emergency braking situation, opened prams can pose as safety hazards to both the child within and fellow passengers around.'
While Madam Samat understands the transport providers' concerns, she feels that a case-by-case approach would be better.
'I always wait for buses that have enough standing area for us, Adam's pram is always buckled and I hold it to prevent any safety hazards.'
Ms Tan suggested using a wheelchair.
'We have wheelchair-friendly buses which come with dedicated space for passengers in wheelchairs on board.'
SMALL FRAME
Madam Samat said that because of his tiny frame, a pram was more suited to Adam's needs.
However, if the rule persists, she said that she would have to rethink her options.
Regulations aside, bus drivers, too, make a difference.
Mr Mohd Salleh Abu Bakar, 25, who has brittle bones and walks with crutches, said: 'The bus drivers tend to drive off almost immediately after I board the bus without waiting for me to get a seat.'
He said that this can cause people on crutches or wheelchairs to lose their balance and fall off.
Most felt that it was not so much the transport providers but rather the individual drivers who were to blame.
Said Mr Salleh: 'What can the transport providers do if taxi-drivers themselves don't want to help?
