The UK has a complex transport system. It has public and private organisations, and 1.5m employees. We worked to get feedback from transport professionals to find out about the barriers and opportunities in working together to make transport more accessible.
We aimed to get feedback from transport professionals at all levels: local, regional and national, and with different levels of seniority. They are from the public, private and non-profit sectors.
Short form Word format
Large print Word format
We held six feedback sessions with 173 transport sector representatives.
They were selected from ncat’s existing working relationships, transport representatives from the Community of Accessible Transport (CAT) panel, and targeted outreach.
The feedback sessions included representatives from various groups.
These groups were combined authorities, county councils, local councils, transport authorities, technology providers, consultants, and operators in rail, bus, aviation, and micromobility.
The feedback gathered was analysed using thematic analysis.
We categorised the comments by theme and topic for this report, highlighting barriers and opportunities for change.
Transport sector workers provided 240 feedback comments about accessible transport. The main themes that were identified from this feedback were:
- Knowledge and understanding
- Financial
- Built environment
- Accountability and ownership
In particular:
Transport decisions and policies lack input from lived experiences
Accessibility improvements are seen to be too expensive, and it can be difficult to justify the investment
Physical limits of buildings and existing infrastructure are seen as barriers to improving accessibility
The transport sector lacks a joined-up approach to accessibility
Recommendations for the sector
Get more disabled people into transport jobs and decision-making positions.
Establish strong leadership for accessible transport.
Align public funding with accessibility.
Create standard regulations and guidance about accessible transport.
Recommendations for ncat’s future projects:
Conduct research into the economic benefits of accessible transport.
Look at what’s needed to train transport employees about how to meaningfully co-produce projects with disabled people.
Create a forum and database for sharing knowledge across the transport sector.
ncat will:
Use and share these findings to inform future research in conjunction with priorities identified through the voices and experiences of disabled people.
Work with partners and stakeholders to make these findings available to robustly evidence the issues faced by disabled people when accessing transport.
Work with policy makers, transport providers, and industry, to translate these findings to influence future policy and develop solutions that reduce the transport accessibility gap.
How can I access the report?
A full report, is available, along with a highlights version which has been translated into BSL and Easy Read versions.
An accessible pdf version, along with a short form word document and a large print word document are also available.
Key Insights Report
Designed Accessible PDF format
Our Full Report here contains all the report findings, including appendices and references. Browse the options and access the version that works best for you.