Transport User Voice – May 2021 – A better normal for accessible transport

28 April 2021

Our latest event and research

In our latest online event this week, we talked about how the pandemic has impacted transport for disabled people. We also looked at what operators can do to make things better in future.

Covering public transport and motorway services, we shone a light on some of the main challenges disabled people have faced over the last year. We also heard from disabled people themselves about how confident they feel returning to transport and their aspirations for future travel.

Chris Heaton-Harris MP, minister of state for transport, gave the keynote speech. He emphasised how important it is for the industry to reassure disabled people that it is safe to return to transport. This follows Transport Focus research which showed that disabled people are less likely to use public transport as much as they did pre-pandemic.

Topics debated at the event included issues around face coverings and exemption challenges, consulting disabled people on service design and delivering accessibility and inclusion training for all transport staff.

You can watch the event back here if you missed it.

Our new report further explores disabled people’s views of transport. It shows that there are marked differences between the experiences of disabled and non-disabled people on our Transport User Panel. 27 per cent of disabled panellists agreed that local public transport provision limits their access to employment opportunities, compared with 18 per cent of non-disabled panellists. A higher proportion of disabled panellists also reported that public transport limits their ability to go places.

We will be following this research up soon with a more in-depth look at the experiences of disabled transport users.

 

Back to newsletter.

Like what you read? Please click below to share on social media.