Since December 2006, public transport operators have been obligated to provide user friendly services for their disabled customers. Under recent legislation which extends Part Three of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995, public transport services are now required to ensure equal and fair treatment of disabled customers, on buses, trains and taxis.[i]

• By 2017 all buses in Britain must comply with these regulations. [ii]
• Since January 2005 new scheduled coaches have been required to be accessible and all coaches will need to be accessible by 2020. [iii]
• New trains have had to be accessible since January 1999 and all must be accessible by 2020. [iv]
• Relatively few rail stations can be considered as 'accessible' and those that appear to be often lack specific environmental adjustments or safety features. [v]

Demand for the use of accessible transport is significant and disabled passengers will be able to contribute proportionally when using services that are inclusive, safe and comfortable. Public transport providers who guarantee a consistent and disability confident service will further benefit by avoiding any potential action that may be taken as a result of the failure of their legal responsibility.

• 49% of disabled people are totally reliant on public transport. [vi]
• 56% of disabled people said that they would like to go out more. [vii]
• The biggest reason for disabled people using public transport is lack of access to a car; the second is not wanting to ask for lifts.[viii]
• Lack of access to a car is more than twice as high for disabled people. [ix]

Disabled customers are reliant upon public transport for access to essential services and facilities that they may require on a day to day to basis. Accessible transport services will be able to alleviate the barriers that exist for disabled passengers. Once the 'reasonable steps' for improved station and services have been implemented, operators will be able to gain from the considerable combined spending capacity of disabled customers, which is currently estimated at an annual figure of £80 billion.

• 52.5% of disabled respondents expressed some difficulties in getting to all main services (including GP, dentist, hospital/clinic, day centre, local authority offices, etc) whereas no non-disabled people identified this extent of difficulty.[x]
• 16.5% found it difficult to get to their main food shopping place and 10.2% had difficulties in getting to their local post office.[xi]
• Disabled people are twice as likely to turn down a job because of travel difficulties.[xii]
• Disabled people feel that improvements in public transport would substantially contribute to improved quality of life and higher usage.[xiii]

An increased understanding of disability and its associated issues is also required within the public transport sector. Research has found that transport operators think largely in terms of wheelchair accessibility and sensory impairments are often overlooked. [xiv] The reality is that only 1 in every 13 disabled Britons are wheelchair users. [xv]

• Nearly 75% of disabled people felt that their needs were not considered by bus operators and up to 50% of disabled people felt that their needs went ignored by train operators.[xvi]
• Disabled people are less satisfied with public transport and more likely to see it as unreliable.[xvii]
• Specific barriers are easily identified but need to be viewed within the wider context of whole journeys and the 'travel chain'.[xviii]

The implementation of heightened accessibility and safety within stations and services and an increased awareness of disability issues amongst staff will enable transport operators to understand the strategic, commercial, legal, societal, ethical and professional benefits of getting it right on disability. If these criteria are met then the disabled passenger will become a repeat customer of those public transport providers who consistently deliver the best disability confident service.

Sources

1. [i] New rights for disabled people on public transport - Changes to Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). DRC, November 2006.
2. [ii] Ibid
3. [iii] Ibid
4. [iv] Ibid
5. [v] Ibid
6. [vi] Ibid
7. [vii] Ibid
8. [viii] Secondary analysis of existing data on disabled people's use and experiences of public transport in Great Britain. Analysis for the Disability Rights Commission undertaken by the centre for Disability Studies, Leeds University. 2006
9. [ix] Ibid
10. [x] Ibid
11. [xi] Ibid
12. [xii] Ibid
13. [xiii] Ibid
14. [xiv] Ibid
15. [xv] Media briefing on disability in the workplace, DRC, 2005.
16. [xvi] Ibid
17. [xvii] Secondary analysis of existing data on disabled people's use and experiences of public transport in Great Britain. Analysis for the Disability Rights Commission undertaken by the centre for Disability Studies, Leeds University. 2006
18. [xviii] Ibid