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Accessible transportResearch has found that transport operators think of disability largely in terms of wheelchair accessibility and other impairments are often overlooked. The reality is that only one in every 13 disabled people in the UK are wheelchair users.

Demand for the use of accessible transport is significant - 49% of disabled people are totally reliant on public transport. 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.

Accessible transport services will alleviate the barriers that exist for disabled passengers and operators will gain from the considerable combined spending capacity of disabled customers, their carers, families and friends, which is currently estimated at an annual figure of £80 billion in the UK.

  • Lack of access to a car is more than twice as high for disabled people. 52.5% of disabled respondents expressed some difficulties in getting to essential services, for example GP's surgery, whereas no non-disabled people identified this extent of difficulty
  • 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.
  • Disabled people are twice as likely to turn down a job because of travel difficulties.
  • Disabled people feel that improvements in public transport would substantially contribute to improved quality of life and higher usage.

Since December 2006, public transport operators have been obligated to provide user friendly services for their disabled customers. Under recent legislation which extends Part III 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.

By 2017 all buses in Britain must comply with these regulations.

Since January 2005 new scheduled coaches have been required to be accessible and all coaches will need to be accessible by 2020.

New trains have had to be accessible since January 1999 and all must be accessible by 2020.

However, relatively few rail stations can be considered as 'accessible' and those that appear to be often lack specific environmental adjustments or safety features.