Extensive reforms are needed to fix those problems and make public transport more inclusive, according to a new IMechE report, En route to Inclusive Public Transport. Published yesterday (18 November), the report calls for measures including improved funding, better use of data and meaningful engagement with disadvantaged groups during transport design.
If implemented, the recommendations could give people confidence to leave the house and make journeys far easier – and those benefits could extend to people with fewer accessibility needs, according to discussions at a roundtable event about the report. “Not everything will fit for all passengers and all modes, but we do know that what works for disabled people generally does work better for most,” said Kahu Te Kani, one of three authors at the Institution.
Mind the gap
Including expertise from engineering and other disciplines, case studies from the UK and abroad, and data from the experiences of disabled people, the report set out to understand the barriers that people face and the role of engineers in helping to improve the system, including both rail and bus networks.
“We also wanted to outline some of the challenges that the engineers and the wider transport sector face in making those improvements,” Te Kani said at the roundtable yesterday, held at the home of The British Academy in Westminster.
Some barriers might only affect people with particular accessibility needs, but many others are shared: issues with step-free access and level boarding; spatial barriers, such as overcrowding and a lack of priority seating; inaccessible station or stop design, including uncomfortable waiting areas; inconsistent journey information availability; and infrequent and unreliable services in rural areas.
A previous survey by the National Centre for Accessible Transport found that 91% of disabled people faced at least one barrier using the train and 90% using buses, while the roads and pavements between different stages of multi-modal journeys pose further obstacles.
Operators and infrastructure owners urgently need to make improvements – but, the IMechE report found, doing so is often difficult. Challenges include limited access to network data, a lack of funding, patchy incentives for innovation and a lack of inclusive design expertise. Competing priorities between accessibility and other targets such as net zero and capacity can also make upgrades difficult.
Ruth Cadbury MP, chair of parliament’s Transport Committee, set out the scale of the challenge as she opened the event. “There is no mode of transport that is free from problems for people with disabilities, despite notionally having accessible facilities and policies,” she said.
“Your report sets out really clearly that this is a fundamental infringement to people’s human rights to go to work, access education and healthcare, family life, participate in society – and just even to have fun.”
Accessibility leads the way
Such a varied set of issues requires a number of different solutions. Covering data-enabled outcomes, reform to existing systems, training and partnerships, the report makes recommendations for the government, transport operators, infrastructure owners and manufacturers, educators and professional engineering institutions.
The recommendations are:
- Development of a single data platform for operators and infrastructure owners
- The linking of accessibility standards to measurable impacts
- Expansion and streamlining of funding programmes
- Reformed incentives for innovation
- Embedding of inclusive design into education and professional development for engineers
- Prioritisation of co-production for better designs at lower cost.
The authors hope the recommendations could improve the lives of millions of people with accessibility needs – and they could have an even wider impact. Michael Solomon Williams from Campaign for Better Transport highlighted the features of daily life that were originally developed or introduced to improve accessibility, from automatic doors and electronic toothbrushes to devices as ubiquitous as the telephone.
“The things which actually were inspired by accessibility led to widespread use,” he said. “If we actually use accessibility as the leader for all of this, I think the mode shift potential is extraordinary. The benefits that we stand to achieve are extraordinary.”
Striking a balance
Making those changes will not be straightforward, however, and several speakers at the roundtable stressed that there is often no ‘one size fits all’ solution.
“Standardisation can be seen as a barrier to innovation,” said Daniel Hobbs from the Connected Places Catapult. “How do you balance the need for innovation with the need for standardisation, particularly when we’re talking about very big and complex places?”
Devolution offers opportunities to improve local and regional networks, according to several delegates. Greg Suligowski, head of customer strategy at Merseyrail, highlighted the operator’s introduction of Class 777 Metro trains with level boarding.
Improved systems and approaches are particularly important as the government prepares to enable trials of autonomous technologies, including self-driving taxis and buses. These could boost independence and journey flexibility for people with accessibility needs while also creating new challenges – the lack of human operators could be a particular issue during emergencies, for example.
This is already an issue at stations where staff have been cut, said Kirsten Galea, an architect and inclusive design consultant representing Women in Transport. “The human experience is essential,” she said. “It’s [about] not being scared of innovation, but also allowing that support.”
‘Heavy lifting needs to be done by regulators’
Disabled people must be involved alongside industry members as transport standards are developed and reviewed, said Gurur Deniz Uyanık from the Policy Connect thinktank. “Without standards, the transport sector won’t work, and a lot of money keeps being wasted in places… when disabled people aren’t included, that’s when things are breaking or not hitting the accessibility requirements.”
While that involvement can help ensure that all perspectives are considered, the burden of highlighting existing issues should not be placed squarely on people with accessibility needs.
“How do you hold people to account for failure? … In theory, people can take action under the Equality Act, but that’s costly, risky and time-consuming. The heavy lifting needs to be done by the regulators, and right now it’s actually having to be done by disabled people themselves,” Cadbury said. “Passengers feel that they are responsible for taking action. They shouldn’t have to be.”
Delegates at the roundtable hoped that improvements identified in the report could be adopted in a new inclusive transport strategy being developed by the government – but, one person said, it will need “teeth” to make a real difference.
Government targets including economic growth and net zero should offer opportunities for positive change in the transport system, Te Kani said, with some of the recommendations not just ambitious but “essential”.
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Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.