Invisible Barriers; How public attitudes affect inclusive travel (full report)

Document summary

This report, commissioned by ncat, explores different types of interventions that could be used to improve the behaviours of non-disabled people towards disabled people when travelling.
Disabled people told us, that the attitudes and behaviours of other people are a challenge when travelling. These behaviours have a significant negative impact on disabled people’s wellbeing and independence. As such, we conducted this research, to understand what could be done to address the bad behaviours of non-disabled people and/or encourage good behaviours. During the project, we reviewed literature and looked at case studies that tried to improve behaviours towards disabled people in a transport setting. We also engaged with both disabled people and non-disabled people to get their views on different interventions that could be done.
Our key conclusions from the research are:
• Education, especially of children, is very important and should be a higher priority. Disabled people should be involved in developing the curriculum.
• Luggage being placed in priority spaces was a key barrier. By solving the luggage problem, disabled people would be able to have more space on public transport.
• Public awareness campaigns using videos on social media or on public transport could help the understanding of the public.
• Fines to enforce Blue Badge restrictions is the key way to improve the parking experience for disabled people.