Invisible Barriers – how public attitudes affect inclusive travel

Disabled people told us that the attitudes and behaviours of other people are a challenge when travelling and that they have a significant negative impact on wellbeing and independence. So we conducted this research to understand what could be done to address the negative behaviours of non-disabled people and/or encourage positive behaviours. 

What did we do?

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. 

How did we do it and who did we do it with?

To ensure a comprehensive and inclusive study, we adopted a phased approach, allowing for multiple opportunities for input from disabled people and ensuring robust outputs through iterative testing and refinement. The study was broken down into 5 research tasks:

1. Conduct desktop review of existing literature and interventions
2. Run focus groups with disabled people
3. Develop list of interventions to focus on and test with disabled people
4. Run a survey with non-disabled people about the selected interventions
5. Bring together summary of findings

What did we find out?

1: People’s characteristics and experiences with disabled people significantly impact their views on whether interventions will make an impact 

2: People agree that education could have a positive impact in teaching children and young adults how to support disabled people while travelling 

3: More luggage space by your seat could help free up priority spaces on public transport 

4: Videos on social media are viewed as the most impactful form of messaging about the role of service animals and carers and sharing street space 

5: Fines are viewed as more impactful than messaging when it comes to keeping disabled parking bays free 

6: Sounds when the ramp extends are viewed as the more impactful than generic audio messages about access needs 

7: Divisive views on non-disabled people wearing an ‘ask me for my seat’ badge  

What next?

1: Education is a very important tool that should be higher priority. 

2. Improving luggage storage options could help to decrease conflict around space on public transport. 

3: Public awareness campaigns should focus on videos on social media and on public transport. 

4: Give fines to enforce Blue Badge parking restrictions 

5: Create better understanding and singular design behind badges and lanyards. 

6: Create bold emotive signage on seats or on the floor, and audio messages to help remind people about space on public transport 

7: Try combining interventions for most impact