Coventry University launches UK-first centre for Accessible Transport
Research shows that disabled people in the UK currently make 38% fewer journeys than non-disabled people.
Coventry University has launched the National Centre for Accessible Transport (NCAT), which aims to make future and existing modes of transport accessible to all.
It is a UK first in inclusive transport, based at the university’s National Transport Design Centre (NTDC).
NCAT is a £20 million project, funded by charity Motability and led by Professor Paul Herriotts, working alongside a number of organisations that form a specialist consortium.
Consortium members are Connected Places Catapult, Designability, Policy Connect, Research Institute for Disabled Consumers, and WSP.
NCAT aims to make transport accessible for all - by engaging with disabled people to better understand their experiences and co-design solutions, and to influence policy.
Paul Herriotts, professor of Transport Design at the National Transport Design Centre at Coventry University, said: "It is vital that we listen to what disabled people have to say about their experiences of public and private transport and use this information to change the future of travel.
"NCAT will use research and insights to influence key decision makers in the transport sector and local and national government to ensure that the way disabled people travel and get from one place to another is made much easier."The research and agenda will be led by disabled people and will build upon the user-centred approach successfully developed at the university
Motability’s research shows that disabled people in the UK currently make close to 40% fewer journeys than non-disabled people – a figure that hasn’t changed in the last decade.
This impacts disabled people’s access to healthcare, employment, education, and social activities.
Stephanie McPherson-Brown, whose PhD with Coventry University is researching disabled people’s experiences of public transport, said: "For me it’s about how transport impacts on quality of life, everybody uses transport for different things. It’s not just getting to work or the hospital, disabled people need public transport to be able to socialise, see friends and to be spontaneous just like everyone else.
"When there are barriers to using transport, it really can impact your self-esteem. There is a lot more planning that disabled people have to do to travel, which can be stressful and sometimes you really have to weigh up whether the journey is worth it. I feel so privileged to be helping this project, a centre like this is really needed."
Analysis shows that completely closing the transport accessibility gap for disabled people in the UK would deliver benefits in the region of £72.4 billion per annum.
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