Disabled transport users treated like ‘second-class citizens’ in ‘national embarrassment’
A report by the Transport Select Committee found a ‘substantial gap’ between the rights of disabled transport users and their daily experience
Disabled people are being treated as “ second-class citizens” on the country’s transport services, in what an MP says “should be a source of national embarrassment”.
A report by the Commons’ Transport Select Committee found a “substantial gap” between the rights of disabled transport users and their daily experience and “far too great a burden” is placed on an individual to hold operators and authorities to account for not fulfilling their duties.
Ruth Cadbury, who chairs the committee, said the issue is a “source of national embarrassment”.
The committee’s inquiry was informed of incidents of wheelchair users left on planes, taxi drivers refusing lifts to people because they have an assistance dog, and street clutter causing obstructions.
People with non-visible disabilities such as autism, dementia and severe anxiety said they are discouraged from attempting to travel by poor reliability and a lack of assistance.
The report stated: “The evidence from disabled people shows that there is still a very substantial gap between the rights and obligations that exist in theory, and the daily experience of people who rely on pavements, buses, taxis, trains and planes to get to work, to access services, or for leisure.”
The committee made a series of recommendations, including that the Government should produce a new inclusive transport strategy within 12 months.
Ms Cadbury said: “It should be a source of national embarrassment that our country’s transport services effectively treat disabled people as second-class citizens, denying them access to jobs, leisure, support networks and essential services – denying them their rights.”
“Those who have been let down and want redress or compensation face a spaghetti junction of complaints processes that either fobs them off or leads them on a road to nowhere.
“Even when complaints are resolved, lessons aren’t learned, changes aren’t put in place, and it’s tempting to think that the small and occasional penalties for failure are accepted by providers as a mere cost of doing business.
“Failures must go from being an everyday occurrence to vanishingly rare.”
Local transport minister Simon Lightwood said: “It’s clear that accessibility has been an afterthought in developing transport services and there is more to do to ensure everyone can travel easily and with dignity.
“That’s why we have clear ambitions for a transport network that works for all and have already worked quickly to put accessibility at the heart of our bus and rail reforms, as well as continuing work to make hundreds of train stations step-free, and launched an accessible aviation expert group.
“We continue to work closely with a range of people, including disabled people, to help us develop our policies, and we will consider these recommendations carefully and respond as soon as possible.”
The Department for Transport said making transport accessible cannot be achieved by the Government alone, as it also involves operators, industries and local authorities.
A spokesperson for Rail Delivery Group, said: “We want everyone to feel confident when travelling by rail and are committed to improving accessibility across the network. While improvements have been made, we recognise that more must be done to ensure a consistent and inclusive experience for all passengers.
“We want a railway that meets everyone’s needs, and with assisted journey numbers increasing we are committed to further improvements to the passenger assist service. We are listening to our customers, stakeholders, engaging with frontline staff, and working closely with the industry partners to make sure improvements to accessibility continue to be made.”