Coventry University leads project to improve transport for people with disabilities

Coventry University has secured a £20 million grant to create the UK’s first evidence centre for accessible and inclusive transport to support improving transport for people with disabilities.

The grant has been made available by disability transport charity Motability, whose research shows that disabled people in the UK currently make 38% 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.

The evidence centre will seek to create change by undertaking applied research and delivering exemplar projects to influence policy and transport providers by demonstrating that accessible transport can be achieved.

The research and agenda will be led by people who have disabilities and will build upon the user-centred approach successfully developed at the university’s National Transport Design Centre (NTDC), where the evidence centre will be based.

With the support of Coventry University and the NTDC, Motability wants to create change and achieve its mission to ensure that no disabled person is disadvantaged due to poor access to transport.

Coventry University will lead the consortium of collaborators representing a wide range of organisations including RiDC and Designability, Connected Places Catapult, Policy Connect and WSP UK.

Paul Herriotts, Professor of Transport Design in the Centre for Future Transport and Cities at Coventry University said, “We are delighted to have been chosen to lead the evidence centre and look forward to starting this exciting project for which we have great passion. We need to better understand people who have disabilities lived experiences, needs, and wants in relation to transport.

“The funding from Motability enables us to undertake innovative applied research that puts those people impacted with disabilities at the heart of the process. We will look to disabled people to help guide and inform our activities and to help shape the future of public and private transport in the UK.”

Barry Le Grys, Chief Executive of Motability added, “We are pleased to grant fund Coventry University and collaborators to run the UK’s first evidence centre for inclusive transport. We know they will bring their wealth of experience and expertise in transport design and the experiences of disabled people to help us to create longer-term solutions in travel accessibility.”