Motability launches £20m National Centre for Accessible Transport at Coventry University
Disabled motoring charity Motability has helped to fund the UK’s first National Centre for Accessible Transport (NCAT), a £20 million project launched yesterday at Coventry University’s National Transport Design Centre (NTDC).
The Research Institute for Disabled Consumers (RiDC) will be working alongside a number of organisations that form a specialist consortium, led by Coventry University, and including Connected Places Catapult, Designability Policy Connect, and WSP.
RiDC’s role will be to involve the 3,600 members of its consumer panel in helping to shape the accessibility of future modes of transport.
NCAT’s research and agenda will be led by disabled people and will build upon the user-centred approach successfully developed at NTDC, led by Professor Paul Herriotts. Its mission is to make transport accessible for all.
NCAT aims to deliver on that mission by engaging with disabled people to better understand their experiences, amplifying their voices and co-designing solutions.
Motability’s research shows that disabled people in the UK currently make 38 per cent 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.
RiDC surveyed its consumer panel of disabled and older people in the summer of 2022 to identify priorities for the centre. From 1,036 respondents, the number one priority was ‘addressing barriers in the street (high kerbs, bollards, among others)’. This was followed by new travel solutions for a range of disabilities / lived experiences and planning my journey in a way that suits my needs.
Jackie Holtom, a RiDC Consumer Panel member who responded to the survey said: “That accessible transport is being invested in like this is a really positive thing for disabled people. Right now, many services are deemed to be accessible but in real life just don’t work – such as only one wheelchair space on the bus, or curbs that meet guidelines but are too high for people with mobility issues).
“NCAT needs to make sure that in informing designs and improvements, disabled people with all types of impairments are there to test and advise at every step of the way.”
Dr Phil Friend, Chair of Trustees at RiDC, said: “We know from our research and lived experience, how crucial travel is to being able to live independent and fulfilling lives.
“NCAT has been developed to ensure that it is disabled people themselves who advise on the solutions and services they need in this area.
“Our role in the coalition is to provide high quality research from the lived experience of disabled people – which will inform decision-making in UK government, industry and civil society.”
