Attitudes of disabled people to community transport:
Research study (carried out Nov - Dec 2002)

Community Transport Availability and Usage

Availability and Use of Community Transport

Availability of community transport appears to be low across England and Wales. Dial-a-ride is most commonly available, with around half of respondents saying there is a service in their area (48%). Also relatively widespread is transport provided by social services (one-third of disabled people believe it to be available in their area), followed by Shopmobility (31%) and community buses (29%).

Around a quarter of disabled people say that none of the services asked about are available in their area, and just under one in five saying that only one of these services is available to them (27% and 17% respectively).

• It appears that availability of community transport is highest in London (compared with urban and rural areas). 57% of respondents in London say three or more of these services are available in their area (compared with 28% in urban areas and 19% in rural areas).

Overall, use of community transport is not high. Amongst those who have facilities in their area, group transport is most commonly used (61%) followed by community car schemes (52%) and community buses (44%).

Q 4: How often, if at all, do you use each of the following forms of community transport?

Source: MORI

Over two in five respondents have a concessionary bus or rail pass (44%). Of these, one quarter say they can use their pass on community transport, while one in ten say they cannot (26% and 12% respectively). However, the majority of those with a pass do not know whether they can use it on community transport or not (61%).

What types of journeys do disabled people use Community Transport for?

The most popular use of community transport is for travelling to and from town centres (18%). This is followed by visiting community and day care centres (16%). Less than one in ten respondents use community transport for any of the other journeys listed.

• Women are more likely than men to use community transport for town centre shopping, visiting leisure and recreational facilities, visiting friends and relatives and travelling to and from work.

Disabled people would like to be able to use community transport more, particularly for visiting hospitals/doctors (42% who do not currently use it for this journey say they would like to in the future). Getting to and from shops by community transport is also popular, with 34% saying they would like to use it to get to town centre shops and 29% saying they would like to use it to get to out-of-town shopping centres.

Q 7: For which, if any, of these journeys do you use community transport?

Q 8: If you do not use community transport for some journeys which, if any, of these journeys would you like to use community transport in the future?

Source: MORI

Those who would like to conduct some journeys by community transport were asked how they currently conduct these journeys. The results show that respondents either use taxis/minicabs, a car driven by someone else, or public transport (49%, 48% and 47% respectively).

• Those in London are more likely to use public transport, while those in rural areas more likely to use taxis or cars driven by someone else.
• Those with visual impairments are more likely to taxis or public transport, whereas those with ambulant disabilities are less likely to use public transport and more likely to drive themselves.

Very few disabled people use community transport to access public transport (six per cent). However, 31% say they would like to.

What affects whether or not community transport is used by disabled people?

The principle factor that affects whether or not disabled people use community transport is availability (46%). Also important is cost, physical accessibility and the flexibility of the route (39%, 33% and 32% respectively).

• Availability of transport is particularly important in London, whereas affordability is most important to those living in rural areas.
• The physical accessibility of the vehicle and the provision of an escort or assistant, is particularly important for wheelchair users (87% and 72% respectively).

Q 11: Which, if any, of the following factors affect whether or not you use a community transport service?

Source: MORI

The most frequently used access features on public and community transport are handrails, used by 37% of respondents, followed by steps and driver assistance (24% and 22% respectively).

• In general, access features are used more often by women (46% of men say they do not use any access features compared with 28% of women).
• Most important for wheelchair users are lifts, for those with visual impairments driver assistance is the priority and those with ambulant disabilities most frequently use handrails.

Published: 28 June 2004

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