This report considers the availability of information required by disabled people when planning a journey using public transport. The aim of the study is to improve the level of service provided by government supported multi-modal planning and information services, such as Transport Direct and Traveline Scotland, to people with a disability. A list of travel information identified by the UK Department for Transport as essential for many disabled people when making journey decisions was used in this study. This list was tested by disability organisations. Existing information sources were assessed and data collection methods examined. Traveline did not provide some of the essential pre-travel information for disabled people. Missing information for bus and railway stations included information about toilets, low level information monitors and induction loops. Eight categories of information were required for all modes of transport: availability of staff assistance; physical accessibility of transport stops; physical accessibility of vehicles; help points; stop infrastructure such as shelters, seating; timetable & service communication methods; lighting; glare-free surfaces; and transparent bus shelters. For rail services, the level of advance accessibility information is good. Information for bus stations and ferry terminals is not available electronically. Information for bus stops and individual buses along a route is poor. Driver assistance is poor but could be improved by training. It is recommended that one organisation be appointed as a data aggregator, for example Traveline Scotland. The National Public Transport Access Node database is considered the most suitable database for storing transport stop accessibility information as it already stores basic stop information. For vehicle attribute data it is recommended that a vehicle attribute field is added to TransXChange. Improvements to the service provided to disabled people are considered urgent.
Abstract