Coventry University launches the National Centre for Accessible Transport

A UK first in inclusive transport, NCAT is a £20 million project funded by Motability, the charity, and is led by Professor Paul Herriotts, based at the university’s National Transport Design Centre (NTDC), working alongside a number of organisations that form a specialist consortium. 

Consortium members are Connected Places Catapult, Designability, Policy Connect, Research Institute for Disabled Consumers, and WSP. 

NCAT’s research and agenda will be led by disabled people and will build upon the user-centred approach successfully developed at NTDC. The centre aims to make transport accessible for all by engaging with disabled people to better understand their experiences and co-design solutions; amplifying the voices of disabled people in all decision making; collaborating widely with transport stakeholders; and demonstrating good practice and impact to influence policy, with innovation at the heart of its work. 

Professor Paul Herriotts said: “It is vital that we listen to what disabled people have to say about their experiences of public and private transport and use this information to change the future of travel. NCAT will use research and insights to influence key decision makers in the transport sector and local and national government to ensure that the way disabled people travel and get from one place to another is made much easier.” 

Motability’s 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. 

An event to officially launch the centre is taking place at Coventry University today (February 15) and invited guests will hear directly from disabled people about their current travel and transport experiences.  

Stephanie McPherson-Brown, whose PhD with Coventry University is researching disabled people’s experiences of public transport, said: “For me it’s about how transport impacts on quality of life, everybody uses transport for different things, it’s not just getting to work or the hospital, disabled people need public transport to be able to socialise, see friends and to be spontaneous just like everyone else.  

“When there are barriers to using transport, it really can impact your self-esteem. There is a lot more planning that disabled people have to do to travel, which can be stressful and sometimes you really have to weigh up whether the journey is worth it. I feel so privileged to be helping this project, a centre like this is really needed.” 

Professor John Latham CBE, Coventry University Vice-Chancellor, said: “This is an amazing opportunity for Coventry University to improve transport for disabled people. Putting disabled people at the heart of our research will help to make it as relevant and informed as possible so we can hopefully make a real difference in the world.”   

Disabled people make an average of 38 per cent fewer trips than non-disabled people. There has been no reduction in this gap over the past decade. Analysis shows that completely closing the transport accessibility gap for disabled people in the UK would deliver benefits in the region of £72.4 billion per annum.