07 July 2025

Call for councils to make transport more accessible

Call for councils to make transport more accessible image
Person in a wheelchair crossing a street at a zebra crossing on a sunny day. © Vergani Fotografia / Shutterstock.com.

Forty-eight per cent of disabled people think that Government and local authorities are not prioritising accessibility enough, research reveals.

In the Transforming Mobility report published today, charities Sustrans and Transport for All outline the importance of ensuring better representation for disabled people in future transport planning.

According to a UK-wide survey completed by 1,107 disabled people in 2024, 72% of those who responded called for increased investment in low-cost solutions such as side road zebra crossings and ‘step-free access when crossing roads’.

The report highlights the need to ‘prioritise people crossing side roads’ as one of its five recommendations for ‘transforming mobility’, which seek to ensure disabled people are central to conversations about transport planning.

Noting the inefficiencies of the Highway Code, the report calls for Government to allow local authorities to install side road zebra crossings across the UK, supporting those who are walking or wheeling through improved road safety.

The report also advises that local authorities rebalance street space, develop accessible mobility hubs, limit car parking to increase public space and introduce access panels lead by disabled people who are paid to ‘review and shape transport policy and projects’.

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