Disability Equality Scotland At 20: Accessible Travel Framework Research and Evaluation Project

Disability Equality Scotland (DES) is a national membership organisation focussed on the needs of disabled people and disability groups/organisations and led by them and their lived experiences. We want to hear about your experiences of accessibility, inclusion, and equality – both good and bad!

Across the various projects of the organisation, this information helps us when we meet and work with key decision makers, to best represent the needs, desires and views of the disabled community and to ensure that Scotland is accessible and inclusive for all. This has bever been more important than our present work with Transport Scotland reviewing the current Accessible Travel Framework.

This Framework was originally created in 2016 by Transport Scotland as a ten-year plan to support the work of improving travel for disabled people in Scotland. With the original completion date of the framework now within sight, DES was engaged to research and evaluate the impact of the framework to date and to begin work on measuring the success of the implemented changes.

In any such undertaking, there are many stakeholders involved, from Transport Scotland itself, through to the many transport providers within and across Scotland. Throughout the project to date, DES has ensured that the views and voices of its members (and the wider disabled community) have been heard at every stage of the project. Working with other Disabled People’s Organisations, feedback received from our board of trustees, seeking input from our members through our weekly poll series and also via a webinar, we have sought, collected and collated the views of those people that matter the most to the project – you!

Whilst we are not able to alter the history that brought us to this point, we do have the ability – through this project and your valuable input – to impact on the future of travel in Scotland for disabled people.

Supporting the current Accessible Travel Framework is the Accessible Travel Hub, hosted by Disability Equality Scotland. The Accessible Travel Hub is a place for you to find up-to-date information, articles and guidance about accessible travel in Scotland: www.accessibletravel.scot

We would like to think that those who started the charity all those years ago would be satisfied to see the organisation now working with, monitoring, and impacting on national policies and initiatives – such as the Accessible Travel Framework – and ensuring that the voice of disabled people are at the very heart of those discussions.