Outcome Indicators for Accessible Travel Framework

Overview of the Accessible Travel Framework

The Accessible Travel Framework was developed to work alongside (1) the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified by the United Kingdom in 2009, and (2) the National Transport Strategy (NTS), specifically the pillar focussing on reducing inequality.

These two documents underscore the standard of rights and treatment of disabled people and provide a strategy to remove barriers to accessing and using (public transport) services, as well as improve the overall travel experiences. Thus, the disabled people should be able to (1) make successful door-to-door journeys; (2) easily access help and support, when necessary; (3) obtain and use accessible information to plan their journey; (4) travel comfortably and safely; (5) complete their journeys successfully and be involved in future design and improvement of services, infrastructure, and broader transport policies. These aims are collated into three main outcomes for transport accessibility:

  • More disabled people make successful door-to-door journeys, more often
  • Disabled people feel comfortable and safe using public transport
  • Everyone involved in delivering transport information, services and infrastructure will help to enable disabled people to travel

The fourth outcome, Disabled people are involved in the design, development and improvement of transport policies, services and infrastructure, is still developing and there is currently no measurement for this activity. As part of the wider engagement process with disabled people, one of the aims is to develop measures for this indicator and start collecting information.

The data presented in this section relate to the indicators specified in the Accessible Travel Framework for which measurement is available.

More disabled people make successful door-to-door journeys, more often

Use of local bus services in the past month

The percentage of disabled people who said they had used the bus in the past month in 2023 (38%) was lower than it had been in 2018 (45%). Use of the bus has fallen slightly in recent years for non-disabled people as well. [Time series table 5, Figure 7]

In 2022-23, people whose disability limited their day-to-day activities a little were more likely to have used the bus than those whose day-to-day activities were limited a lot (43% to 36%). [Table 24]

A line chart showing the percentage of adults who used the bus in the last month. Disabled people have been slightly more likely then non-disabled people to use the bus, but usage has been on downward trend since 2018.
Figure 7: Percentage of adults who used the bus in the last month, 2013 to 2023

Use of local train services in the past month

The train was less likely to have been used in the past month by disabled people (17%) than non-disabled people (32%). In 2023, the percentage of disabled people using the train was the same as it had been in 2019, prior to the pandemic. [Time series table 6, Figure 8]

In 2022-23, those whose disability limited everyday activities a lot were less likely to use the train (11%) than those whose activities were affected a little (21%).

A line chart showing the percentage of adults who used the train in the last month. Disabled people are less likely to use the train than non-disabled people, but usage by disabled people is back to the same rate as 2019 at 17%.
Figure 8: Percentage of adults who used the train in the last month, by whether adult is disabled, 2013 to 2023

Whether experienced difficulties when changing from buses to other public transport modes

Over half (56%) of disabled people agreed that it was easy to change from buses to other forms of transport, but the figure was higher for non-disabled people (74%). 9% of disabled people disagreed. [Table 25, Figure 9]

A bar chart showing percentage of disabled and non-disabled people agreeing or disagreeing that it is easy to change from buses to other forms of transport. Disabled people were less likely to agree and slightly more likely to disagree than non-disabled people.
Figure 9: Easy to change from buses to other forms of transport by whether adult is disabled, 2023

Whether experienced difficulties when changing from trains to other public transport modes

Two-thirds (66%) of disabled people agreed that it was easy to change from trains to other forms of transport, but the figure was higher for non-disabled people (80%). 8% of disabled people disagreed. [Table 28, Figure 10]

A bar chart showing percentage of disabled and non-disabled people agreeing or disagreeing that it is easy to change from trains to other forms of transport. Disabled people were less likely to agree and slightly more likely to disagree than non-disabled people.
Figure 10: Easy to change from trains to other forms of transport by whether adult is disabled, 2023

Factors discouraging public transport use

The top reason disabled people were discouraged from using the bus more often was ‘Health reasons’ (27%). This is much higher than for non-disabled people (2%). The next four reasons were ‘Use my own car’ (20%), ‘No need’ (19%), ‘Lack of service’ (7%) and ‘Public transport is unreliable’ (6%). 12% said nothing discouraged them. [Table 26]

The top reasons disabled people were discouraged from using the train more often were ‘No need’ (25%), ‘Cost’ (14%), ‘No nearby station’ (10%), ‘Use my own car’ (5%) and ‘Trains unreliable’ (4%). 39% said nothing discouraged them. [Table 29]

Data for the ‘Satisfaction with distance of bus stop from beginning of journey’ indicator are not collected in the new ‘Your Bus Journey’ survey from Transport Focus.

Everyone involved in delivering transport information, services and infrastructure will help to enable disabled people to travel

Rating of bus driver – helpfulness and attitude of the driver

In 2023, 86% of disabled people rated the helpfulness and attitude of the driver as good or fairly good, with 3% giving a rating of poor or fairly poor. The ratings given by non-disabled people were similar. [Table 41, Figure 11]

A bar chart showing percentage ratings of the bus driver�s helpfulness and attitude by disabled and non-disabled people. Good ratings and poor ratings were similar for disabled and non-disabled people.
Figure 11: Rating of bus driver helpfulness and attitude (percentages), 2023

Rating of bus driver – time given to get to the seat

The majority of disabled people (86%) rated the time the driver gave them to get to their seat as good or very good, with 4% giving a fairly poor or very poor rating. [Table 42, Figure 12]

A bar chart showing percentage ratings of the bus driver giving enough time to get to a seat by disabled and non-disabled people. Good ratings were slightly lower from disabled people than non-disabled people.
Figure 12: Rating of bus driver time given to get to the seat (percentages), 2023

Satisfaction with helpfulness and attitude of train staff

In 2024, three-quarters (76%) of disabled people were satisfied with the helpfulness and attitude of train staff and 8% were dissatisfied. [Table 49, Figure 13]

A bar chart showing percentage satisfaction with helpfulness and attitude of train staff of disabled and non-disabled people. Disabled people were slightly less satisfied and more dissatisfied than non-disabled people.
Figure 13: Satisfaction with helpfulness and attitude of train staff (percentages), 2024

Views on the ease of finding out about routes and times (bus and train indicator combined)

While the majority of disabled people agreed that finding out about routes and times was easy (78% for bus and 83% for train), they were less likely to agree than non-disabled people. [Tables 25 and 28, Figure 14]

A column chart showing the percentage of disabled people and non-disabled people agreeing that finding out about bus and train routes and times was easy. 78% of disabled people agreed for bus routes/times and 83% agreed for train routes/times. In both cases these percentages were lower than for non-disabled people.
Figure 14: Percentage who agreed that finding out about bus and train routes and times was easy, by whether adult is disabled, 2022-2023 (combined)

Number of accessible buses

Since 2019-20, 100% of buses in Scotland have been accessible or low floor buses, but the number of buses dropped from 4.4 thousand in 2019-20 to 3.5 thousand in 2023-24. [Table 38]

Number of wheelchair accessible taxis

Almost half (46%) of taxis in Scotland are wheelchair accessible. The number of wheelchair accessible taxis fell sharply in 2021, but has risen since to almost 4,000 in 2024. [Table 37, Figure 15]

A line chart showing the number of wheelchair accessible taxis in Scotland. There was a sharp drop in the COVID pandemic year of 2021. Numbers have increased since, but remain lower than in 2020.
Figure 15: Number of wheelchair accessible taxis, 2017-2024
A bar chart showing percentage ratings of information provided at the bus stop by disabled and non-disabled people. Good ratings were slightly less likely from disabled people than non-disabled people and poor ratings were more likely from disabled people.
Figure 16: Rating of information provided at the bus stop (percentages), 2023

Data for the ‘Views on information provided inside the bus’ indicator are not collected in the new ‘Your Bus Journey’ survey from Transport Focus.

Data for the ‘Views on information provided about train times/platforms’indicator are not collected in the new Rail User survey from Transport Focus.

Views on information provided during the train journey

The majority (72%) of disabled passengers were very or fairly satisfied with the information provided to passengers during their train journey, while 7% were very or fairly dissatisfied. [Table 52, Figure 17]

A bar chart showing percentage satisfaction with information provided during the train journey of disabled and non-disabled people. Disabled people were slightly less satisfied than non-disabled people.
Figure 17: Satisfaction with provision of information during train journey (percentages), 2024

Satisfaction with public transport

Disabled people’s satisfaction with public transport has fallen in recent years to 60% in 2023. While it has also fallen for non-disabled people, satisfaction in 2023 was lower for disabled people than for non-disabled people. [Time series table 7, Figure 18]

A line chart showing the percentages of disabled and non-disabled adults satisfied with public transport. Satisfaction had been similar for both groups and had been on a downward trend between 2013 and 2019. There was a noticeable drop in 2022 which was larger for disabled people.
Figure 18: Percentage satisfied with public transport, 2013 to 2023

Disabled people feel comfortable and safe using public transport

Data for the following indicators are no longer collected since the Rail Passenger Survey was replaced by the Rail User Survey:

  • Views on toilet facilities on the train
  • Views on toilet facilities at the station
  • Availability of staff on the train
  • Availability of staff at the station

Rating of availability of seating or space to stand on the bus

Most disabled people (87%) rated the availability of seating or space to stand as very or fairly good. [Table 45, Figure 19]

A bar chart showing percentage ratings of availability of seating or space to stand on bus by disabled and non-disabled people. Good ratings were slightly less likely from disabled people than non-disabled people and poor ratings were slightly more likely from disabled people.
Figure 19: Rating of availability of seating or space to stand on bus (percentages), 2023

Rating of comfort of seats on the bus

The percentage of disabled people rating the comfort of the seats as very good was lower than for non-disabled people (40% to 51%). 6% of disabled people rated the comfort as very or fairly poor. [Table 46, Figure 20]

A bar chart showing percentage ratings of the comfort of the seats on the bus by disabled and non-disabled people. Good ratings were less likely from disabled people than non-disabled people and poor ratings were slightly more likely from disabled people.
Figure 20: Rating of the comfort of the seats on bus (percentages), 2023

Data for the ‘satisfaction on bus with amount of personal space’ are not collected in the ‘Your Bus Journey’ survey.

Percentage of buses with CCTV

The percentage of buses with CCTV has risen over the years from 82% in 2016-17 to 94% in 2023-2024. [Table 53]

Whether feel safe and secure on trains during the day

In 2022-23, a high percentage (93%) of disabled people felt safe and secure on trains during the day. The percentage for non-disabled people was 97%. [Table 28]

Whether feel safe and secure on trains during the evening

The percentage of disabled people who felt safe and secure during the evening was much lower than during the day (66% to 93%). The percentage was also lower than for non-disabled people in the evening (66% to 83%). [Table 28]

Whether feel safe and secure on buses during the day

In 2022-23, a high percentage (91%) of disabled people felt safe and secure on buses during the day. The percentage for non-disabled people was 96%. [Table 25]

Whether feel safe and secure on buses during the evening

Again, the percentage of disabled people who felt safe on buses during the evening was much lower than during the day (54% to 91%). Disabled people were less likely to feel safe in the evening than non-disabled people (54% to 76%). [Table 25]

Rating of personal safety while at bus stop

Almost three-quarters (73%) of disabled people rated their safety at the bus stop as very or fairly good, while 7% rated it as poor or fairly poor. [Table 39, Figure 21]

A bar chart showing percentage ratings of personal safety at the bus stop by disabled and non-disabled people. Good ratings were less likely from disabled people than non-disabled people and poor ratings were more likely from disabled people.
Figure 21: Rating of personal safety at the bus stop (percentages), 2023

Rating of personal security while on the bus

The percentage of disabled people who rated their security on the bus as very or fairly good was 80%. The figure for non-disabled people was 90%.[Table 40, Figure 22]

A bar chart showing percentage ratings of personal security on the bus by disabled and non-disabled people. Good ratings were less likely from disabled people than non-disabled people.
Figure 22: Rating of personal security on the bus (percentages), 2023

Data for the indicators ‘Views on personal safety while using the train station’ and ‘Views on personal safety while on the train’ are not collected in the Rail User Survey. Data on ‘Satisfaction with personal security during train journey’ have been included instead.

Satisfaction with personal security during train journey

Most disabled people (82%) were very or fairly satisfied with their personal security during the train journey, but 6% were dissatisfied. The figure for dissatisfaction for non-disabled people was 2%. [Table 51, Figure 23]

Satisfaction with personal security during train journey (percentages), 2024
Figure 23: Satisfaction with personal security during train journey (percentages), 2024