The Community Transport Association says it is delighted to announce that it will be leading an exciting new research project, ‘Creating connections: Reimagining inclusive transport for disabled children and young people,’ funded by the Motability Foundation. The project will explore how community transport can overcome barriers to travel for disabled children and young people.
Working with disabled people’s organisations, disabled children, young people and their families to understand their needs and experiences, the CTA will also be involving community transport operators across the UK to co-develop solutions to transport barriers, with an overarching aim to provide solutions in the form of guidance to charities, operators and stakeholders that enables wider transport options for disabled children and young people.
CTA Chief Executive Victoria Armstrong said: “We are extremely proud to be undertaking this important research. After exploring the transport needs of disabled children and young people, we will work with community transport operators to understand how our sector can help deliver the transport services these children and young people need”.
Lisa Jones, Director of Charitable Operations at the Motability Foundation, added: “We hope this research from CTA will give a renewed focus on young disabled people’s needs and experiences using transport. It is important that the needs and experiences of young disabled people are understood across the community transport sector, so they can make the journeys they choose, and accessibility can be embedded into future modes of transport.”
The project aims to provide important evidence on the transport needs of disabled children and young people, collected and co-produced in close collaboration with passengers and their families, potential passengers, disability charities, community transport operators and statutory stakeholders, and will expand the limited evidence base on the transport needs of disabled children and young people, focusing on how community transport operators currently meet or could meet these needs.
The findings will then be used to co-produce a suite of good practice guides, case studies and training resources for the sector, outlining the findings of the research together with guidance for providing Community Transport for disabled children and young people. In the initial project phase, the CTA plans to engage with the sector to gain a deeper understanding of current services, and as part of that, a brief operator survey will be conducted in late spring.
The CTA is also looking for partners to work with on the project, both community transport operators which currently provide services for disabled children and young people and those which are considering this in the future, and says it would love to hear from anyone keen to be involved.
