A Critique of Urban Accessible Transport Provision and Assessment Procedures

This poster paper is concerned with alternative approaches to providing transport services for people whose mobility is impaired by their age or disability, and with the ways in which policy relating to such provision can be formulated and evaluated. A key issue is shown to be the need to provide Accessible Transport, rather than Transport for disabled people. The paper is based mainly on experience in Greater Manchester, a conurbation of some 2.5 million population in the North West of England, where a variety of specialist services are operated both on a Dial-a-Ride and on a semi-fixed route basis. Studies there show that people with mobility difficulties also make substantial use of conventional public transport and of taxis. A recent review of the policies regarding accessible transport in Greater Manchester showed that specialist services, despite involving an increasing proportion of the total funds available to support local public transport, have proved unable alone to resolve the accessibility problems of most mobility impaired people. The paper discusses alternative policies to assist people with mobility problems and considers ways in which the most appropriate mix of policies and services can best be decided.