Public transport

The UK’s leading learning disability charity, Mencap finds 41% of the people with a learning disability it surveyed say travelling on public transport is one of the most anxiety inducing parts of their day when they leave the house, making them more likely to be socially isolated.

There are 1.5M children and adults with a learning disability in the UK. 15% of those surveyed have experienced someone being rude or nasty to them in the last month on public transport. Over a third also say that being bullied is one of the things they worry about most when they go out, with travelling on public transport being one of the many challenges that people with a learning disability can face – whether it’s the attitudes of others, cancellations or over-crowding.

One in four disabled people say the attitudes of other passengers prevent them from using public transport (Scope). Behaviours that make public transport a daunting place for disabled people are often unconscious, according to Department for Transport (DfT) research, and the public don’t realise that not all disability is visible. ‘it’s everyone’s journey’ will raise awareness about the needs of disabled people when using public transport, particularly those with non-visible impairments.

Aston spoke to Vijay Patel, Campaigns Assistant at Mencap to discuss about the campaign, how many people with disabilities are more at risk of becoming socially isolated and also draw on his own experiences.