Growing up, James Lee simply accepted that his father, who is blind, would arrive home looking as though he had endured the “most arduous of days”. Lee, who uses a wheelchair and is a director at Publica, an urban design practice, now knows that commuting with a disability is exhausting. But it need not be.
Lee’s commute begins in Essex, outside London, where he has assistance to board an Elizabeth Line train. Forty minutes later, he rolls on to the ultra-modern spacious level-access platform at Farringdon station in central London, into the lift and out to the street.
The station was upgraded as part of the multibillion-pound Crossrail project, renamed the Elizabeth Line when it opened in 2022, to ensure level access between train and platform. Its accessibility contrasts with many outer suburban stations. For Lee, wheeling into work unaided is “liberating”, after years of waiting at stations for rail staff to fetch ramps, and he feels “much more willing to go into the office”.
Disability, including physical and sensory impairments as well as non-visible conditions such as autism, affects 16.8mn people in the UK, according to government statistics from 2023-24.
For disabled jobseekers, trains and buses that are easy to use and access are a route out of worklessness into employment, or higher pay.
Yet, when infrastructure plans are set out, disabled people have struggled to make their voices heard. This has resulted in public spaces and transport with barriers such as steps and uneven surfaces, confusing signs and public information systems that cause problems for those with visual and hearing impairments or learning disabilities.
A June 2024 survey of 500 disabled professionals by travel group Amex GBT found that half reported declining a job offer because they felt unable to fulfil the role’s travel demands. “If you cannot trust the transport system, you’re going to rely on shorter and shorter journeys, limiting the jobs you can take,” says Mikey Erhardt, campaigner at the organisation Disability Rights UK.
In its 2024 plan, Transport for London, responsible for most of the capital’s network, envisages a city where everyone can move around easily, with ample provision for wheelchair users, layouts that respect neurodiverse minds, assistance with navigation and places to stop and rest. Yet, even at its boldest, TfL aims for only half its stations to have step-free access by the end of the 2030s.
Across Britain progress is patchy. A 2022 report by the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee, which advises the government, noted a lack of “reasonable” accessibility at almost half the country’s train stations. Transport concerns add angst to disabled graduates starting out on their careers: a broken lift could upend their commute or the passenger assistance they booked might not materialise.
While on a training contract at a City law firm, Alicia Loh aimed to make her commute easy by living within 30 minutes of work, by wheelchair on pavements, so she “wasn’t worried about accessibility”. However, her accommodation costs rocketed and in the winter she had to brave the cold and rain.
For Sam Hoskin, a financial adviser who is blind, walking from the Tube to work in the Knightsbridge offices of St James’s Place takes 15 minutes of intense concentration as he tracks kerbsides and walls while probing with a cane for street clutter and trip hazards.
“The longer your journey, the more obstacles you’re going to come across and the more mentally fatigued you’ll end up,” he says.
There are no quick fixes for Victorian infrastructure designed with no thought for disability. From an employment perspective, staggered start times and hybrid working may sidestep awkward commutes, but they are not a solution, says Diane Lightfoot, chief executive of the Business Disability Forum, an employers’ organisation. “If a disabled employee would prefer to come in for the social aspects of being at work, they should be able to.”
Training staff to spot when travellers, including those with non-visible conditions, “are in distress” also makes a difference, says Beth Wooller, who works for supermarket chain J Sainsbury, and is a government disability and access ambassador for the retail sector.
Cat Whitehouse, a spokesperson for the disabled-led group Transport for All, says rail staff have been “amazing” if she has become anxious in crowds. But, across different transport modes and regions, “there’s not a fixed course that all transport staff must go on”, she says. “That’s a real shame, because disabled people should be able to rely on staff to do their job well.”
In transit hubs worldwide, including the New York Metro and bus network, the adoption of smart technologies promises a better future and could be a “game changer”, says Hoskin, who recently guided himself to the taxi rank at London’s Euston station with a wayfinding tool installed at Britain’s 20 busiest rail stations. There must be an “overarching strategy” that provides equally for people who cannot use apps, he comments. Otherwise innovation merely adds more layers of “sticking plasters”.
Christina McGill, a director at Habinteg Housing Association, which campaigns to remedy the shortage of accessible homes, urges joined-up policymaking, with an emphasis on unlocking opportunity.
“If my home supports my independence to the extent that I can get myself up and washed in the morning, I’m self-reliant,” she says. “If it doesn’t, I’m relying on care teams to do those things for me, creating a chain of potential delay that impacts my employability.”
Disabled people need to be part of the debate for accessibility to be designed into projects from day one, Lee says. That requires better engagement with disability groups by local authorities and developers and more disabled people in positions of power. “In London, we have a commissioner for walking and cycling, but we don’t have anyone who’s specifically looking after the interests of disabled people,” Lee adds.
London transport’s lack of loos adds stress to journeys across town
Only a minority of central London underground stations have public toilets, making a journey through the UK capital stressful for many with bowel or similar conditions, writes Olivia Surguy.
“Londoners shouldn’t have to cross their legs and hope” when they travel on the Tube, says Caroline Russell, a member of the London Assembly and leader of the City Hall Green party, in a report published in August. “A properly accessible public transport system must include toilets and information on where to find them.”
The report said less than a quarter of central underground stations have toilets. London’s authorities plan to invest an annual £3mn for five years in improving toilets, with 40 per cent of funding allocated for new facilities.
A spokesperson for mayor Sadiq Khan and Transport for London said they were “committed to make toilets more accessible for everyone”, pledging that many travellers will be within 20 minutes of a toilet without having to change train.
Many remain anxious. Mesha Moinirad, a content creator who has inflammatory bowel disease and a stoma bag, said if he were to suffer a leak, he would “need to find a toilet as quickly as [he] can”.
Adele Roberts, a DJ who also has a stoma bag, makes a comparison with Japan, where most public places have toilets. “For the first time, I didn’t have to worry,” she says.