“I have mentally cancelled a lot of trips”: Trips not made by disabled people due to public transport inequity in lutruwita/Tasmania

Elsevier, Journal of Transport Geography, Volume 111, July 2023
Authors: 
Stafford L., Tye I.

Transport disadvantage continues to be experienced by disabled people of all ages. While barriers to transport have been documented, less is known about the impact and consequences of not being able to make trips because of these barriers. In this article, we share what trips are not being made and their impact on the everyday lives of 30 disabled people,1 half of which are disabled young people, from lutruwita/Tasmania, Australia. Our qualitative research reveals trips are not being made for health, work, education, seeing friends/family and leisure due to public transport (PT) not being inclusive of disabled persons. Their stories suggest access and use of PT is still dependent on who you are, where you live, and the level and multi-dimensions of accessibility provided across the whole of journey. The research importantly highlights that to realise transport equity, a significant SDG goal (11.2), substantial change is needed in how the transport user is considered in transport planning and network delivery, while equity, disability justice and body-mind diversity must be centred in transport planning decision making.