A research panel created by ncat (the National Centre for Accessible Transport) has grown to well over 1,000 members. It’s now encouraging more people to join in helping make public transport fully accessible and inclusive.
Community for Accessible Transport
The panel, named the Community for Accessible Transport (CAT), now totals 1,160 members – of whom, over a thousand are disabled people themselves or the family member/carer of a disabled person. The rest includes non-disabled professionals who work in the transport and/or disability sectors.
Supported by the Research Institute for Disabled Consumers (RIDC), the panel aims to consult with disabled people on their experience of accessing transport in the UK, so ncat can record a full picture of how disabled people use (or don’t use) transport and why.
This is so the Centre can then go on to make recommendations and instigate change in how the transport systems in the UK should become more accessible to disabled people.
So far, the panel has taken part in four research projects, covering areas such as the barriers to accessing transport, the ways that disabled people plan their journeys, the role of local authorities and the UK ‘streetscape’.
A group of disabled ‘experts by experience’ have also fed into the design of the research programme to ensure that the most useful and insightful data is collected, using accessible methods.
Why you should become a member of CAT?
Ncat board member, Damian Joseph-Bridgeman, explains why it’s important that disabled people join the panel:
“In truth, I want to get as many marginalised voices feeding into policy and research development as possible. It’s important because we’re trying to make society the most inclusive it can be, and sometimes it’s the quietest voices that might have the spark needed to change the transport landscape.”
“It’s not necessarily the people that have the visibility already but those sitting around the kitchen table saying ‘I want to go somewhere but I’m struggling to get on a train’. They are the people who need their voice heard, and that is what we are trying to do through ncat and its Community of Accessible Transport (CAT) panel.”
Panel member, and ‘expert by experience’, Anis shares their motivation for being on the panel:
“(The CAT panel) is an opportunity for disabled people to get involved, and to be a part of the research. ncat offers compensation for your time and feeds information back to you, which I really appreciate. You’re included in the whole process, not left in the dark.”
The panel may have reached 1,000 members, but the aim is to keep it growing, as Gordon McCullough at RiDC (Research Institute for Disabled Consumers), which manages the panel, shares:
“In our research, time and time again, transport comes up as one of the top issues that regularly impede disabled people from being able to live the lives they want and need to.”
“It’s great to see the panel growing but we want more people to join so that we can form a wholly representative picture of what using transport is like for disabled people across the UK. Every piece of research our panel takes part in – whether it’s filling out a survey online, taking part in focus groups, or recording travel diaries – directly informs our recommendations to those who run the transport we all use.”
To find out more and join yourself, go to the Join Our Panel page. Or call 020 8152 3236
Those eligible to join the panel are disabled people over the age of 18, parents or carers of disabled children, and people working in the transport and/or disability sector.
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