Today is the official launch of the National Centre for Accessible Transport (NCAT) which aims to make transport more accessible to all.
What is NCAT?
In a first for the UK, NCAT is a £20 million project funded by Motability, the charity, working in collaboration with charities Designability and Research Institute for Disabled Consumers (RiDC) and organisations Connected Places Catapult, Policy Connect and WSP.
The centre will be led by Professor Paul Herriotts, based at the National Transport Design Centre (NTDC) at Coventry .
NCAT’s research and agenda will be led by disabled people and will build upon the user-centred approach successfully developed at NTDC.
Aiming to make transport accessible for all
NCAT’s mission is to make transport accessible for all by engaging with disabled people to better understand their experiences and co-design solutions; amplifying the voices of disabled people in all decision making; collaborating widely with transport stakeholders; and demonstrating good practice and impact to influence policy, with innovation at the heart of its work.
Catharine Brown, Chief Executive at Designability, said:
“Our team are delighted to be part of this exciting new project and will be applying their expertise in human-centred design to ensure that there is input from disabled people so that their lived experience and views are reflected in any new ideas or future developments.
“It is of utmost importance that we work to improve transportation and built environments across the UK to make getting from A to B easier and more straightforward.”
Research from Motability shows that disabled people in the UK currently make *38% fewer journeys than non-disabled people – a figure that hasn’t changed in the last decade. This impacts disabled people’s access to healthcare, employment, education and social activities.
An event to officially launch the centre is taking place at Coventry University today (February 15) and invited guests will hear directly from disabled people about their current travel and transport experiences.
To find out more or get involved click here: www.ncat.uk
Lead photo caption left to right: Robert McLaren Director of the Assistive and Accessible Technology Policy Lab, Policy Connect, Cathryn Thompson-Goodwin Centre Manager, National Centre for Accessible Transport, Professor Paul Herriotts Director, National Centre for Accessible Transport, Coventry University, Gordon McCullough Chief Executive, Research Institute for Disabled Consumers, Catharine Brown, Chief Executive Designabilty, Michael Edwards Innovation Director, Connected Places Catapult, Clive Gilbert Head of Accessible Transport at Policy Connect
*About the Transport Accessibility Report
Disabled people make an average of 38 per cent fewer trips than non-disabled people. There has been no reduction in this gap over the past decade. Analysis shows that completely closing the transport accessibility gap for disabled people in the UK would deliver benefits in the region of £72.4 billion per annum.