Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (): The government is committed
to ensuring disabled passengers have the same access to transport
as everyone else, with assistance if physical infrastructure
remains a barrier. We want disabled people to be able to travel
confidently, easily and without extra cost.
Today (29 March 2022), the government is taking an important step
to help fulfil its commitment in the Inclusive Transport
Strategy to review its use of the reference wheelchair
standard.
The ISO reference wheelchair standard is the reference point for
a range of vehicle and infrastructure designs used across the
transport sector and referred to directly and indirectly in
accessibility standards for public transport vehicles and
infrastructure.
In 2021, the government commissioned an assessment of the
prevalence, dimensions, and uses of wheeled mobility-aids in the
United Kingdom in relation to the use of the reference wheelchair
standard on land-based transport modes.
The findings of this assessment estimate that the current reference
wheelchair standard accommodates 60% of wheelchairs and 54% of
wheeled mobility aids.
However, this does not necessarily mean that the current
standards are inadequate and there will be trade-offs between
making transport more inclusive for all passengers by setting
more stringent standards that accommodate larger wheelchairs and
the practicalities for transport operators to accommodate larger
and more diverse mobility aids within conventionally sized public
transport vehicles.
However, these findings will be used to help form the broader
evidence base to determine the design of future vehicles and
transport infrastructure to meet mobility aid users’ needs.
In particular, we intend to use these findings to inform the
forthcoming review of the Public
Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000, which we
expect to conclude by the end of 2023.
