Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that disabled people have equal access to public transport.

The Government’s priorities for improving access for disabled people are set out in the Inclusive Transport Strategy (ITS), which aims to address Government’s ambition for disabled people to have the same access to transport as everyone else and to be able to travel confidently, easily and without extra cost.

The strategy included commitments and actions across all modes of transport, on which we are making good progress. Recent delivery progress includes:

• introducing regulations requiring bus companies to provide audible and visual announcements on board services;
• the Access for All programme, which has so far provided step free, accessible routes at over 220 rail stations and smaller scale access improvements at 1500 more, with more on the way;
• publishing an Aviation Passenger Charter, providing a single point of information for consumers on their rights and responsibilities when travelling by air;
• relaunching the Inclusive Transport Leaders Scheme (ITLS), an accreditation scheme which provides a framework that operators can use to make their services more accessible to disabled people.