New research calls for disabled people to be at the heart of decision making for low-car cities
Today climate charity Possible and the University of Westminster’s Active Travel Academy publish a report outlining the impacts of the low-car transition in cities on disabled people and pathways to achieving an inclusive low-car city.
The report is the product of in-depth interviews and a focus group consisting of people with a range of disabilities. Participants recognised that reducing car use is a vital part of addressing the climate crisis, but emphasised that creating low-car futures must be a process which accounts for the challenges disabled people face in their daily lives.
Testimonies of disabled participants reveal their being ‘left out’ of planning decisions during the pandemic which resulted in the introduction of low-car infrastructure that ultimately did not work for them. As one participant voiced: “Over the pandemic all sorts of street changes cropped up without proper consultation. And some of those things are just making it much harder for disabled people to move around.”
However, participants also detailed how the inaccessibility of our existing car-centric cities makes it harder to walk, wheel, cycle or take public transport. Participants cite cracked pavements, a lack of dropped kerbs, a lack of level access on public transport and adequate space for wheelchairs, and cycle lanes not accommodating trikes or adapted cycles. These barriers effectively lock disabled people into car dependency, with one participant specifically saying that it feels like the only “safe and reliable option to access town centres”.
The report concludes that efforts to reduce traffic need to be focused on encouraging non-disabled people to make fewer car journeys as alternative modes of transport are more accessible to them. In doing so, we would reduce the conditions that create the disabling environment of cities. As one participant suggested: “If we could get more people who are able to use public transport to use it, then that could reduce the number of cars in town and city centres, which could leave it open for disabled people to access it by whatever means they need to.”
In the UK 27% of greenhouse gas emissions come from transport. To fairly transition to cities without mass private car ownership, it is vital that we create awareness of the disabling impacts of our current car-dominated streetspace and build support for traffic reduction measures while accounting for the diverse access needs of disabled people. There must be substantial improvements to walking, wheeling and cycling environments, public transport provision and the accessibility of all forms of public transport.
Implementing these changes would improve the quality of life not just for disabled people but everyone living in cities, giving them more car-free options for getting around. As one participant summarised: “It's not going to work if people like us are an added on thought at the end. What works for us will work for everybody, but it's got to be there at the beginning.”
Anzir Boodoo, Car Free Cities Consultant for climate charity Possible and co-author of the report said:
“This report shows what disabled have been saying for a long time - when disabled people are a central part of urban design processes, then cities become more accessible for all. The status quo locks many disabled people into car dependency, but it doesn’t have to be this way. If we built truly accessible streets and a public transport system that all disabled people could use, we could transition away from cars in a way that was fair for everyone.”
Esilia Verlinghieri, Senior Research Fellow at the Active Travel Academy and co-author of the report said:
“Our highly-disabling transport systems have long ignored disabled people’s needs, producing exclusionary walking, wheeling, cycling environments and inaccessible public transport. The result? Disabled people, and many others, have been forced to rely on car journeys. A fair transition to cities without mass private car ownership has to consider the differing mobility and accessibility needs of different groups of people. A low-car future has the potential to be better for disabled people if it can reverse the disabling conditions of our inaccessible cities and put the needs of those who find travelling more challenging first in planning decisions.”
Hirra Khan Adeogun, Head of Car Free Cities at climate charity Possible, said:
“There’s no way we can meet the challenge of the climate crisis without massive reductions in car use. Disabled people are really concerned about the climate crisis and they know that massive changes will be required to meet our climate goals. But they’re understandably fearful of those changes due to historically being left out of consultations. So we need to redesign our cities, and we need to do it with disabled people making significant contributions as to how that redesign happens in a way that doesn’t further disadvantage disabled people.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
For the full report, entitled Nobody Left Behind: Envisioning inclusive cities in a low-car future, including supporting data, please click HERE.
For media enquiries and further information please contact press@wearepossible.org or 07806431577.
Hirra Khan Adeogun, Head of Car Free Cities at climate charity Possible, is available for comment. Please contact press@wearepossible.org for more information.
Possible is a UK based charity that brings people together to take positive, practical action on climate change. Combining individual and local actions with larger systemic change, we connect people with each other, and communities with ways to address the climate crisis. wearepossible.org.
University of Westminster’s Active Travel Academy brings together a broad spectrum of expertise to lead research, teaching and knowledge exchange, with a focus on walking and cycling, use of other ‘micromobilities’ from e-scooters to electric hand cycles; and reduction in car use.
Possible changed its name from 10:10 Climate Action on 10th October 2019.