No stopping us now: making bus stops accessible for all

15 October 2026  |  Isobel Duxfield  |  Buses

Our new report, No stopping us now: Towards accessible bus stops for all, explores the barriers disabled passengers face and sets out practical steps to make bus travel more accessible, inclusive and reliable.

The importance of accessibility

An estimated 16.8 million people in the UK have a disability – around a quarter of the population. Yet disabled people make, on average, just a third as many journeys each week as the national average, and rely heavily on public transport for travelling independently.

Making public transport services and infrastructure accessible is therefore imperative. Bus stops are a key component of a passenger’s journey; yet, lack of accessibility at stops is inhibiting travel for many across England and Wales.

Transport for All’s analysis found that 40 per cent of disabled bus users have experienced inadequate bus stops, while 37 per cent identify a lack of real-time information as a barrier.

A whole-journey approach

Our latest report analyses the range of barriers to accessibility and provides practical solutions for local authorities and industry stakeholders.

To do this, we take a whole journey approach. Accessibility must be considered from the moment someone starts planning a journey to the moment they reach their destination.

Consider the challenges along a typical journey. Uneven pavements, missing dropped kerbs and obstructed footways can make reaching a stop difficult or impossible. Once there, passengers may find no shelter or suitable seating, unclear timetables or no information about delays. Even if the bus arrives, an unsuitable kerb or a driver who does not see someone waiting can prevent them from boarding.

For people with physical, sensory, cognitive or non-visible impairments, these barriers can mean missed journeys, lost independence and reduced access to jobs, education, healthcare and social activities.

What are the solutions?

Our report calls for improvements across four stages: planning ahead, travelling to and from the stop, waiting and boarding, and travelling on the bus and getting off safely.

That means providing clear, accessible journey-planning information alongside accurate printed timetables and real-time updates. It means maintaining pavements, improving crossings and ensuring stops are easy to identify. It also means providing appropriate kerbs, safe boarding areas, suitable seating, good lighting and information in accessible visual and audio formats.

“True accessibility means disabled passengers can travel with the same independence and confidence as anyone else: knowing where to go, knowing when their bus is coming, and being able to act on that information without relying on anyone else.”
– Keith Willis from REACT Accessible, who partnered with us for this report.

React Accessibility is developing a passenger-to-driver communication feature for bus stops, enabling blind, partially sighted or other disabled passengers to automatically request their bus to stop, making boarding and onward travel easier. It uses bus open data to match real-time vehicle allocation to a passenger’s desired service and making a ‘request to stop’ to the bus driver via the vehicle’s ticket machine.

Humans are important too!

Technology can help, but it must not become the only option. Digital information should complement, rather than replace, reliable printed information and human support.

Indeed, accessibility is about people as well as infrastructure. Three in five disabled people report experiencing negative attitudes or behaviours when travelling. Better disability-awareness training for bus drivers and greater understanding among fellow passengers are essential to creating a welcoming network where everyone can travel with confidence.

“Accessibility is about far more than infrastructure. Our own research into disabled people’s experiences of travelling by bus reinforces the importance of human interaction and the role that driver behaviour plays in shaping a passenger’s experience.”
Lydia Horbury, Chief Executive at Bus Users UK

Setting a clear standard for every stop

There are more than 417,000 bus stops across Great Britain. Upgrading every stop will take time and investment, and different locations face different practical constraints. But that is no reason to delay progress.

Building on our previous work calling for a national bus stop standard, our report proposes a framework of four categories, reflecting the different needs of major bus stations, local interchanges, intermediate stops and alighting-only stops.

This allows investment to be targeted where it can make the greatest difference, while ensuring every stop meets a basic level of accessibility. That baseline should include a clearly marked stop, legible information, a safe boarding kerb and step-free access.

Actions being conducted by local authorities demonstrate the potential for improving accessibility.

In Oxfordshire, a comprehensive audit of 4,000 bus stops is helping identify where improvements are needed and how investment should be prioritised.

“The development of a comprehensive database covering every bus stop in Oxfordshire has created a robust evidence base, capturing both physical infrastructure and detailed GIS location data. This supports more effective targeting of future investment and alignment with forthcoming accessibility requirements. A scoring methodology and hierarchy of provision have enabled the data to be translated into a prioritised programme of interventions, directing resources towards the locations with the greatest identified need.”
– Stuart Kocan-Payne MCIHT, Technical Lead – Strategic Bus Infrastructure Economy & Place at Oxfordshire County Council

Similarly, Portsmouth commissioned a 72 point audit of every bus stop in Portsmouth to establish, in granular detail, the existing infrastructure and its condition, as well as provide data about accessibility, both at the stop and on approach routes.

“This audit did two things. Firstly, it allowed us to tackle existing physical access barriers, by installing dropped kerbs, wider footways, crossing points and bus stop buildouts where needed. Secondly, it gave us a baseline from which to develop our Portsmouth Bus Stop Standard.”
– Richard Gagg, Principal Passenger Transport Operations Manager at Portsmouth City Council.

Putting disabled passengers at the heart of change

The forthcoming statutory guidance on the safety and accessibility of bus stopping places, enabled by the Bus Services Act 2025, offers an important opportunity to address these challenges and establish a more consistent approach across England.

But guidance and investment alone will not be enough. Disabled people must be involved from the outset in designing, testing and evaluating improvements. Their lived experience is essential to understanding which barriers matter most and which solutions will work in practice.

Better bus stops mean better transport for everyone

Accessible bus stops do not just benefit disabled passengers. Older people, parents with pushchairs, people recovering from injuries and anyone who needs somewhere to sit or clear information can all benefit from better-designed infrastructure.

With the right investment, consistent standards and meaningful involvement from disabled passengers, we can turn that ambition into reality. It is time to make sure that, for everyone who wants to travel by bus, there is no stopping us now.

Read No stopping us now: Towards accessible bus stops for all