Accessible bus stops and information across the whole journey experience

When considering how to align bus stop provision with passenger needs, it is useful to segment bus travel into stages. This enables viewing the bus stop in relation to the entire passenger journey, and the role it plays facilitating this.

1. Pre trip planning: everything a user does before leaving for the journey. It includes deciding whether to travel, when to travel, and which service(s) to use.

2. Travel to and from the bus stops: covers the user’s walk, wheel or other forms of travel from their starting point to the boarding stop and any onward and return journey.

3. Waiting for the bus and boarding – Begins when the user arrives at the stop and continues until safely on the bus.

4. Bus travel and alighting at stop – Covers the period after boarding until the user alights at the correct stop.

In addition to physically accessible infrastructure at and around the bus stops, accessible information is paramount for passengers across the whole journey, from planning, arriving at the bus stop, waiting for the bus and ultimately boarding the right bus and departing at the right stop.

This approach reflects evidence from recent research by the National Centre for Accessible Transport, which highlights that barriers experienced by disabled people extend beyond individual transport services and infrastructure assets, encompassing journey planning, access to stops, information provision, interactions with staff and other passengers, and onward travel.¹⁶

Accessibility should be considered across the full range of information presented:

• Bus service timetable, maps and real-time information
• Bus stop features
• Bus vehicle features
• Ticketing, payment and concessionary pass periods
• Online journey planning tools, such as Google Maps, Traveline, and others
• Offline journey planning tools, such as service booklets, maps and timetables
• Navigation, road crossings and wayfinding options and tools
• Connecting bus services and other transport modes, such as tram or train, available

Accessible communication is an umbrella term to describe the communication of information that is clear, direct, easy to understand and that has been made available in multiple accessible formats so that all have equal access.

The three formats for accessible bus stop information are generally considered to be:

1. Visual

2. Audio

3. Tactile

None of these are mutually exclusive. People have various information access and communication requirements, and it is important to provide accessible approaches.

Ensuring digital information platforms are accessible is crucial for disabled people. Under the Equality Act, transport providers and authorities are service providers and have a duty to make reasonable adjustments so disabled people are not put at a substantial disadvantage. This explicitly covers information provision, including websites and online passenger information. The Act does not define technical standards, but inaccessible websites could constitute unlawful discrimination.

Web based platforms should be designed in accord with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and be tested with disabled users to ensure actual usability. WCAG is a set of technical standards that, when followed, improve the accessibility of web content, websites, and web applications for people with a wide range of impairments. In the United Kingdom, use of WCAG 2.2 Level AA is required for public-sector organisations under the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018.

References

16. National Centre for Accessible Transport (ncat) (2024), Understanding and Identifying Barriers to Transport (back to text)