Accessible Bus Travel: A Psychosocial Approach

A study investigated accessibility issues associated with bus travel within London. The aim was to assess the current situation and to recommend improvements. As well as analyzing previous work in this area, a wide-ranging program of original research was carried out. This involved understanding experiences and opinions of mobility-challenged Londoners as well as other key stakeholders. Methods included observation, immersion, focus groups, workshops and expert appraisals. A major issue to emerge from the research was the role that psychosocial factors played in affecting mobility-challenged people’s quality of experience of using public buses – in particular, the emotional impact of the attitudes and behaviour of the driver and of other passengers. Previously, the emphasis of accessibility research and improvements schemes has been on the physical elements of accessibility. While these are certainly vital, the outcomes of our research suggest that psychosocial issues are equally, perhaps even more, so