What disabled people in the North East are telling us

The North East has the highest proportion of disabled people in England 21% of the population. Transport is not a peripheral issue for these 560,000+ people. It determines whether they can get to a hospital appointment, take a job, attend a community event, or simply leave the house. Our Access to the Everyday Report 2026 built from conversations with 77 disabled people across the region found that nearly two thirds had faced barriers on public transport in the past year.

In Darlington, disabled people told us about cobbles that make the town centre impassable, taxis that refuse wheelchair users, and the grinding frustration of building a life around public transport timetables that weren't designed with disabled people in mind. In our Amble workshop and Stockton community events, the same themes emerged. At our Hartlepool event, disabled people put it plainly: they want what everyone else has the freedom to travel when they need to, where they need to, without it becoming an obstacle course.

Read the full regional picture in What Disabled People in the North East Are Telling Us 2026, including Helen's account of navigating Darlington's pavements and the barriers that make every trip a negotiation.

The barriers: what our members actually face

Our response to the North East Mayoral Combined Authority's Transport Plan set out the transport barriers disabled people face every day. They are not unusual or exceptional. They are routine.

Transport inaccessibility is not just about individual journeys. It restricts access to work, healthcare, culture and community. Every barrier is a denial of participation. — Difference North East, response to the NECA Local Transport Plan

The 9:30am bus pass restriction: a campaign that went to Parliament

One of the most concrete and damaging barriers facing disabled people using buses across England is the 9:30am restriction on the concessionary bus pass the rule that means free bus travel cannot be used until after the morning rush hour. For disabled people who cannot work standard hours, who have early medical appointments, or who rely on transport that runs only in the morning, this restriction can make the bus pass nearly useless.

Difference North East has campaigned hard on this issue. Our blog Too Late to Be Fair set out exactly why the restriction is discriminatory and what it means in practice. We wrote to the Department for Transport. We pushed for parliamentary action.

Regional transport planning: making disabled people central, not an afterthought

The North East Mayoral Combined Authority ( NECA) is developing a new Local Transport Plan for the region. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to embed accessibility into the transport network from the ground up. Difference North East has submitted a detailed response read the full text in our NECA Transport Plan response setting out what a genuinely accessible regional transport system would look like.

Our response to the NECA Transport Plan calls for mobility justice: the recognition that transport is not neutral, and that accessible transport is essential for disabled people's full participation in society. We also responded to the Tees Valley Combined Authority's active travel consultation, making the case that cycling and walking infrastructure must be accessible to disabled people including wheelchair users, people with visual impairments, and those using mobility aids or it simply fails to serve a significant part of the population.

Sustrans and Transport for All's Transforming Mobility report (July 2025) cited in our blog 5 Big Ideas for Accessible Transport provides the national framework for what good looks like. We are applying that lens to every North East transport consultation.

Beyond buses: Motability, Blue Badge parking and the full picture of transport access

The Motability scheme

For many disabled people, a Motability vehicle is the only form of transport that genuinely works for them the difference between independence and isolation. Difference North East has joined a national coalition of organisations, coordinated by Transport for All, raising concerns with the Minister for Social Security and Disability, Stephen Timms MP, about proposed changes to the Motability scheme.

The coalition's concerns include increased costs and reduced vehicle choice that would make the scheme less accessible particularly for disabled people on lower incomes. For the North East, where poverty rates among disabled people are already high and public transport alternatives are often inadequate, the Motability scheme is not a nice-to-have. It is a lifeline. We are ensuring the voices of disabled people in our region are heard in this national debate.

Blue Badge parking: the right to park without harassment

Blue Badge parking spaces are one of the most visible and most searched disability accessibility topics online which reflects just how central accessible parking is to disabled people's ability to take part in everyday life. Without reliable access to parking close to their destination, many disabled people simply cannot make the trip.

But accessible parking is not just a question of supply. Research consistently shows that disabled people are regularly challenged, questioned and harassed by strangers about whether they "look disabled enough" to use a Blue Badge space. Not all disabled people are visibly disabled. Chronic pain, fatigue conditions, mental health conditions and many other impairments are invisible but no less real, and no less qualifying. These encounters are not minor irritants. They are humiliating, sometimes frightening, and for some people they become a reason to avoid going out at all.

Difference North East tracks Blue Badge-related experiences through our member reporting. If you have experienced harassment at a Blue Badge space, tell us. And if you witness someone being challenged, remember: you do not know that person's condition. "Mind your own business" is not about "rudeness" it is about basic respect.

Your legal rights on public transport

Disabled people have legal rights on public transport under the Equality Act 2010 and sector-specific regulations. Knowing them matters and so does knowing what to do when they are ignored.

On buses and coaches

• Drivers must deploy the ramp when requested refusal can be reported to the Traffic Commissioner
• Wheelchair users have priority in the designated accessible space
• Operators cannot charge disabled passengers more than non-disabled passengers
• Audio and visual information about stops must be provided on new buses meeting accessibility regulations

On trains

• You can book Passenger Assist in advance train operators must honour bookings and provide ramps at staffed stations
• New rolling stock must meet accessibility standards set by the Department for Transport
• If assistance fails, you can complain to the train operator and to the Office of Rail and Road

In taxis and private hire vehicles

Many people are unaware of how strong the law is here. It is a criminal offence for the driver of a licensed wheelchair-accessible vehicle to refuse a wheelchair user, to fail to provide assistance, or to charge more because of someone's disability. Despite this, refusals happen regularly across the North East particularly in Darlington and other towns where accessible vehicle availability is low.

• Licensed wheelchair-accessible vehicles must carry wheelchair users refusal is a criminal offence, not just a policy breach
• Drivers cannot charge extra for a wheelchair user or for assistance this too is a criminal offence
• Assistance dogs must be carried without surcharge refusal can be reported to the local authority licensing team
• Taxi licensing policies are set by local councils if your area has too few accessible vehicles, push your councillors to change the policy

What we're watching in the North East

The North East is at a pivotal moment for transport. The new North East Mayor, Kim McGuinness, has powers over the Metro, buses and active travel that no previous regional body had. We are watching and pushing to make sure accessibility is a genuine priority, not a box-ticked afterthought. Kim McGuinness has already responded positively to our transport campaigning, as reported in Building Momentum for Fair Travel.

We are also watching the budget. The implications of the Autumn 2025 budget for disabled people's transport particularly around social care and supported transport are documented in our blog on the Budget 2025 and disability. Cuts to supported transport and social care directly affect whether disabled people can travel at all.

For disabled people in rural areas particularly around Amble and Northumberland the stakes are especially high. Our collaboration with North Pennines AONB on accessible tourism, covered in A Landscape for Everyone, shows that with the right approach, rural areas can become genuinely accessible and that disabled people have as much right to enjoy the North East's landscapes as anyone else.

What we are campaigning for

Based on our 2026 Access to the Everyday Report, our NECA Transport Plan response, our community consultations in Darlington, Stockton, Amble and Gateshead, and our years of parliamentary lobbying on accessible transport, Difference North East is calling on transport authorities, operators and government to:

1. Remove the 9:30am bus pass restriction. Read our campaign blog Too Late to Be Fair and our update on building momentum for fair travel. This is a simple, deliverable ask that would transform life for thousands of disabled people in the North East.
2. Embed disabled people's lived experience in all transport planning as set out in our NECA Transport Plan response. Co-design from the start, not consultation at the end.
3. Enforce existing legal standards on bus ramp deployment, Passenger Assist on rail, and taxi accessibility. The law exists. The problem is enforcement and accountability.
4. Provide accessible journey information as standard before travel, not buried in small print. As Richard Boggie writes in Step Free This Way, disabled people love information upfront. It is not a luxury; it is a precondition for independent travel.
5. Make all new active travel infrastructure accessible to disabled people, including wheelchair users and people with visual impairments. Cycling infrastructure that creates new barriers for disabled people is not progress.
6. Protect and improve rural transport for disabled people in Northumberland and other rural areas of the North East, recognising that inaccessible or cut services hit disabled people hardest.
7. Protect the Motability scheme from changes that increase costs or reduce vehicle choice. Motability vehicles are a lifeline for disabled people for whom no other transport option works we are part of the Transport for All national coalition pressing the Minister for Social Security and Disability on this.
8. Tackle Blue Badge harassment. Local authorities and retailers must act to stop disabled Blue Badge holders being challenged and harassed about their parking. Not all disabilities are visible.

Frequently asked questions