Transport accessibility plans

Our Transport Committee’s response to TfL’s accessibility proposals calls for more urgency when it comes to improving access to Tubes, trains and buses.

At present, only around one-quarter of Tube stations and a third of London’s rail stations have step-free access from street level to platform, and only half of all bus stops are fully accessible.

The Committee urges TfL to:

• Prioritise investment in the parts of London where most people with reduced mobility live, at interchange stations, and in relatively low-cost measures.
• Improve and streamline its online Journey Planner and accessibility maps in consultation with the people and groups who use them.
• Make training for staff – particularly bus drivers - more practical.
• More clearly publicise who is entitled to use accessibility bays on buses or priority seats on trains.
• Introduce “accessibility champions” at interchanges to coordinate the assistance provided by staff from different transport operators.
• Instal more help points in Tube stations.
• Provide clearer guidance for bus drivers about mobility scooters.
• Focus on continuing to improve the Dial-a-Ride service and publish details of how it will work to deliver coordinated services.

The Committee’s response to TfL’s accessibility proposals draws on the Committee’s report - Accessibility of the transport network - which highlighted the gap between the extent of step-free access and other accessibility measures, and the growing need for them.