Chapter 5 - Transport

• 'Cost’ was the most common barrier to transport in all transport types1 regardless of an adult’s impairment status. The proportion reporting ‘cost’ as a barrier was highest for taxis/minicabs and lowest for local buses

• A higher percentage of adults reported ‘cost’ as a barrier to using motor vehicles in Wave Two only than in Wave One only. This finding was not seen for other transport types and coincided with a rise in the cost of fuel and car insurance²

• For adults with impairment at both waves there is evidence that some perceived their impairment to have affected their ability to access all four transport types. This was not the case for the other analysis groups

• Specific barrier types tended to be reported by adults at either Wave One only or Wave Two only, rather than at both waves. This suggests that barriers are transient in most cases, rather than fixed

Notes

1. The four transport types included in this chapter are: motor vehicles, local buses, long-distance trains and taxis/minicabs

2. Data source: Consumer Price Indices, January 2014 Office for National Statistics

As we saw in Chapter 2 adults in the LOS can be classified into four groups for analysis:

• adults with impairment at both waves

• offset adults

• onset-acquired adults

• adults without impairment at both waves

These groups reflect the diversity of impairment status, in that impairment status may be stable, or may change over time. A person may have impairments at both waves (group 1) or no impairment at both waves (group 4), or they may no longer have impairments (group 2) or they acquire an impairments at Wave Two (group 3).

Chapter 2 of this report explored changes in participation restriction experienced between Wave One and Wave Two. According to the LOS definition, adults who had a participation restriction in one or more life area will experience barriers. Barriers to transport vary between transport types¹; for example, ‘cost’ is a possible barrier to all transport types, whereas ‘parking problems’ only applies to motor vehicles. The barriers reported by adults may change over time. For each life area, it is also possible to see if a barrier was:

i. reported at both waves

ii. reported at Wave One only

iii. reported at Wave Two only

iv. not reported at either wave

This chapter describes the types of barriers to transport experienced by working age (16 to 64) adults, who had a participation restriction at any point in the survey. For these adults the types of barriers that were reported at both waves or at either wave (groups i, ii, and iii) will be examined by group. Four transport types are analysed separately in this chapter: motor vehicles, local buses, long-distance trains and taxis/minicabs.

Notes for 5.2 Aims of this chapter

1. The four transport types included in this chapter are: motor vehicles, local buses, long-distance trains and taxis/minicabs

This section describes the types of barriers experienced by working age adults (16 to 64) who had a participation restriction to using a motor vehicle¹ at any point in the survey (as identified by the dark sections of the pie charts (see Figure 5.1). For these adults the types of barriers that were reported at both waves or at either wave (groups i, ii, and iii²) will be examined by group.

Figure 5.1 Percentage of working age (16 to 64) adults with a participation restriction to using motor vehicles¹, by group²

Adults aged between 16 and 64, who experienced a participation restriction to using motor vehicles at either or both waves

Source: Life Opportunities Survey - Office for National Statistics

Notes:

1. An adult had a participation restriction to using a motor vehicle if they had continuous use of a motor vehicle, but did not go out in it as much as they would have liked
2. Please refer to definition of longitudinal analysis groups in the Introduction of Life Opportunities Survey - Understanding disability Wave Two Part II report
3. Sample sizes have been rounded independently to the nearest 10
4. All percentages have been rounded to the nearest 1
5. Based on weighted data

The tables presented in this chapter show the top four barriers that were reported by each group, at Wave One only, Wave Two only and both waves. The percentages reflect those who reported each barrier, out of those adults from that particular group who had a barrier to using motor vehicles at either or both waves.

Across all groups ‘cost’ was the most common barrier reported to using motor vehicles at Wave One only, Wave Two only and both waves. ‘Parking problems’ was also among the four highest ranking barriers across all groups.

For all groups, ‘cost’ was more frequently reported at Wave Two only than at Wave One only. This has coincided with above-inflation rises in fuel and car insurance costs over the period covered by the two waves of the survey3. This pattern was not seen for other transport types.

For adults with impairment at both waves and onset-acquired adults there is evidence that some perceived their impairment to have restricted their use of a motor vehicle. At both and either wave, ‘a health condition, illness or impairment’ and ‘a disability’ were commonly reported barriers, by adults with impairments at both waves. Similarly, onset-acquired adults also commonly reported ‘a health condition, illness or impairment’ at Wave Two only, but not at Wave One only or both waves. This finding was not seen for other transport types.

In addition, ‘too busy/not enough time’ and ‘vehicle not available when needed’ tended to be featured in the top four ranking barriers for offset adults, onset-acquired adults and adults without impairment at both waves.

Details of all barriers types can be found in the data section of this publication. The data can also be viewed as interactive charts.

Notes for 5.3 Types of barriers to using motor vehicles

1. An adult had a participation restriction to using a motor vehicle if they had continuous use of a motor vehicle, but did not go out in it as much as they would have liked

2. Section 5.2 aims of this chapter provides more details

3. Data source: Consumer Price Indices, January 2014 Office for National Statistics

This section describes the types of barriers experienced by working age adults (16 to 64) who had a participation restriction to using local buses¹ at any point in the survey (as identified by the dark sections of the pie charts (see Figure 5.2)). For these adults the types of barriers that were reported at both waves or at either wave (groups i, ii, and iii²) will be examined by group.

Figure 5.2 Percentage of working age (16 to 64) adults with a participation restriction to using local buses¹, by group²

Adults aged between 16 and 64, who experienced a participation restriction to using local buses at either or both waves

Source: Life Opportunities Survey - Office for National Statistics

Notes:

1. An adult had a participation restriction to using local buses if they had not used local buses as much as they would have liked to in the last 12 months
2. Please refer to definition of longitudinal analysis groups in the Introduction of Life Opportunities Survey - Understanding disability Wave Two Part II report
3. Sample sizes have been rounded independently to the nearest 10
4. All percentages have been rounded to the nearest 1
5. Based on weighted data

The tables presented in this chapter show the top four barriers that were reported by each group, at Wave One only, Wave Two only and both waves. The percentages reflect those who reported each barrier, out of those adults from that particular group who had a barrier to using local buses at either or both waves.

‘Cost’ was the most reported barrier at Wave One only and Wave Two only for all four groups. At both waves, however, ‘transport unavailable’ was the most reported barrier by offset adults, adults without impairment at both waves and onset-acquired adults. A smaller percentage reported ‘cost’ as a barrier to local buses across all groups than for other transport types. This is unsurprising due to the comparatively low cost of travel by local bus, compared with motor vehicles, long-distance trains and taxis/minicabs.

Offset adults, onset-acquired adults and adults without impairment at both waves reported similar common barriers at Wave One only and Wave Two only. The four most common barriers were ‘cost’, ‘transport unavailable’, ‘too busy/not enough time’ and ‘delay and disruption to the service’. Adults with impairment at both waves reported similar common barriers to other groups, but also reported ‘a health condition, illness or impairment’ and ‘a disability’ as barriers to local buses, suggesting some perceived their impairment to be a barrier to using local buses.

Details of all barriers types can be found in the data section of this publication. The data can also be viewed as interactive charts.

Notes for 5.4 Types of barriers to using local buses

1. An adult had a participation restriction to using a local bus if they had not used local buses as much as they would have liked to in the last 12 months

2. Section 5.2 aims of this chapter provides more details

This section describes the types of barriers experienced by working age adults (16 to 64) who had a participation restriction to using long-distance trains¹ at any point in the survey (as identified by the dark sections of the pie charts (see Figure 5.3)). For these adults the types of barriers that were reported at both waves or at either wave (groups i, ii, and iii²) will be examined by group.

Figure 5.3 Percentage of working age (16 to 64) adults with a participation restriction to long-distance trains¹, by group²

Adults aged between 16 and 64, who experienced a participation restriction to using long-distance trains at either or both waves

Source: Life Opportunities Survey - Office for National Statistics

Notes:

1. An adult had a participation restriction to using long-distance trains if they had not used long-distance trains as much as they would have liked to in the last 12 months
2. Please refer to definition of longitudinal analysis groups in the Introduction of Life Opportunities Survey - Understanding disability Wave Two Part II report
3. Sample sizes have been rounded independently to the nearest 10
4. All percentages have been rounded to the nearest 1
5. Based on weighted data

The tables presented in this chapter show the top four barriers that were reported by each group, at Wave One only, Wave Two only and both waves. The percentages reflect those who reported each barrier, out of those adults from that particular group who had a barrier to using long-distance trains at either or both waves.

Across all groups ‘cost’ was the most common barrier reported to long-distance trains at Wave One only, Wave Two only and both waves. This is against a backdrop of above-inflation rises in the cost of train travel every year since 2004³.

There is evidence to show that some adults with impairment at both waves perceived their impairment restricted their use of long-distance trains, whereas this was not the case for onset-acquired and offset adults. This may be due to the number and stability of impairment(s) reported by the impairment at both waves group. Adults with impairment at both waves commonly reported ‘a health condition, illness or impairment’ and ‘a disability’ at Wave One only, Wave Two only and both waves, while other groups tended to report ‘too busy/not enough time’, ‘delay and disruption to service’ and ‘transport unavailable’.

Details of all barriers types can be found in the data section of this publication. The data can also be viewed as interactive charts.

Notes for 5.5 Types of barriers to using long-distance trains

1. An adult had a participation restriction to using a long-distance train if they had not used long-distance trains as much as they would have liked to in the last 12 months

2. Section 5.2 aims of this chapter provides more details

3. Data source: Consumer Price Indices, January 2014 Office for National Statistics

This section describes the types of barriers experienced by working age adults (16 to 64) who had a participation restriction to using taxis/minicabs1 at any point in the survey (as identified by the dark sections of the pie charts (see Figure 5.4)). For these adults the types of barriers that were reported at both waves or at either wave (groups i, ii, and iii ) will be examined by group.

Figure 5.4 Percentage of working age (16 to 64) adults with a participation restriction to taxis/minicabs¹, by group²

Adults aged between 16 and 64, who experienced a participation restriction to using taxis/minicabs at either or both waves

Source: Life Opportunities Survey - Office for National Statistics

Notes:

1. An adult had a participation restriction to using taxis/minicabs if they had not used taxis/minicabs as much as they would have liked to in the last 12 months
2. Please refer to definition of longitudinal analysis groups in the Introduction of Life Opportunities Survey - Understanding disability Wave Two Part II report
3. Sample sizes have been rounded independently to the nearest 10
4. All percentages have been rounded to the nearest 1
5. Based on weighted data

The tables presented in this chapter show the top four barriers that were reported by each group, at Wave One only, Wave Two only and both waves. The percentages reflect those who reported each barrier, out of those adults from that particular group who had a barrier to using taxis/minicabs at either or both waves.

As in other transport types, ‘cost’ was the most common barrier reported to using taxis/minicabs for all the groups, at both waves, and at Wave One. A higher proportion of adults with barriers to taxis/minicabs reported ‘cost’ as a barrier than for other transport types.

The second most common barrier reported by adults with impairment at both waves was ‘a health condition, illness or impairment’ and ‘a disability’, whereas other groups did not report this barrier. This suggests, as in other transport types, that some adults with impairment at both waves perceived their impairment to be a barrier to using taxis/minicabs, whereas this is not found in the offset or onset-acquired groups.

Details of all barriers types can be found in the data section of this publication. The data can also be viewed as interactive charts.

Notes for 5.6 Types of barriers to using taxis/minicabs

1. An adult had a participation restriction to using a taxi/minicab if they had not used a taxi/minicab as much as they would have liked to in the last 12 months