Established in 1999, Community ConnXions serves the people of Badenoch & Strathspey, addressing rural isolation, loneliness, transportation barriers for those with disabilities or in old age, and issues of poverty and ill health. With a diverse Board comprising client and volunteer representatives, along with 10 part-time staff and 35 volunteer car drivers, the organisation offers a range of services, including trips using volunteers’ cars, e-trikes, and minibuses providing section 19 and 22 bus services for shopping, social, and medical needs.

Community ConnXions has 650 registered clients and 45 other volunteers. Last year, it partnered with the local food hub to deliver 765 food bags in an area with a population of only 14,000. Of its clients, 98% are 60+, and 95% have disabilities, often with multiple medical conditions, living at home. In 2022, its community minibus service made over 3,500 shared passenger journeys; its shopping service saved over 500 individual journeys. In November 2023, it won Best Community Transport Provider at the UK Community Transport Association Awards.

The organisation provides a cost-effective and timely transport link for Aviemore hospital patients and helps ease people’s return from the hospital back into the local community. Community ConnXions connects to multiple partners, from national charities to the local sight-impaired and Alzheimer support groups. It promotes healthy gardening, nature walks, and specific groups supporting those with dementia, sight impairment, and social interests like dancing and meals out. Referrals to Community ConnXions are through an innovative process via partnership working with GPs who ‘green prescribe’ activities to replace medical interventions. Their demand-led services help people to live at home, with dignity, for longer, leading to more comfortable and socially connected lives.

Edinburgh-based Grease Monkey designs creates, operates, and maintains sustainable active travel solutions, which is important in addressing transport poverty. Their products are designed for maximum safety, security, and usability, accessible to all. Manufactured in the UK, they are built to last, using the highest quality components and skill, ensuring the longest possible lifespan and value for money. These products are designed to use fully recyclable materials and adapt to cargo and e-bikes. Grease Monkey adopts a continuous design process, incorporating client feedback through design updates, ensuring that all updates can be integrated into existing products in the marketplace. The evolution of their preceding hangar designs reflects changes to improve accessibility, security, and sustainability over time.

Partnering with Wheatley, one of Scotland’s major housing, care, and property-management groups, Grease Monkey provides secure cycle parking solutions. To date, they have installed 81 Veloboxes (cycle hangars) and additional cycle parking solutions, providing 486 secure cycle spaces to Wheatley’s tenants in areas of high transport poverty. This enables those cycling to work and appointments to park their bikes securely, alleviating concerns about theft. This provision of secure storage outside also allows tenants to avoid storing cycles in halls and stairways, addressing security, health, safety, and rules-based issues and facilitating bike ownership. Grease Monkey’s installation of cycle hangars surpasses Glasgow City Council’s citywide cycle parking scheme in terms of numbers.

HITRANS has introduced an innovative Mobility as a Service (MaaS) initiative to ensure that disabled travellers are not excluded from the new service opportunities offered by MaaS to other service users. Traditionally, millions of disabled people have maintained mobility through the Motability Scheme, exchanging their mobility allowance to lease a car, scooter, or powered wheelchair. The Motability Mobility Credit Pilot, capped at 100 users for this trial, allowed Motability customers to apply to receive ‘Mobility Credits’—a set financial amount of £200—which could be used in the Go-Hi app to purchase access to mobility services such as train tickets, bus tickets, ferry tickets, or taxi rides. To facilitate this, Motability was set up as a corporate Go-Hi customer, enabling Motability users to buy mobility ‘On account’ without paying for it directly. During the pilot, 130 bookings were made by 16 customers across several modes: 16 Bus; 3 Ferry; 28 Taxi, and 83 Rail. Data from the user survey and focus groups are still being processed following the conclusion of the pilot; however, HITRANS reports signs of modal shift in action.

The Motability customer services team also provided some anecdotal feedback during the pilot. As with many projects where social benefits are not easily quantified, the scheme demonstrates its value through real-life stories. For example, a man who recently underwent serious surgery and was prescribed a high dose of morphine, rendering him unable to drive, allocated his entire PIP allowance towards a scheme car, effectively limiting his travel options. Thanks to the MaaS pilot, he has continued travelling safely and affordably by accessing taxi services through the scheme. Another participant, a lady, found it difficult to travel with her son with disabilities as their carer—her driver—didn’t work full time. The MaaS pilot significantly eased the process of taking him out of the house, providing consistency and a wider range of possible locations to explore together.

Initial results also suggest that Motability customers could use public or shared transport in some cases, opening the possibility of Motability providing a MaaS app in place of a vehicle for individuals who cannot or do not want to drive or having one as an option for drivers who are temporarily unable to drive, as in the example above, or if their vehicle is off-road. It’s encouraging to see HITRANS harnessing technology to further inclusion, addressing potential pitfalls in digital initiatives.

Lothian has introduced another initiative that demonstrates their commitment to inclusion and accessibility. This latest scheme, launched in April 2023, is in partnership with Upmo, a charity providing support and opportunities for adults with learning disabilities and autism across Edinburgh, East Lothian, and Midlothian. The partnership was initiated by Upmo’s service user, Jason, who uses both East Coast Buses and Lothian City services to travel from his home in Prestonpans, East Lothian, to the café where he volunteers once a week in the west of Edinburgh. Lothian and Upmo collaborated to film Jason’s Journey, aiming to highlight how essential public transport is for some adults with learning disabilities, promote the accessibility of Lothian’s services, and underscore the benefits of bus travel.

Upmo interacts with many service users who rely on the Edinburgh and Lothians bus service to broaden their horizons by travelling independently. The project hopes to inspire more young adults with learning disabilities to use public transport to access opportunities. Jason expresses his happiness while on the bus, emphasising how it means he’s out of the house. He also comments on the bus drivers’ friendliness and their role in ensuring everyone feels safe on buses.

Every Lothian driver undergoes one full day of CPC (Certificate of Professional Competence) training per year. The project also highlights the employability of service users, as symbolised by Jason’s volunteering opportunity at a café in Edinburgh. The video was shared on Lothian’s social media channels, reaching an audience of over 200,000 followers across all its platforms. Jason’s Journey illustrates how crucial bus travel is to many lives in local communities and reflects Lothian’s commitment to public transport for all.

Lothian Buses initiated the ‘Swap With Me’ initiative with RNIB in 2023, and it’s now being adopted across the bus industry, recognising the essential role of bus services in all parts of the local community. McGill’s aimed to enhance their driving team’s understanding of the experiences of blind and partially sighted customers, enabling drivers to take measures to make bus travel as accessible as possible for all users. RNIB Scotland conducted role-play training to explain the challenges faced by people with visual disabilities when travelling on public transport. McGill’s drivers wore ‘sim specs’—specially adapted glasses simulating different eye conditions—to experience firsthand the barriers encountered by blind and partially sighted people when hailing and boarding a bus, buying a ticket, and finding a seat.

Conversely, individuals with sight loss or disability had the opportunity to sit in the driving cab of a bus to better understand the job from a driver’s perspective. This mutual exchange has improved understanding and adaptive behaviours, resulting in positive outcomes for all passengers. McGill’s reports an improved driver retention rate due to drivers feeling better trained and equipped. New drivers joining the McGill’s team receive specific training as part of their induction programme at the company’s in-house Academy on supporting customers with a disability in making the most of its bus route network.

The Port Glasgow Access for All project demonstrates proactive stakeholder engagement to co-design solutions meeting their needs. The rail partnership consulted stakeholders about the desired accessibility at this station. As a result, a new bridge and lifts were identified as necessary, as station users previously had to navigate a steep footpath from the car park to the platform, posing challenges, especially for those with mobility issues, particularly during adverse weather conditions. These improvements were well received by the local community, who had long advocated for station accessibility. Stakeholders were consistently updated on the project’s progress, and stakeholder groups disseminated these updates through their networks, including those typically under-represented in scheme development processes. The new bridge and lifts will facilitate access to station services for the wider Inverclyde community, promoting increased train travel. This £5m project has significantly enhanced the station, with the Princes Street entrance featuring improved lighting and new CCTV, ensuring a safer, more comfortable experience. Step-free access from the main entrance across the platforms to the park and ride car park connects more communities, facilitating more seamless journeys.

Guide Dogs Scotland contacted Network Rail on behalf of one of their clients, Linda Mooney, who uses Cardonald Station daily to go to work and currently relies on a long cane while waiting for her guide dog to be trained. Linda feared making the journey without guide dog support due to poor surface conditions and obstacles en route to the station and within its footprint. Since the station closes at 2 pm daily, it is only accessible to Linda through the back entrance via the car park, posing significant accessibility challenges for people with impaired visibility and mobility issues.

Network Rail, Guide Dogs, and other partner organisations arranged a site meeting with Linda, who demonstrated her challenges. Her request was straightforward: to make the approach to the station more user-friendly, especially for those who are visually impaired. A quick, simple programme of cost-effective works was delivered, including the extension of the existing public footpath to create a new entrance into the car park, the installation of two zebra crossings to connect the platform access ramp to the public stairs, the installation of street furniture to define the route, renewal of the road and car park surfaces, repair of public stairs leading to the car park and upgrading the handrail, installation of corduroy tactiles at the top and bottom of the public stairs, painting of the public stairs with white or yellow nosings to highlight stairs and landing areas, creation of a newly accessible parking space, and installation of tactile edgings to the footbridge within the station.

Linda has expressed that the results have been incredible and life-changing for her and other visually impaired customers. This project vividly demonstrates the value of lived experience in designing services and assets across the transport industry. It would be interesting to know if these simple improvements will be implemented across other rail stations without the intervention of Linda or other similarly visually impaired passengers.

ScotRail has launched the Glasgow Station Bus Link, a zero-emissions, turn-up-and-go frequency shuttle bus between Glasgow’s three main transport hubs: Glasgow Central, Glasgow Queen St, and Buchanan Bus Station. This service provides a seven-day-a-week connection, facilitating joined-up travel opportunities for customers between local and national rail, bus, and coach services. The bus features the ScotRail livery, ensuring easy identification for passengers. It is available to all rail and non-rail passengers, with those travelling with a rail ticket or concession pass travelling free of charge. The service operates using brand new, fully electric vehicles that are low floor, with all three bus stops featuring raised kerbs for easy access. This benefits users with mobility and sensory impairments, those carrying heavy luggage, individuals unfamiliar with Glasgow city centre, or travellers with young children.

This inclusive approach significantly benefits the 70% of Bus Link users who reported difficulty walking, travelling with luggage, feeling unfamiliar with the city, or preferring to use the bus link for safety reasons (ScotRail survey, November 2023). These initiatives contribute to Scotland’s more inclusive, integrated, and low-carbon transport network. This crucial service was introduced under ScotRail’s public ownership, allowing the business case to be driven by wider benefits than commercial considerations.

ScotRail has introduced a new livery as part of its inclusive design initiative to enhance transport accessibility. Recognising the lack of standardisation in demarking wheelchair or cycle positions across its 10 fleets, ScotRail identified the need for a clearer and more consistent approach. After thorough face-to-face and digital consultations with its Stakeholder Equality Group and Active Travel group, the preferred design was established: a large, clear symbol to denote the correct position for wheelchair users and cyclists. This design ensures easy identification of relevant spaces onboard, regardless of fleet type.

The new livery, based on inclusive, sustainable, and safe principles, has received positive feedback from stakeholders and customers. Early data indicates a reduction in train dwell delay minutes attributed to customers boarding in the wrong carriage. Further analysis is ongoing. Frontline staff report that the new signage enables clearer communication with customers, particularly during peak times or disruptions when increased pressure on staff increases.

The project has received governmental endorsement and was launched by Patrick Harvie, Minister for Active Travel. The Great British Railway Transition Team (GBRTT) has approached ScotRail to incorporate the livery into their best practice design guides for New Trains across the UK. The positive response on social media reflects the success of ScotRail’s effort to ensure clear and visible signage, enhancing the overall travel experience for all passengers.