Infrastructure leaders gain insight into barriers faced by disabled travellers

Barbara  Fleming took the group around Belfast using various public transport options to show the transport challenges facing disabled people. 

Senior managers from the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) in Northern Ireland have taken part in an immersive Disability Equality Training exercise, joining disabled people on public transport journeys across Belfast to better understand the accessibility challenges they face.

The training, facilitated by the Inclusive Mobility and Transport Advisory Committee (IMTAC), formed part of the Department’s ongoing commitment to making transport systems and urban infrastructure more inclusive for all.

Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins thanked IMTAC for delivering the initiative and highlighted the importance of lived experience in shaping future policy.

“There is a lot of good work ongoing across both the Department for Infrastructure and Translink in this space but there is always room to do more,” Minister Kimmins said.

“Inclusivity and putting people at the heart of everything we do is one of my department’s ’Foundations for a Better Future’ programme and that is why I have tasked my officials to consider what else can be done.”

Barbara  Fleming took the group around Belfast using various public transport options to show the transport challenges facing disabled people. 

During the half-day session, DfI officials accompanied wheelchair users and people with sensory impairments as they navigated various transport routes and city centre locations. The goal was to provide participants with a first-hand perspective on the physical and attitudinal barriers disabled people encounter in everyday travel.

The Minister further emphasised the value of this practical approach:

“When we talk about accessibility, we are talking about dignity, equality, and the ability to live without barriers. There is no substitute for actual lived experience and I want to thank everyone who was involved in facilitating this very important training.”

Barbara Fleming, a disability advocate and wheelchair user who led one of the training groups, reflected on how accessibility has progressed – and where challenges still remain.

“The difference now compared to 26 years ago when I was first disabled and trying to use public transport is worlds apart because I can move about almost the same as non-disabled people - but there is further work to be done in a number of areas, including societal attitudes and street furniture,” she said.

She stressed the impact of involving senior decision-makers in such exercises:

“Today was important because it’s a practical way of helping people to fully understand the experience of disabled people as we use public transport and navigate the city centre. It’s one thing to be told the way it is but it’s another thing to actually see it and experience the natural barriers that disabled people come across.”

“This training enables people to have a better understanding of what it is like for a disabled person. Everyone that takes part in training like this is important because people are not an island - they have family and friends - and hopefully they will talk with them about what they have seen. That’s how we will change attitudes and hopefully the unpleasant situations that I come across get less and less.”

The Department has indicated that it will use the insights gained from the training to inform future transport planning, infrastructure design, and accessibility improvements in line with its ‘Foundations for a Better Future’ initiative.

Watch the training in action: