Accessibility of transport for disabled people
Background (Back to top)
In its 2025 report “Access Denied” the Transport Select Committee found that “ingrained” accessibility failings across all modes of transport are having a “significant negative impact” on the lives of disabled people. The committee noted that:
“…there is still a very substantial gap between the rights and obligations that exist in theory, and the daily experience of people who rely on pavements, buses, taxis, trains and planes to get to work, to access services or for leisure.”
The “overly complicated and fragmented” legal framework was identified as one of the factors contributing to this situation. The current “patchwork” of laws makes it harder for disabled travellers and transport operators to understand their rights and obligations and makes redress harder to access. This gets in the way of the policy aspiration of providing equal access to transport for disabled people.
To help address this problem, the Law Commission has been asked by the Department for Transport to undertake a review of the current legislation on transport accessibility.
Project (Back to top)
Scope
The review will consider the laws governing the accessibility of transport for disabled people in England and Wales and the wider frameworks in which they are contained. The objective of the review is to make recommendations aimed at simplifying and consolidating the legal framework and supporting end-to-end journeys by disabled people across Great Britain.
The review will assess whether the different mechanisms for enforcing and promoting compliance with the law are working effectively and are sufficient to cover all transport modes. In doing so, the review will consider:
- whether the law needs to be strengthened and made more consistent;
- the adequacy of current remedies;
- whether enforcement bodies have sufficient powers; and
- how to reduce the need for individual enforcement.
In carrying out the review, the Law Commission will seek to embed the lived experience of disabled people, both during the review process and in the design of future compliance, standard-setting, and redress mechanisms.
The review will also have regard to the need to develop a legal and regulatory framework which is capable of accommodating technological innovation, demographic changes in society and changes to transport regulators. This is with a view to ensuring long-term accessibility and adaptability.
The terms of reference have been published for this review.
Timetable
This is a three-year review aiming to report in February 2029. A full-public consultation will be carried out as part of the review. This is likely to take place in Autumn 2027.
Next steps
In the lead-up to the consultation, the Law Commission will be seeking to hear from a wide and representative range of individuals and organisations with lived and professional experience of this area.
Documents (Back to top)
Updates (Back to top)
23 March 2026: Terms of reference published.
Contact us (Back to top)
Please contact us at transport.accessibility@lawcommission.gov.uk if you have any queries or would like to be kept informed about the progress of the review.