1. About this release

This statistical release presents transport related disability and accessibility statistics in England, drawn from a variety of data sources. It combines the disability and accessibility and Blue Badge statistics that were published separately in previous years. The way in which information on disability is collected can vary by data source. A summary of the definitions used can be found in the ‘quality report’.

2. Headline statistics

Statistics on trips taken by disabled people are obtained from the National Travel Survey (NTS).

In 2023:

• the average number of trips made by disabled adults in England was 25% lower than the average number of trips made by non-disabled adults. This difference was similar to previous years

• disabled adults made an average of 740 trips per person, compared with non-disabled adults who made an average of 989

Statistics on parking badges for disabled people (‘Blue Badges’) in England are obtained from the Blue Badge Digital Service (BBDS) database.

As at 31 March 2024:

• 2.84 million Blue Badges were held in England, an increase of 10% compared to March 2023

3. The Family Resources Survey (FRS)

The Family Resources Survey (FRS) is a continuous household survey published by the Department for Work and Pensions, which collects detailed information on income from all sources (including self-employment), as well as detailed personal and household characteristics. The data is collected via an interview of a representative sample of private households in the United Kingdom. The FRS is considered to be one of the main data sources for information on disability prevalence.

The FRS achieved sample this year was just over 25,000 households. This marked a return to the number expected in a normal survey year (‘normal’ being around 20,000 households).

During 2022 to 2023, the FRS sought to return to pre-pandemic fieldwork practices. Whilst fieldwork operations during 2022 to 2023 were not identical to those pre-pandemic, they were much closer to it than in the two preceding years, 2020 to 2021 or 2021 to 2022. The FRS background and methodology note contains more information on the effect of the pandemic on the survey.

FRS estimates are Accredited Official Statistics.

In the year ending March 2023, 24% or around 1 in 4 people reported a disability, unchanged from the previous year.

Chart 1: Disability prevalence by age group, year ending March 2013 to year ending March 2023

Chart 1 shows how the percentage of people reporting a disability has changed since 2013. Since the year ending March 2013, the percentage of people classified as having a disability is up 5 percentage points, from 19%. There are now approximately 16.1 million disabled people in the UK. This change has been driven by an increase in the proportion of both children (up 4 percentage points) and working age adults (up 7 percentage points), whilst the proportion of those at state-pension age has remained relatively stable.

Further information on the number of people reporting disabilities, including breakdowns by impairment type, gender, and by region of the UK, can be found in the Family Resources Survey publication, which is published by the Department for Work and Pensions.

4. National Travel Survey findings

The National Travel Survey (NTS) is a household survey of personal travel by residents of England travelling within Great Britain, from data collected via interviews and a seven-day travel diary. NTS 2023 was the first year since 2019 to operate with a fully face-to-face data collection. Please see the latest technical report for more details.

NTS estimates are Accredited Official Statistics

4.1 Number of trips made in 2023 by age and disability status (DIS0401)

Chart 2: Number of trips per person by disability status and age: England, 2023 - DIS0401

Chart 2, which is a grouped bar chart, shows that in 2023 disabled adults (aged 16 years and over) in England made 740 trips per person, compared to 989 for non-disabled adults. The difference was larger for those aged 60 or over, where the average number of trips made by disabled adults was 34% lower than the number taken by non-disabled adults of the same age (649 trips per person compared to 986). The average number of trips made by disabled adults aged 16 to 59 was 16% lower than non-disabled adults of the same age (836 trips per person compared to 990). These differences between travel patterns for disabled and non-disabled adults showed little change compared to the previous year.

4.2 Trends in number of trips taken over time

Chart 3: Number of trips per person per year by disability status: England, 2018 to 2023 - DIS0401

Chart 3, which is a grouped bar chart, shows that the average number of trips taken per person in 2023 compared to 2022:

• increased by 8% for disabled adults (2% below 2019)

• increased by 8% for non-disabled adults (3% below 2019)

Despite the reduction in the average number of trips made since before the pandemic, the difference between disabled and non-disabled adults has remained similar over the last few years. Before COVID-19, disabled adults made around 25 to 30% fewer trips on average than non-disabled adults. This remained largely unchanged during the pandemic.

4.3 Mode of travel (DIS0402)

Chart 4: Percentage of all trips by main mode and disability status, aged 16 and over: England, 2023 - DIS0402

Chart 4, which is a grouped bar chart, shows that compared with non-disabled adults, disabled adults made a higher proportion of their total trips (20% compared with 12%) as car passengers, while taking fewer trips as car drivers (42% compared with 48%). Both disabled and non-disabled adults made over 60% of all trips by car in 2023. On average disabled adults took a similar proportion of their trips by bus (5%) compared with non-disabled adults (4%). These figures are all similar to the previous year.

4.4 Purpose of travel (DIS0403)

Chart 5: Percentage of all trips by trip purpose and disability status, aged 16 and over: England, 2023 (top 6 purposes) - DIS0403

Chart 5 is a grouped bar chart, which shows that in 2023 the three most common trip reasons for disabled adults, in descending order, were shopping (28%), personal business (12%) and other including just walk (10%).

For non-disabled adults, the three most common trip reasons were shopping (20%), commuting (17%) and other including just walk (10%).

In 2023, of the most common trip purposes, the largest difference between disabled and non-disabled adults was in trips for commuting (8% vs 17%). This was also seen in 2022.

4.5 Work status (DIS0406)

The difference between the average number of trips made per year varied considerably depending on the individual’s work status. In 2023, the average number of trips made by disabled adults (941) in full time work was 5% lower than non-disabled adults in full time work (991). For adults in part-time work, the average number of trips made by disabled adults was 10% lower than non-disabled adults (1,046 and 1,167 respectively).

The average number of trips made by disabled adults who were retired or permanently sick was 38% lower than non-disabled adults (608 and 980 respectively).

This is the same pattern shown in 2022.

4.6 Car access (DIS0405)

In 2023, 29% of disabled adults lived in households without access to a car (down 4 percentage points from 2023), compared with 16% of non-disabled adults (up 3 percentage points from 2023).

In 2023, the number of trips made per person varied based on car access and driving status.

For disabled adults:

• those with access to a car, and who were the main driver, made the most trips (972 trips per person per year)

• those living in a household without a car made the fewest trips (527 trips)

• those with access to a car but as non-drivers made a moderate number of trips (549 trips)

For non-disabled adults:

• those with access to a car, and who were the main driver, made the most trips (1,116 trips per person per year)

• those with access to a car but as non-drivers made the fewest trips (721 trips)

• those without access to a car made slightly more trips than non-drivers in car households (751 trips)

4.7 Driving licence holding (DIS0407)

Chart 6: Percentage of adults holding a driving licence, by age and disability status: England, 2023 - DIS0407

Chart 6, which is a grouped bar chart, shows that for disabled adults the proportion that held a driving licence remained similar across age-groups, whereas it varied for non-disabled adults. In 2023, 60% of disabled adults aged 17 or over held a full driving licence, compared with 78% of non-disabled adults in the same age group.

Amongst both disabled and non-disabled adults, those with a full driving licence made more trips on average than those without one.

4.8 Type of impairment (NTS0712)

Chart 7: Average miles travelled and trips made by impairment, aged 16 and over: England, 2023 - NTS0712

Chart 7, which is a multiple bar chart, shows that in 2023, of those who declared one or more impairments, the fewest miles were travelled by those who declared an impairment of memory (3,355) and dexterity (3,390). For trips, it was those that declared an impairment of dexterity (642) and mobility (651) that made the least in 2023.

4.9 Sex (DIS0408)

In 2023, disabled adult females made an average of 758 trips per person, compared with disabled adult males who made an average of 713 trips per person.

There has been little difference in average trip numbers by sex for disabled adults since 2018.

4.10 Income (DIS0409)

Chart 8: Number of trips per person by disability status and income quintile: England, 2023 - DIS0409

Chart 8 is a grouped bar chart, which shows that in 2023, the difference in travel patterns between disabled and non-disabled adults varied by income quintile. In general, the difference decreased with increasing income, except for the highest quintile, which showed the greatest difference between disabled and non-disabled adults.

Disabled adults in the:

• lowest level income quintile made an average 651 trips per person (compared with non-disabled adults who made an average 887 trips per person)

• highest level income quintile made an average 729 trips per person (compared with non-disabled adults who made an average 1,004)

The average number of trips made by disabled adults in the lowest two income quintiles were both 27% lower than the average number of trips made by non-disabled adults in the same income quintiles.

For the highest three income quintiles, the number of trips made by disabled adults varied from 15% to 27% lower than the average number of trips made by non-disabled adults in the same income quintiles.

When compared to 2022 the average number of trips made in 2023 increased for both disabled and non-disabled adults in all income quintiles, except for disabled adults in the highest quintile where it fell by 78 trips per person.

5. Accessibility and public satisfaction of local transport

National Highways and Transport Public Satisfaction Survey

The National Highways and Transport Public Satisfaction Survey (NHTPSS) collects public perspectives on, and satisfaction with, highway and transportation services on behalf of local authorities to inform performance management and local transport plans.

The survey was launched in 2008, and is carried out in July to August of each year. In 2023 the survey covered 109 local authorities in England.

The data at local authority level is captured through a randomly selected postal survey of households. However, because not all local authorities participate, the estimates may not be fully representative of the national picture. We have excluded London from the analysis because the coverage in London is low.

The disabled population in this survey are classified as those who have reported that they have a long-term illness, disability, or infirmity which limits their daily activities.

People living in care homes and other such as community living environments are not captured through the survey, which may impact on the satisfaction rates, particularly for the disabled population.

The figures in this section fall outside the Official Statistics process.

Chart 9: Percentage of people satisfied with various aspects of public transport, by disability status: England outside London, 2023

Chart 9 is a grouped bar chart that shows differences in satisfaction with different aspects of public transport, by disability status. Satisfaction levels for provision of public transport information, local bus services, taxis, and cycle routes and lanes were similar between disabled and non-disabled people. Satisfaction with local pavements was 10 percentage points lower for disabled than non-disabled people. The similarities and differences in satisfaction levels between disabled and non-disabled people have been relatively consistent across the last few years of the survey.

In 2023, overall satisfaction with the provision of information about local transport services was similar for disabled (47%) and non-disabled (51%) people. This category covers the clarity, accuracy and ease of access of public transport information. However, disabled people were less likely to be satisfied with the availability of information to help them plan journeys (47%) compared to non-disabled people (54%). Disabled people reported particularly low levels of satisfaction with information about accessible buses (39%).

6. Buses

In England, as at 31 March 2024:

• 99.5% of buses had an accessibility certification, unchanged compared to the previous year
• 52.8% of buses provided audio visual information, up 4 percentage points compared to the previous year
• 98% of operators required disability awareness training, up 2 percentage points compared to the previous year
• 99.5% of on board staff are required to take disability awareness training, unchanged compared to the previous year
• 930,000 concessionary disabled bus passes were held, an increase of 5% compared to the previous year

According to the National Travel Survey, average bus travel per person in 2023:

• disabled adults
  • made 37 trips
  • travelled 162 miles
• non-disabled adults
  • made 41 trips
  • travelled 195 miles

According to the National Highways and Transport Public Satisfaction Survey (NHTPSS), in 2023:

• overall satisfaction with local bus services was similar between disabled (51%) and non-disabled (54%) people

• disabled people were less satisfied with the ease of getting on and off buses (63% compared with 71% for non-disabled people)

• disabled people were less likely to be satisfied with the provision of raised kerbs at bus stops (58% compared with 65% for non-disabled people)

• disabled people also reported particularly low levels of satisfaction with the availability of information about accessible buses (39%)

More information about concessionary bus travel and buses across England can be found in the Concessionary travel statistics and Annual bus statistics publications.

7. Taxi and Private Hire Vehicles (PHVs)

In England as at 1 April 2024, there were:

• 30,400 wheelchair accessible taxis, making up 54% of all licensed taxis, down 1 percentage point compared to 2023

  • 100% of taxis in London are wheelchair accessible as required by Transport for London’s ‘Conditions for Fitness’ taxi licensing policy

  • outside of London, there were 15,600 wheelchair accessible taxis, making up 38% of licensed taxis

• 5,600 wheelchair accessible PHVs, making up 2% of all licensed PHVs, unchanged compared to 2023

• 64% of local authorities require disability awareness training for taxi drivers

• 62% of local authorities require disability awareness training for PHV drivers

According to the National Travel Survey, average taxi travel per person in 2023:

• disabled adults
  • made 15 trips
  • travelled 87 miles
• non-disabled adults
  • made 9 trips
  • travelled 60 miles

According to the NHTPSS, in 2023 overall satisfaction with local taxi services was similar between disabled (61%) and non-disabled (59%) people.

More information about taxi and phv statistics can be found in the taxi and phv statistics publication.

8. Active travel

According to the NTS, average walking and cycle trips per person in 2023:

• disabled adults
  • made 200 walking trips
  • travelled 150 walking miles
  • made 6 cycle trips
  • travelled 19 cycle miles
• non-disabled adults
  • made 273 walking trips
  • travelled 251 walking miles
  • made 18 cycle trips
  • travelled 61 cycle miles

According to the NHTPSS, in 2023 overall satisfaction with local cycle routes and lanes was similar for disabled (50%) and non-disabled (49%) people. Satisfaction with local pavements was lower for disabled people (42%) compared with non-disabled people (52%).

In particular, compared with non-disabled people, disabled people were less likely to be satisfied with:

• pavements being kept clear of obstructions such as parked cars (31% compared with 38%)
• the way the council cuts back overgrown hedges and trees next to roads and pavements (31% compared with 38%)
• the provision of dropped kerbs for crossing points (46% compared with 56%)

9. Vehicles and cars

9.1 Mobility centres

As at 31 March 2024, there were 12 mobility centres across England, with 52 outreach centres.

Compared to 2023, in the year ending March 2024:

• 12,402 driving assessments were provided, an increase of 8%

• 1,022 passenger assessments were provided, a decline of 13%

• 980 wheelchair or scooter assessments were provided, an increase of 15%

In all three cases, the number of assessments carried out was above the levels seen in the year ending March 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

9.2 Vehicles in the disabled tax class

1.36 million vehicles were in the disabled tax class in the UK at the end of March 2024 (an increase of 120,000 compared to 2023), which represented 3.3% of all licensed vehicles (little change from 2023). These figures have remained broadly similar since 2017. These figures include people using mobility scooters.

10. Additional modes of transport

Information about the following modes of transport can be found via the following links:

10.1 Surface rail

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) publishes a range of statistics, including on Disabled Persons Railcards and Passenger Assistance.

Data are published by the Department for Transport on accessible rail vehicles.

Transport Focus also published some findings on the experiences of disabled rail passengers in summer 2019.

10.2 Maritime

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency publishes findings on the experience of disabled passengers via its disabled passenger satisfaction survey. The latest survey was carried out in 2023.

10.3 Aviation

The UK Civil Aviation Authority publish findings on overall travel experience and accessibility at airports via the consumer survey. The latest survey was published in 2023.

10.4 London

Transport for London (TfL) publishes information on step free access to TfL stations.

11. Blue Badge statistics

About Blue Badge statistics

Blue Badges are disabled parking cards issued by local authorities to help people with mobility issues park closer to the goods and services they need to use. In August 2019, Blue Badge scheme eligibility criteria were extended to include more people with non-visible and neurological disabilities that may affect their ability to access goods and services.

Blue Badges are issued according to need of the applicant and are not related to any specific condition. Anyone may be awarded a Blue Badge if they meet the scheme’s eligibility criteria. Badges can also be issued to organisations who transport people with disabilities. Upon issue, a Blue Badge is valid for a period of up to 3 years. Data on the number of Blue Badges held refers to the situation as at 31 March 2024.

Please refer to the quality report for more details and for definitions of the 2 main categories for eligibility for a Blue Badge.

Blue Badge statistics are Accredited Official Statistics.

11.1 Headline Statistics

Statistics on parking badges for disabled people (‘Blue Badges’) in England are obtained from the Blue Badge Digital Service (BBDS) database.

In England, as at 31 March 2024:

• 2.84 million Blue Badges were held, an increase of 10% compared to March 2023
• 4.9% of the population held a Blue Badge
• 38% of people who were automatically entitled to a Blue Badge held one

In England, between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024:

• 1.13 million badges were issued, similar to the previous year. This figure includes badges issued following reapplications from existing badge holders
• 41% of these were issued without further assessment

11.2 Blue badges issued in the year ending March 2024

The number of badges issued includes those issued to people who did not previously hold a badge, and those resulting from reapplications from existing badge holders (badges usually last 3 years).

Chart 10: Blue Badges issued annually: England, since the year ending March 2020 - DIS0111

Chart 10 is a bar chart that shows an overall increase in the number of badges issued per year since 2020. There were 1.13 million Blue Badges issued in the year ending March 2024. This is a similar number of badges issued compared to the previous year.

Out of the 1.13 million Blue Badges issued in the year ending March 2024, 662,000 (58%) were subject to further assessment, 465,000 (41%) were issued without further assessment and 7,000 (1%) were issued to organisations.

Out of the badges issued without further assessment, 94.8% were issued to those who met the relevant criteria under Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP). The remaining badges were issued to those registered blind (4.7%) and those on War Pensioner’s Mobility Supplement or Armed Forces and Reserved Forces Compensation scheme (0.5%).

Chart 11: Blue Badges issued for people with non-visible disabilities annually: England, since the year ending March 2021 - DIS0111

Chart 11 is a line chart that shows that the number of Blue Badges issued for people with non-visible disabilities has increased since 2021, the first full year where data is available. Out of all badges issued in the year ending 31 March 2021, 2.2% (18,000) were issued under the eligibility criteria for people with non-visible disabilities. In the year ending 31 March 2024, 4.3% (49,000) of all badges issued were for people with non-visible disabilities. This is similar to the year ending 31 March 2023, when 4.0% (46,000) of all badges issued were for people with non-visible disabilities.

11.3 Blue badges held as at 31 March 2024

Chart 12: Blue Badges held: England, annually since March 2020 - DIS0101

Chart 12 is a stacked area chart that shows there were 2.84 million valid Blue Badges held as at 31 March 2024, an increase of 10% (263,000 badges) when compared with the previous year. Of the badges held, 4.0% of all badges (115,000) were held by people with non-visible disabilities. This was an increase from 3.3% (86,000) in the year ending 31 March 2023.

As at 31 March 2024, 2.93 million people (5.1% of the population in England) were entitled to a Blue Badge without further assessment (previously known as automatically entitled). The number and proportion of people entitled to a Blue Badge without further assessment has been rising since 2015.

Chart 13: Percentage of population entitled to a Blue Badge without further assessment that hold one: England, annually since March 2020 - DIS0103

Chart 13 is a line graph showing that the percentage of people entitled to a Blue Badge without further assessment who hold one has been decreasing since 2020. On 31 March 2024, 38% of people entitled to a Blue Badge without further assessment held one. The equivalent figure was 46% in 2020.

On 31 March 2024, 4.9% of the population in England held a valid Blue Badge, up from 4.6% the previous year. The region with the most Blue Badge holders as a proportion of their population was the North East (5.8%). The region with the lowest proportion was London (3.3%), which also had the lowest regional proportion of retired people. Similarly, metropolitan areas such as Birmingham (4.1%) and Manchester (3.4%) also had comparatively low proportions of Blue Badge holders.

More detail on the number of Blue Badges held at regional and local authority level can be found in the associated tables.

11.4 Lost and stolen badges in the year ending 31 March 2024

In England, 6,400 badges in the year ending 31 March 2024 were reported to be lost or stolen. Of these, 75% (4,800) were reported to be lost, and 25% (1,600) were stolen. The figures reflect cases that have been recorded in the database. It is possible that not all instances of loss or theft will be reported and recorded, and therefore will not be included in these figures.

12. About these statistics

12.1 Data sources

More information on the data sources used can be found in the Background Quality Report.

12.2 Uses and users of these statistics

Within the Department for Transport, these statistics are used to understand the impact of policy changes on the disabled population, for ministerial briefing, and to answer public enquiries. For example, the data within this publication has been used as part of a wider project to monitor and evaluate the Department’s Inclusive Transport Strategy, published in July 2018.

12.3 Accredited Official Statistics

This publication is a compendium of Accredited Official Statistics, Official Statistics, and statistics that fall outside the scope of Official Statistics. The type of statistics presented is detailed in Table 2 below.

Table 2: Categories of statistics presented in this publication

Name of category of statistics	Label	Description
National Travel Survey findings	Accredited Official Statistics	These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in February 2022. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.
National Highways and Transport Public Satisfaction Survey findings	Outside the Official Statistics process	The data used to produce these statistics are provided by an external body. They therefore fall outside the Official Statistics process.
Blue Badge statistics (national level)	Accredited Official Statistics	These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in June 2012. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.
Blue Badge statistics (regional and local authority level, lost and stolen badges)	Official Statistics	These statistics are official statistics. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics.
Family Resource Survey findings	Accredited Official Statistics	These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in November 2012. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.

The Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) assessed Transport Disability and Accessibility statistics against the Code of Practice for Statistics in 2022, and published its findings on the OSR website. The review identified several positive areas, and also made some helpful suggestions for further improvement.

The OSR also published a more wide ranging review of transport accessibility statistics across the UK in 2022. This resulted in a range of recommendations.

We are in the process of making improvements following the recommendations from these reviews:

• promoting the statistics more proactively to a range of interested users, and compiling a list of these. This will be done via existing organisations such as the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC)
• working with the National Travel Survey (NTS) team in DfT to assess whether we can present information to users on uncertainty around survey estimates in future statistical releases
• working with the National Travel Survey team to assess future options to focus on specific groups of the population, such as young disabled adults. The proposed increase in the NTS sample size will mean more detailed analysis should be possible in some areas

Details of ministers and officials who receive pre-release access to these statistics up to 24 hours before release can be found in the pre-release access list.

12.4 Feedback

We welcome any feedback on these statistics, to ensure future releases best meet user needs. If you wish to provide feedback, please contact the disability statistics team.

13. Next release

The next disability and accessibility statistics release is due to be published in winter 2025 to 2026.

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