On 20 October and 14 December 2022, the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD) and the Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA) co-ran two workshops to gather information and first-hand narratives about access to public transport in Wales, and the barriers faced by disabled people and people with reduced mobility.
The first workshop took place in Cardiff over an afternoon and included 16 stakeholders from the public, private and third sectors, as well as academics. The first half of the workshop was an open discussion where participants highlighted different categories of constraints and barriers when accessing buses and trains. The second half was a prioritisation exercise where participants had the opportunity to group issues in order of impact and co-produce potential research questions.
The second workshop was an online session where participants shared their experiences of barriers in access to public transport, including bus, trains and taxis.
The findings from the workshopswill be used as a basis for developing a research agenda. The workshop was funded by the Wales Innovation Network and is part of a wider project on Understanding Welsh Places.
The Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD) is a national, interdisciplinary, social science research institute and a collaborative venture between the universities of Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff, South Wales and Swansea – working together to improve the quality and quantity of social science research in Wales and beyond. Our research effects change by influencing the development of policy and practice across a range of sectors.