Travel for all: improving access and inclusion across transport in Wales

People across Wales use our transport system every day to visit friends and family, get to work, and access healthcare, education and leisure activities.

For some people, accessing transport is straightforward, even uneventful. But for others it can be very difficult. 

This affects people’s confidence, reduces independence, and makes it harder to access jobs, education and other vital services.

Accessibility is a matter of human rights, discrimination, and a health and safety issue.

In April 2025, the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales made a commitment to change the way we deliver transport in Wales:

“We will make sure that access and inclusion are at the heart of everything we do to make everyone feel safe and welcomed when travelling in Wales.”

To improve the accessibility and inclusivity of our transport we want to:

• remove barriers to accessibility
• embed inclusivity when developing and delivering policies, services, and infrastructure
• attract people to use our transport networks in Wales
• enhance the travel experience for everyone using our networks

To help us achieve our aims, we have developed 5 principles:

1. feeling safe
2. feeling welcome
3. accessibility
4. involvement
5. embedding change

These principles will be at the centre of the design, development and delivery of transport in Wales.

On the following pages, we explain each principle in more detail. We also list the initial actions we are taking, to help us get started right away.

We describe how we will work with other organisations to make things better for those who rely on our transport network. 

Through this work, new ideas and priorities may emerge. We want to be flexible and allow us to explore those opportunities. 

We will provide regular updates on the progress we’re making.

To make sure that the ‘travel for all’ principles become an embedded part of everyone’s role, we will work with a wide range of people including:

• Transport for Wales (TfW)
• Corporate Joint Committees (CJCs)
• local authorities
• Welsh Local Government Association
• community transport providers
• organisations representing transport users and those who currently can’t access our transport networks
• third sector organisations
• trade unions
• people with a wide range of lived experiences, including those with protected characteristics, from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and our armed forces communities. 

When developing the principles we engaged with wider policy areas and took into account:

• Llwybr Newydd: the Wales transport strategy 2021. This strategy has a commitment to establish an ‘equality pathway’ to make sure that equality is thought about during transport planning and not seen as a separate issue
• our Strategic Equality and Human Rights Plan 2025 to 2029. This plan sets out what we are doing to tackle inequality and make our society fairer and more inclusive
• the Disabled People’s Rights Plan 2025 to 2035. This draft strategy contains commitments to remove barriers faced by disabled people to create an inclusive society and actions to making travel more accessible. The consultation on this strategy opened on 13 May 2025 and will be open for 12 weeks
• the Anti-Racist Wales Action Plan 2024. This plan has a firm commitment to build an inclusive and equitable society for all our Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people and communities in Wales
• the LGBTQ+ Action Plan. This plan is to make Wales the most LGBTQ+ friendly nation in Europe

Intersectionality was a key consideration in developing these principles. We define intersectionality as the way that different aspects of a person’s identity shape their experiences, and the way in which different types of discrimination are connected to and affect each other.

Work will be ongoing, with key dates to help us track progress.

We want people to feel safe when using any form of transport.

We want to move beyond a 'health and safety' definition to a more ‘felt’ sense of safety. 

We want people to feel confident when planning and taking journeys at any time.

We will:

• make sure that all new transport infrastructure has enough lighting. This includes places like train and bus stations, bus stops, taxi ranks, and paths for walking, wheeling and cycling
• make sure people feel safe when using or driving a taxi or public hire vehicle in Wales
• make travel easier by helping people plan journeys that suit their needs.

We will:

• Develop practical design and planning guidance to ensure consistent lighting across all transport

Timescale: by spring 2026.

• Ensure transport providers use our lighting guidance for new and existing programmes of work

Timescale: by spring 2030.

• Update guidance for local authorities that includes training requirements for taxi and private hire drivers to help keep passengers and drivers safe

Timescale: by spring 2026.

• Develop a new Transport for Wales digital journey planner that works across transport modes to enable people to confidently plan trips that meet their needs. Non-digital options for accessing these services will be developed alongside the new digital tools to make sure everyone is included.

Timescale: by spring 2030.

We want people to feel welcome when using our transport networks.

We want people to feel supported throughout their journeys.

Being treated with respect and having enough seating, clear signage, and easy-to-use facilities will help create a network where everyone feels safe, confident and comfortable when travelling.

We will:

• make sure that customer-facing staff across all transport complete regular training on equality, diversity, and inclusion topics including the social model of disability, anti-racism, and ways to ensure the armed forces community feels welcome on our networks
• make sure that a clear and accessible system is in place to report unacceptable behaviour of staff or passengers, and that action is taken when needed

We will:

• Work with Transport for Wales to review, develop and roll out mandatory training to frontline rail staff

Timescale: by spring 2026.

• Work with Transport for Wales to build a programme of training into bus contracts and ensure it is regularly completed by frontline staff

Timescale: by spring 2030.

• Update taxi and private hire vehicles guidance to include improved customer service and handling of complaints and feedback

Timescale: by spring 2026.

• Support Transport for Wales to review its complaints and escalation services and strengthen them where necessary across rail and bus networks

Timescale: by spring 2026.

We want people to feel confident about accessing our transport.

We want to remove barriers, to make travel easier.

This will help people stay connected to jobs, education, loved ones, and vital services.

Barriers can include things like:

• stairs and uneven surfaces
• lack of facilities, such as toilets or seating
• poor lighting
• not enough in-person support
• complicated signs and instructions
• information only being available online, or in limited languages
• high costs

We will:

• assess our existing transport infrastructure to understand the improvements needed to make our networks more accessible
• make sure accessibility is a core requirement for new buses
• identify a range of data that can be used to help remove accessibility barriers across our transport networks.

We will:

• Analyse accessibility data through a national audit of train stations in Wales to understand current issues

Timescale: by spring 2026.

• Work with UK Government to plan accessibility improvements across our train stations

Timescale: from spring 2026 onwards.

• Review our bus stops, stations and interchanges to understand where improvements are needed

Timescale: by spring 2030.

• Work with Transport for Wales to develop new accessibility guidance for bus infrastructure. This will support transport providers when carrying out upgrades, and will create consistent accessible designs that meet passengers' needs

Timescale: by spring 2030.

• Work with people who have experience of bus accessibility issues to create clear requirements for buying new buses

Timescale: by spring 2030.

• Work with Transport for Wales on ways to view accessibility features across our transport network. This will help passengers plan journeys with confidence

Timescale: by spring 2030.

• Engage with local authorities, the Welsh Local Government Association and service users to understand the barriers faced when applying and re-applying for a Blue Badge, considering the Review of the Blue Badge Scheme in Wales report

Timescale: by spring 2026.

We want people who use our transport networks to be involved in their design and delivery.

By understanding people's real-life experiences, we can design our networks to be safe, welcoming, and accessible from the start.

We want to create opportunities for people to get involved with our transport policies, infrastructure and services.

We will

• Bring a wider and more diverse range of people into our work, so they can help shape our transport planning and delivery.

We will:

• Establish an Inclusive Travel Board to provide advice and assurance to Welsh Government and Transport for Wales. The board will make sure transport providers consider the 'travel for all' principles. Read more about the Inclusive Travel Board

Timescale: by spring 2026.

• Establish a Disabled People’s Travel Panel. Led by disabled people, this group will build on the remit of Transport for Wales’ Access and Inclusion Panel to include all transport networks. It will provide advice and assurance to Welsh Government and Transport for Wales on how to make our networks more accessible and inclusive. Read more about the Disabled People's Travel panel

Timescale: by spring 2026.

• Establish a dedicated Travel for All team within Transport for Wales that:
  • offers professional advice and support in designing and delivering accessible schemes
  • seeks out and shares best practice from around the world
  • provides advice and support on how to better involve people with a wide range of lived experience
• The team will become a centre of excellence for transport across Wales, supporting local authorities and corporate joint committees.

Timescale: by spring 2026.

We want the 'travel for all' principles to be thought about at all stages of our transport network design, development, and delivery. 

Through strong leadership and increased representation, we will make sure our principles are at the heart of Welsh transport and our actions have a lasting impact.

We will:

• Use our governance structures and stakeholder groups to involve people with a wide range of lived experiences in the design, development and delivery of our transport networks
• Constantly develop our understanding of:
  • the barriers people face when accessing our transport networks
  • the impacts these barriers have on people and society
  • effective ways to monitor our work and understand if it is having a positive impact

We will:

• involve people with a diverse range of lived experiences in updating our Active Travel Act Guidance, to encourage more people to walk, wheel and cycle

Timescale: by spring 2026.

• provide advice and guidance to Corporate Joint Committees and local authorities on embedding the 'travel for all' principles in their work, including the delivery of Regional Transport Plans

Timescale: by spring 2030.

• review and strengthen Transport for Wales’ existing recruitment processes to attract and retain staff with a diverse range of lived experiences 

Timescale: by spring 2026.

• strengthen the data we use to measure our progress by drawing on the most relevant and diverse sources of evidence. We’ll work with people with lived experience to make sure we’re measuring what really matters.

Timescale: by spring 2030.

Membership will include: 

• representatives of people with protected characteristics and intersectionality (for example disabled young people)
• representatives of people from lower socio-economic backgrounds
• members of armed forces communities
• social partners including Trade Union representatives
• representatives from all transport modes
• experts in accessible and inclusive design and delivery
• any other relevant lived experience or area of expertise that the Board would like to see represented.

The board will:

• provide advice and assurance to Welsh Government and Transport for Wales on the progress being made to deliver its Travel for All actions
• make sure that the impact on people with protected characteristics is considered when developing policy, services and infrastructure
• look at how people use our transport networks from door-to-door, and where barriers may affect multiple types of transport (for example walking and wheeling to catch a bus).

The panel will be led by disabled people, and its membership will include:

• disabled people with a wide range of lived experiences and impairments
• members of the current Transport for Wales Access and Inclusion Panel
• any other relevant lived experience or area of expertise which the panel would like to see represented.

The panel will:

• have a widened remit to provide advice and assurance on all modes of transport
• make sure that programmes and projects being delivered by Welsh Government and Transport for Wales align with the Travel for All principles
• make sure that the impact on disabled people is considered when developing policy, services and infrastructure
• look at how disabled people use our transport networks from door-to-door, and where barriers may affect multiple types of transport (for example walking and wheeling to catch a bus).

• The Inclusive Travel Board provides advice and assurance to Welsh Government and Transport for Wales.
• The Disabled People’s Travel Panel will report directly to the Inclusive Travel Board.
• The Active Travel Board’s existing Inclusive Travel Sub-group will also contribute to the work of the Inclusive Travel Board.
• Support for the Inclusive Travel Board and the Disabled People’s Travel Panel will be provided by Transport for Wales.