Disabled people need more than cheaper travel - they need a country designed to include them

One of the latest is particularly welcome. From April 2027, disabled people in England can use their concessionary bus passes at any time of day, rather than being restricted to certain hours. Alongside the return of a £2 cap on single bus fares from January, it should make getting around considerably cheaper.

Changes like this matter because cost can determine whether people can take part in everyday life. The Belonging Forum’s 2026 Belonging Barometer found that four in five (86%) of UK adults said at least one economic factor made it harder for them to connect with others.

For disabled people, the cost of transport and going out can create another barrier to everyday things we take for granted: getting to work, seeing friends, attending an evening event, or simply spending time in their community.

Removing these restrictions will make a real difference. But affordability is only one part of accessibility.

A free bus pass is little use if you can’t get on the bus. Cheaper transport does not help enough if the station you need is inaccessible, the public space you’re travelling to was designed without you in mind, or making an ordinary journey requires a level of planning and self-advocacy that other passengers never have to contemplate.

The architecture of everyday life, which many of us take for granted, is another barrier.

Only 34% of Tube stations in London have step-free access. Even if TFL reaches its target of 50% by 2030, half the network will still not be step-free. This shows how far we still have to go.

On buses, wheelchair users may have to negotiate for designated spaces, relying on fellow travellers to move or drivers to intervene. A simple trip can become stressful, confrontational and much longer than it should be.

Not everyone with a disability can self-advocate for their right to travel, and nobody should have to negotiate for it in the first place.

These barriers can be easy for people without disabilities to dismiss as individual design or policy flaws. But they accumulate. Restrictions on travelling to work, seeing friends and family or simply exercising independence chip away at a person’s ability to participate in everyday life and, ultimately, at their right to belong.

Our research shows the consequences. One in three disabled people report weak belonging to their communities, compared with just 18% of non-disabled people. Disabled people are also more likely to feel lonely, and less likely to access everyday spaces such as parks, pubs and gyms.

If Burnham’s agenda is to reduce pressure on households, it must also address the pressure created by inaccessible places and systems.

A fairer Britain won’t be judged only by whether it brings down the cost of living. It will also be judged by who can participate in everyday life: at the bus stop and station entrance, in our workplaces and homes, on the high street and in our communities where relationships are formed.

Disabled people should not have to fight their own way into these spaces. They should be expected and welcomed, with accessibility designed in from the start.

That is what belonging demands. Because when certain individuals are excluded from public life, everyone's quality of life and community are eroded.

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Kim Samuel is the founder of the Belonging Forum.

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