MONET 2030: Independent use of public transport by people with disabilities

SDG 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Goal description

"[…] The future we want includes cities of opportunities for all, with access to basic services, energy, housing, transportation and more."

Swiss target 11.2: By 2023, barrier-free access to the transport system is ensured.

Significance of the indicator
The indicator provides information on the percentage of people with severe disabilities who are able to use public transport independently. In the interests of integration and equal opportunities, people with disabilities need and have a right to get around autonomously. Increasing the proportion of people with disabilities who are able to use public transport without help or difficulty is therefore a step towards sustainable development.

Help for interpretation
Not all people considered disabled have restricted mobility. Those with reduced mobility should not only include disabilities directly linked to locomotion, but also those that indirectly prevent use of public transport, such as visual impairment and disorientation. This is a perception indicator. Respondents assess their own level of difficulty according to their expectations. There may therefore be a variation between the objective possibilities (material conditions) and the difficulties expressed (evaluated based on a frame of reference that varies from person to person).

International comparability
This indicator cannot be compared at international level.

Synthesis

Comments: as the observed evolution falls within the confidence interval, this evolution is not statistically significant and is therefore assessed as unchanged.

The indicator presents the percentage of people with severe disabilities aged 15 to 64 who can use public transport unaided and without difficulty These data are from the Swiss Health Survey (SHS), which is conducted every five years. The question linked to this indicator is: “Please indicate for each daily activity whether you are able to complete it without difficulty, with some difficulty, with great difficulty, or not at all. Use public transport without assistance?”

Public transport
Means of passenger transport which are accessible to all members of the public and circulate according to published timetables.

Persons with disabilities
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), we refer to disability when a health condition affects the body functions or structures of a person (impairment), the capacity to execute activities (activity limitation) or performance in the social environment (participation restriction). Disability in that sense is not only a biological problem but also a social problem. It occurs when a person is not able to execute basic activities of human life or to fully participate in society, due to a health condition.

Depending on the definition used, people with disabilities constitute different groups. These groups only partially overlap.

FOT – Accessibility in public transport

Swiss target 11.2: By 2023, barrier-free access to the transport system is ensured.

International target 11.2: By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons.