Transport across a lifetime: SEND transport and Motability need to be protected

22 April 2026

We should all have the freedom to travel with confidence at every stage of life. Getting to school, college, work, healthcare, and social activities is fundamental to societal participation, independence, and belonging.

What happens at one stage of life shapes what is possible at the next. A young person who can travel reliably to school builds skills and confidence. A young adult who can get to college or work can pursue their aspirations. An adult who can reach their community, their job, their family, can live a full life. 

For Disabled people, those freedoms aren’t guaranteed. Public transport options that should work for us fail to meet our needs, making our everyday journeys more difficult and our worlds smaller than they should be. 

Now, two essential transport systems that fill the gap are under pressure: transport for Disabled children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) led by Alliance of Inclusive Education (ALLFIE), and the Motability scheme cuts led by Transport for All.   

These are not separate issues. What we need is transport that works for Disabled people throughout our lives, giving us the freedom to go further at every stage of life. 

The Early Foundations 

For Disabled children and young people, reliable transport is essential for getting an education, developing their independence, and building social connections. 

According to ALLFIE, SEND transport provision has become increasingly inconsistent and is under intense political pressures. Support depends on location, with wide variation between local authorities, rather than need. Families are left navigating complex, discretionary systems with limited information and fewer guarantees.

Post-16 provision is a particular pressure point. Young people’s education options are too often shaped by what is physically reachable, rather than by their interests, strengths, or aspirations. A transport system that should help young Disabled people and their families build confidence and belonging instead leaves many with narrowing choices. For instance:  

• Only 1 in 4 train stations in England have step free access.  
• 49% of Disabled people who responded to Transport for All’s 2023 ‘Are we there yet’ Accessible Transport report said that overcrowding prevented them from using the bus.  
• 36% of respondents said it was difficult to find information that was clear and accurate on trains.   
• 37% of respondents said they felt well informed during a train journey.  

When public transport is inaccessible, Disabled people are forced to find alternative methods of travel. Many families rely on the Motability scheme, for example, to support their child, when SEND transport is either inaccessible or cut from their local area.

From Childhood to Adulthood

As young people are preparing to move into further education, training, or employment, they face a new set of questions. How will I get there? Can I travel independently? Is there support available? 

Many will find that public transport does not meet their access needs, and that support is discretionary and a postcode lottery. 

For example, for many Disabled people the bus is a preferred option. However, the Disabled person’s bus passes often come with time restrictions that prevent travel before 9:30am, ruling out early starts for college, work, or appointments. 

Companion travel is also often excluded, so Disabled people who need support to travel have to pay extra.
For some, the Motability scheme may offer a route to continued independence. But eligibility depends on accessing Personal Independence Payments (PIP) at the enhanced mobility rate. This is a process that is difficult to navigate and far from guaranteed.
For young Disabled people trying to build independence, these barriers can shut down options before they even begin.

Why Motability Matters

The Motability scheme plays a vital role for many Disabled households when public transport does not meet our needs. However, recent decisions are making our independence harder to sustain. 

The Chancellor announced changes to the scheme in the November 2025 Budget, alongside reductions in vehicle choice announced by Motability itself. This means fewer vehicles available that meet Disabled people’s access needs, higher upfront and ongoing costs, and growing uncertainty about whether the scheme will remain affordable.

Many people using Motability already contribute significant advance payments alongside the additional costs of disability that many Disabled households face every month. These average over £1,000. When costs rise and suitable vehicles disappear, people are forced to reconsider whether they can remain on the scheme at all. This can make it harder to sustain employment, education, caring responsibilities, and community connections – the very things the scheme exists to support.

A Transport System for the Whole of Life

Accessible public transport, Motability and SEND transport are often treated as separate policy areas. But they are experienced as one system, or one set of barriers, by Disabled people as we move through our lives. When public transport is inaccessible, schemes like Motability and SEND transport become essential lifelines. When SEND transport is restricted, families absorb the cost and young people’s horizons narrow. When Motability becomes harder to access, families lose the independence they have built. 

In other words, when schemes designed to fill the gaps in public transport and level the playing field don’t work or are weakened over time, Disabled people face fewer options at every stage of life. 

What We Want to see Instead 

We all benefit from a transport system that enables people to move through the world with confidence. For Disabled people, that means: 

• Public transport that is accessible by default, not by exception. 
• Consistent, reliable SEND transport that enables young people to learn and thrive. 
• A supported transition to adulthood, with clear pathways to continued mobility. 
• A Motability scheme that genuinely supports independence and choice. 
• Campaigning against cuts to the Motability and SEND transport systems. 
• Transport policy grounded in rights, dignity, and lived experience. 
• Public discourse that includes Disabled people’s voices and respects our right to live without fear of hatred and harassment. 

Disabled people know what works, because we live with the consequences of systems that do not. Everyone should be able to travel, participate, and belong at every stage of life. Transport policy must reflect that shared ambition. 
 
Disabled people and our organisations will continue to work collaboratively in campaigning against cuts to accessible transport. ALLFIE is working to bring Disabled communities together on SEND transport and SEND provision and the impact on Disabled children and their families on the looming cuts. 
 
Transport for All will continue to help lead the sector on the threat to Motability through our coalition group and will work more broadly to ensure we all have the freedom to make the journeys we want and need to. 

How to get involved:  

If you have experience of the cuts to Motability, you can find out more about how to get involved or, if you would like, to share your story on Transport for All’s website. If you have experience or are concerned about the SEND Transport cuts, please email ALLFIE to share your story. To stay up to date on both organisations’ campaign work you can sign up to be a member of Transport for All , or ALLFIE. 

With thanks to Sharon Smith for her valuable contribution to this article.