Transport Accessibility Statistics Northern Ireland
Key points
Census 2021
- The usually resident population of Northern Ireland on census day, 21 March 2021, was 1,903,175. One person in four (24.3% or 463,000 people) had a limiting long-term health problem or disability.
- Almost one quarter (24.3%) of all those who live in a household and whose day-to-day activities are limited, did not have a car or van available for use; the corresponding figures for those whose day-to-day activities are not limited was 10.1%.
Continuous Household Survey 2021-22
- In 2021-22, 67% of all respondents said that they were satisfied with walking conditions in their area. The figure for those with a disability was 64%, which was significantly different to those without a disability (69%).
- In 2021/22, less than half (46%) of respondents said they were satisfied with cycling in their area. There was no significant difference between the results for those with or without a disability (44% and 47% respectively).
- Almost 8 in 10 (79%) respondents said they were ‘satisfied’ with public transport facilities in their area. There was no significant difference between responses for those with a disability (78%) and those without a disability (80%).
Public Transport Statistics 2022-23
- At the end of March 2023, there were 1,058 Ulsterbuses, 281 Metro buses, 34 Gliders and 164 rail carriages in operation. All rail carriages and buses were accessible to wheelchairs while 85.1% of buses were low-floor buses (1,168). Over one quarter (27%) of buses and all rail carriages had Audio Visual Information.
Travel Survey for Northern Ireland 2021
- In 2021, just under one fifth (19%) of persons aged 16 and over, who were surveyed, reported having a mobility difficulty.
- On average, those with a mobility difficulty made 519 journeys in 2021, 44% less than those without a mobility difficulty (929 journeys per year).
Infographic
Introduction
This statistical report is a compendium publication produced by the Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch (ASRB) of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI). It brings together a range of information from various sources on transport accessibility. The report was developed following the Office for Statistics Regulation Systemic Review of Transport Accessibility Statistics; this report recommended that statistics producers should bring data and statistics together to meet user needs. Following further engagement with users, this summary report has been developed as an ad hoc reference document for the availability and use of transport accessibility statistics.
Following the publication of this report, a new Transport Accessibility Statistics webpage will be added to the DfI website; this will be routinely updated and maintained so that it provides useful links to relevant sources.
Uses of the data
The DfI Strategic Framework outlines the main aspects of the Department’s work and the challenges it faces in delivering its essential public services. The Framework highlights that the Department and its service providers have an essential role in maintaining and enhancing our transport networks to ensure that, ‘Our people have a safe and accessible transport network that gets them to where they need to travel’.
DfI are currently developing a new Transport Strategy and a new suite of Transport Plans. To inform this strategy and plans they are engaging with statisticians within the Department to potentially develop new statistics and to use the available resources like the Travel Survey for NI, Continuous Household Survey, Public Transport Statistics and Transport Accessibility Statistics to support benchmarking, monitoring, and evaluation.
Contextual Information
Census 2021
The usually resident population of Northern Ireland on census day, 21 March 2021, was 1,903,175. This is an increase of 92,300 (5.1%) from the 2011 Census, and an increase of 217,900 (12.9%) from the 2001 Census. The number of persons aged 65 and over has increased from 263,700 in 2011 to 326,500 in 2021 (17.2% of the population). The ageing of the population can also be seen in the median age of the population (the age at which half the population are above or below), which over the last decade has increased by two years from 37 in 2011 to 39 in 2021. More information can be found in this statistical report on the Census 2021 website
Figure 1 Census 2021 Population by age band
The Census included various questions on health, disability and unpaid care. The overall picture covers the variety of these measures and points to around four-fifths (80%) of our population having good health. However, since the last census the percentage of the population reporting good general health has fallen. This change will be driven partly by our ageing population which reiterates one of the key messages from Census 2021. See statistical report on Census 2021 website.
General health
- In total 1.497 million people, or just under four persons in every five (78.7%), indicated they had ‘Good or very good’ general health.
- In contrast, nearly 150,000 people indicated they had ‘Bad or very bad’ general health. The remaining 260,000 people indicated they had ‘Fair’ general health.
- The standard of general health falls with age. While less than 1% of people aged under 15 had ‘Bad or very bad’ general health, this rises to 17% of people aged 65 or more. In contrast nearly 97% of people aged under 15 had ‘Good or very good’ general health, this falls to half of people aged 65 or more.
Limiting long-term health problem or disability
- One person in four (24.3% or 463,000 people) had a limiting long-term health problem or disability, 40% of which were aged 65 or more (185,300 people).
- In total, 1.44 million people (75.7%) indicated they did not have a limiting long-term health problem or disability.
Further detail on Long-term health conditions is available from the Census 2021 website.
Family Resources Survey
The Family Resources Survey (FRS) is a study of the living standards and circumstances of people living in the UK today, including Northern Ireland. The FRS is one of the main data sources for information on disability prevalence. The Department for Work and Pensions publishes National Statistics / Accredited Official Statistics based on the Family Resources Survey including disability data tables. Results for the 2021-22 financial year show that in Northern Ireland 22% of people were disabled; this was below the UK average figure of 24%.
Walking Cycling and Public Transport
Continuous Household Survey 2021-22
Findings from the 2021-22 Continuous Household Survey in relation to public attitudes to walking, cycling and public transport in Northern Ireland are available on the DfI website. Information is available by age, gender, disability and geographic areas including urban/rural.
Walking
In 2021-22, 67% of all respondents said that they were satisfied with walking conditions in their area. The figure for those with a disability was 64% which was significantly different to those without a disability (69%). A significant difference was also found between the youngest and the oldest age groups who responded with 77% of 16-24 year olds being satisfied compared to 64% for those aged 65 and over. There was also a significant difference between responses from urban and rural areas with 75% of respondents from urban areas being satisfied compared to 56% from rural areas.
Figure 2 Are you satisfied with the current provision for walking and walkers in your area? (by respondent group)
Cycling
In 2021/22, less than half (46%) of respondents said they were satisfied with cycling in their area. There was no significant difference between the results for those with or without a disability (44% and 47% respectively). There was however a significant difference between the youngest (55%) and oldest age groups (45%) and between those from urban (50%) and rural areas (41%).
Figure 3 Are you satisfied with the current provision for cycling and cyclists in your area? (by respondent group)
Public Transport
In 2021-22, almost 8 in 10 (79%) respondents said they were ‘satisfied’ with public transport facilities in their area. There was no significant difference between responses for those with a disability (78%) and those without a disability (80%) or between responses for those aged 16 to 24 (87%) and those aged 65 and over (83%). There was however a significant difference between responses for urban and rural areas with 86% of those from urban areas being satisfied with public transport facilities in their area compared to 69% of respondents living in rural areas.
Figure 4 Are you satisfied with public transport facilities in your area? (by respondent group)
For further detail see the Walking, cycling and public transport in Northern Ireland 2021-22 tables.
Public Transport Statistics
The Public Transport Statistics report presents statistics on public transport operated by Translink in Northern Ireland and it brings together information on public transport journeys, vehicles and staff. At the end of March 2023, there were 1,058 Ulsterbuses, 281 Metro buses and 34 Gliders in operation. Over one quarter (27%) of buses had Audio Visual Information and all buses were accessible to wheelchairs. All 1,373 buses were wheelchair accessible, of these 1,168 were low-floor buses (85.1%). In 2022-23, all 164 rail carriages had facilities for Audio Visual Information and were wheelchair accessible. For further information on the compliance with accessibility regulations see the user guidance.
Through the Public Service Agreement, DfI are working with Translink to increase the proportion of services operated by low-floor access vehicles and to increase the percentage of the bus fleet with audio-visual announcements.
Figure 5 Compliance with accessibility regulations- buses: 2019-20 to 2022-23
Figures in Table 1 show the number of carriages compliant with the Technical Specification for Interoperability for Persons of Reduced Mobility (TSI PRM) (EU regulation 1300/2014) and the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014 (RVAR NI). For further information on TSI PRM and RVAR compliance standards please see user guidance.
Table 1 Compliance with accessibility regulations- rail: 2019-20 to 2022-23
| Financial Year | TSI PRM compliant carriages | RVAR compliant carriages | Wheelchair accessible carriages | Total number of carriages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | 129 | 129 | 143 | 143 |
| 2020-21 | 129 | 129 | 143 | 143 |
| 2021-22 | 129 | 129 | 143 | 143 |
| 2022-23 | 150 | 150 | 164 | 164 |
Translink Customer Satisfaction Survey
Translink have procured CARD Group to facilitate customer satisfaction monitoring amongst Translink bus and rail passengers in Northern Ireland. This project is being overseen by a monitoring group comprising representatives from Translink, DfI and the Consumer Council.
Key findings from the first six months of passenger satisfaction monitoring, including the results for overall accessibility of the vehicle for each of the Translink bus and rail services are available on the Translink website. The results will be updated every six months as more data becomes available. A link to this research will also be included in this section of the DfI website.
The CARD report shows that in the first six months of passenger satisfaction monitoring (Monday 3rd April 2023 – Sunday 1st October 2023):-
• On average, 85% of Translink passengers rated public transport services either good or excellent.
• 98% of passengers rated the accessibility of the vehicle as either good or excellent.
Concessionary Fares
The Northern Ireland Concessionary Fares Scheme (the Scheme) was established to promote accessible public transport for members of the community who are most at risk of social exclusion. It aims to do so by providing free and discounted fares on public transport for some groups of people. On 1st June 2023 the Department for Infrastructure opened a consultation seeking views on proposed changes to the Scheme. Management Information was published to support this review of the Scheme and the data can be viewed on the DfI website. For further information on the Scheme and the consultation see DfI website.
Private Transport
Census 2021
Census 2021 shows us that 19.5% of households had no cars or vans available while 80.5% had at least one car or van available. The Census Flexible Table Builder shows that 108,722 people who live in a household and whose day-to-day activities are limited did not have a car or van available for use; this equates to almost one quarter (24.3%) of all those who live in a household and whose day-to-day activities are limited. Approximately one in ten (10.1%) of those who live in a household and whose day-to-day activities are not limited did not have a car or van available for use (144,250 people). Almost one fifth (19.9%, 58,384 people) of all people who lived in a household and were aged 66 and over did not have access to a car or van for use. The percentage of those aged 16-65 who lived in a household and did not have access to a car or van for use was 12.5%; the figure was similar for those under 16 (11.6%).Source: Household: Car or Van Availability by Health Problem or Disability (Long-term): And Household: Car or Van Availability by Age
Licensed Vehicles and Driver Licensing
Drivers in receipt of certain disability related benefits can claim exemption from paying road tax. A total of 1.2 million vehicles were in the disabled tax class in the UK at the end of 2021 which was 3% of all licensed vehicles. Source: Disability, accessibility and blue badge statistics: 2021 to 2022
Figures from the Department of Transport show there were 88,115 vehicles in the disabled tax class in Northern Ireland at the end of September 2023, which was 6.9% of all licensed vehicles.
The Driver and Vehicles Agency publish a quarterly table detailing the numbers of ordinary license medical renewals. Medical renewals relate to those people who have a medical condition/disability that may require some kind of restriction on their driving licence. For further information see Driver & Vehicle Agency Activity Statistics (Section 5 Driver Licensing - Table 5.1: Driver Licensing Activity - Ordinary Licences by Transaction Type).
Electric vehicles
Figures in relation to attitudes towards electric vehicles in Northern Ireland are included in the 2022-23 Continuous Household Survey and these are broken down by age, gender, settlement and disability.
Key findings from the report
- Around one third (33%) of all respondents would ‘definitely’ or ‘strongly consider’ buying an electric vehicle as their next purchase, up from one quarter (25%) in 2019-20 but down from 37% in 2021-22.
- More than four in ten (41%) of those aged 25-34 years said they would ‘definitely’ or ‘strongly consider’ an e-vehicle as their next purchase compared with less than a quarter (23%) of those aged 65+ years (statistically significant difference).
- There was no real difference in the proportion of male respondents (34%) and female respondents (32%) who said they would ‘definitely’ or ‘strongly consider’ an e-vehicle as their next purchase.
- Respondents living in urban areas (35%) were more likely than those living in rural areas (30%) to purchase an electric vehicle (statistically significant difference).
- There was no real difference in the proportion of those with a disability (three in ten (30%) who said they would ‘definitely’ or ‘strongly consider’ an e-vehicle as their next purchase compared with one third (33%) of those without a disability.
Figure 6: How likely are you to purchase an e-vehicle?* (by respondent group) (%)
*Figure is based on those persons saying that they would definitely or strongly consider an e-vehicle as their next purchase
Travel
Travel Survey for Northern Ireland (TSNI)
The Travel Survey for Northern Ireland (TSNI) collects data on how and why people travel within Northern Ireland.
In 2021, just under one fifth (19%) of persons aged 16 and over, who were surveyed, reported having a mobility difficulty.
Figure 7: Percentage of persons by mobility status and age group, Northern Ireland 2021
On average, those with a mobility difficulty made 519 journeys in 2021, 44% less than those without a mobility difficulty (929 journeys per year). The majority of journeys were made by car for both those with a mobility difficulty (75%) and those without a mobility difficulty (69%). Walks accounted for 17% of all journeys for those with a mobility difficulty, lower than the proportion of walking journeys made by those without a mobility difficulty (25%).
Figure 8: Percentage of journeys made by persons aged 16+ by mobility status and main mode, Northern Ireland 2021
In 2021, the top reasons for making a journey for those with a mobility difficulty were leisure/other purpose (37% of all journeys made) and shopping (29% of all journeys made). The proportion of leisure/other journeys made by those with a mobility difficulty (37%) was around the same as the proportion of leisure/other journeys made by those without a mobility difficulty (39%). The proportion of shopping journeys made by those with a mobility difficulty (29%) was higher than the proportion of shopping journeys made by those without a mobility difficulty (18%).
Figure 9: Percentage of journeys made by persons aged 16+ by mobility status and journey purpose, Northern Ireland 2021
User Guidance
General information
This official statistics report published by the Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch (ASRB) of the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) has been produced in accordance with the Code of Practice for Statistics, complying with the pillars of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value. This report is a compendium report which brings together statistics which have been previously published in relation to Transport Accessibility. This has been published as a one-off publication to improve access and further highlight the availability of this information for users.
Since this is a compendium report, more up to date information may be available from the original sources. See the Data Sources and Quality section for links to the statistical reports referenced in this report.
For statistics published by DfI you can view the upcoming publications page on the DFI website to see when more up to date statistics may be available
Data Sources and Quality
Information on Data Quality is published for each of the data sources referenced – see links below. The status of each source has also been noted in brackets.
Census 2021 (National Statistics / Accredited Official Statistics)
Family Resources Survey (National Statistics / Accredited Official Statistics)
Benefits Statistics Summary (National Statistics / Accredited Official Statistics). This report includes a section on Data source and Quality and further information is available from Professional Services Unit.
Details of the Quality Assurance and Methodology used in the production of Personal Independence Payment Statistics are available on the DfC Website.
Continuous Household Survey (Official Statistics)
Public Transport Statistics (Official Statistics)
Driver Licensing Statistics (National Statistics / Accredited Official Statistics)
Travel Survey for Northern Ireland (National Statistics / Accredited Official Statistics)
Concessionary Fares (Management Information)
CARD (Independent survey)
Background Quality Report
The Background Quality Report (BQR) includes more information in relation to the quality of the data used to produce the Transport Accessibility Statistics Northern Ireland report, including their accuracy and reliability, coherence and comparability, and timeliness and punctuality.
Each of the Official / National Statistics / Accredited Official Statistics have BQRs / quality information published alongside their specific statistical reports. These are available in the links under Data Quality, or for benefit statistics, by contacting Professional Services Unit.
Census 2021
All user information in relation to the Census 2021 can be found on the NISRA website; this includes background, reference materials, results and quality information.
Family Resources Survey
Information on the Family Resources Survey can be found on the NISRA website; this includes details of the survey, the questionnaire, the methodology and the results. The results presented in the Family Resources Section of this report are based on the 2021-2022 financial year and are published by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Continuous Household Survey
This section of the report presents information from the 2021-22 Continuous Household Survey (CHS) on satisfaction with walking and cycling facilities in their area and satisfaction with public transport.
Any statements in this section of the report regarding differences between groups such as disabled and non-disabled, different age groups, etc., are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level. This means that we can be 95% confident that the differences between groups are actual differences and have not just arisen by chance. Both the base numbers and the sizes of the percentages have an effect on statistical significance. Therefore, on occasion, a difference between two groups may be statistically significant while the same difference in percentage points between two other groups may not be statistically significant. The reason for this is because the larger the base numbers or the closer the percentages are to 0 or 100, the smaller the standard errors. This leads to increased precision of the estimates which increases the likelihood that the difference between the proportions is actually significant and did not just arise by chance.
Urban and rural areas have been classified using the statistical classification of settlements defined by the Inter-Departmental Urban-Rural Definition Group.
Bands A to E are classified as Urban. This includes Belfast Metropolitan Urban Area (Band A), Derry Urban Area (Band B) and large, medium and small towns (Bands C-E) with populations greater than or equal to 5,000 people.
Bands F to H are classified as rural. This includes intermediate settlements (Band F), villages (Band G) and small villages, hamlets and open countryside (Band H) with populations of less than 5,000 people and including open countryside.
For further information see the Walking Cycling and Public Transport report and Background Quality Report.
Further data from the CHS is also used to produce the report on Attitudes towards E-vehicles in Northern Ireland 2022-2023
Public Transport Statistics
The Public Transport Statistics report includes user guidance and is published alongside a Background Quality Report (BQR) and a Quality Assurance of Administrative Data report (QAAD). The Background Quality Report (BQR) includes more information in relation to the quality of the data used to produce the Transport Accessibility Statistics Northern Ireland report, including their accuracy and reliability, coherence and comparability, and timeliness and punctuality.
The QAAD is a quality assessment of the administrative data sources which are used to produce the public transport statistics. This assessment found that the level of risk of quality concerns in these sources is low. Whilst the Public Transport Statistics report is fully comprehensive in terms of data on public transport operated by Translink, users should however note that data from private providers of transport in Northern Ireland are not included in the report.
Data are presented on vehicles with Audio Visual facilities - this provides passengers with audio and visual information about their journey.
Compliance with accessibility regulations - buses and rail carriages (Figure 5 and Table 1)
Data are presented in Figure 5 and Table 1 on the number of wheelchair accessible buses and non-wheelchair accessible buses based on compliance with the Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (NI) 2003 (PSVAR NI).
Wheelchair accessible buses are compliant with Schedules 1 & 2 of PSVAR NI. These are single or double decked buses. They also include wheelchair accessible coaches which are compliant with Schedules 1 & 3 of PSVAR NI. These are single or double decked coaches that meet step, handhold and destination screen requirements and are wheelchair accessible.
Non-wheelchair accessible buses are compliant with Schedule 3 only of PSVAR NI. These are single decked coaches built between 2003 and 2005 that meet step, handhold and destination screen requirements so that they are accessible to people with certain disabilities, albeit not wheelchair accessible.
More details are included in the PSVAR NI 2003 legislation.
Figures for railway carriages used as Public Service Vehicles wheelchair accessibility are based on compliance with the Technical Specification for Interoperability for Persons of Reduced Mobility (TSI PRM) (EU regulation 1300/2014) and the Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014 (RVAR NI).
More details are included in the RVAR NI 2014 legislation.
Further information on TSI PRM is also available.
Travel Survey for Northern Ireland
The Travel Survey for Northern Ireland (TSNI) collects information on how and why people travel within Northern Ireland. It is the only source of information on how people use different forms of transport to meet their travel needs as individuals or family groups. Three reports are produced annually: the headline report (key results), the in-depth report (detailed results) and the technical report (survey methodology and questionnaire).
Definitions used in Figures 7,8 and 9
The definition of having a mobility difficulty is based on those adults who responded to say they have difficulties travelling on foot, by bus/coach, by train or any combination of these. Those that said they only have difficulty driving a car are classified in this table as having no mobility difficulty.
Main mode is the form of transport used for the greatest length of the journey. For example, if the journey had 2 stages, walking 1 mile to the train station and then taking a 10 mile train journey, the train would be the main mode and therefore the journey is assigned to the “NI Railways” category.
Definitions of the types of modes of travel can be found in the Travel Survey for Northern Ireland In-depth Report 2021.
The purpose of a journey is governed by what the person did at the end of the journey. However, for journeys ‘home’ the purpose is governed by the start of the journey. This means, for example, the purpose of a journey from the shops to home is ‘shopping’. Definitions of the types of journey purpose can be found in the Travel Survey for Northern Ireland In-depth Report 2021.
All persons (aged 16+) includes only those who answered the questions on mobility difficulties.
The ‘Leisure / other’ category includes ‘Visit friends at private home’, ‘Visit friends elsewhere’, ‘Entertainment/public social activities’, ‘Sport participate’, ‘Holiday base’, ‘Day trip’, ‘Other including just walk’ and ‘Undefined purpose’.
TSNI 2021 data
There were a number of significant changes to the survey methodology from 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure data could continue to be collected safely. Therefore, 2020 and 2021 results are not directly comparable to those of previous years and caution should be taken in reaching any conclusions if making these comparisons. Data after the methodology change has been reported as a single year. This has limited the analysis that can be done as the achieved sample is reduced by reporting only one year instead of the usual three years combined. Reporting a single year of data means the precision of the survey estimates is reduced. For further information on the Travel Survey for Northern Ireland data, please see the in-depth, headline and technical reports on the DfI website.
Code of Practice
This report is published in line with the Code of Practice for Statistics. It complies with the pillars of Trustworthiness, Quality and Value. Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website.
Guidance on using the data
Rounding
Figures in the report may not sum to totals due to rounding.
All calculations have been undertaken on the basis of unrounded figures.
A number of tables contain rounded data and therefore there may be a slight discrepancy between the total and the sum of the constituent items.
Revisions Policy
The data presented in this bulletin are revised by exception; therefore, any revisions to the figures in this report will typically be as a result of definitional changes or corrections to errors and the impact will be quantified where possible.
The Revisions and Errors Policy for statistics produced by DfI is available on the DfI Website.
Accessibility and format
Accessibility is the ease with which users are able to access the data, also reflecting the format in which the data are available and the availability of supporting information. This publication is published in HTML format and every effort has been made to comply with the AA standard under the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1.
If any document is not in a format that meets your needs, please contact ASRB with your requirements.
This statistical report and associated documents are available to download free of charge.
User Feedback
This report has been produced as an ad hoc report, but we welcome any feedback on this report and this area of the website. Please send any comments you may have to ASRB@nisra.gov.uk
Users can also provide feedback through our ongoing ASRB Customer Survey.
Useful Links
The following publications may also be of interest to readers of this report: -
Ireland - Transport Statistics
England - Transport accessibility and disability statistics and research
Wales - Releases of official statistics and research on transport in Wales
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