Empowering Autistic Travel

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The National Autistic Society’s Research team carried out a year-long research project about travel for autistic adults

Aim and purpose

The aim of the research, which began in April 2024, was an in-depth exploration of autistic people’s experiences of travel and transport, to gain a better understanding of:

barriers to comfortable, safe travel;
the impact those barriers cause;
and possible solutions to make services more accessible and autism friendly.

Research question:

“How can we address the most significant challenges experienced by autistic adults using trains, buses, taxis and similar forms of transport in the UK?”

We know this is an important topic for many autistic people, yet we found a distinct lack of quality research addressing this. You can read more about why we carried out the work in our launch news story.

Watch our short film where Alison from our co-design group talks about the project, and some of her own experiences of transport.

"My name is Alison, and like many autistic people, I sometimes struggle using public transport.

87% of autistic people find it difficult or impossible to use busses or trains.

That's a shocking statistic.

I took part in the National Autistic Society's research project about how public transport can be more accessible for autistic people. Funded by the Motability Foundation, we heard from over 4,000 autistic people and their families, as well as transport providers and professionals.

Lack of accessible transport can lead to; harder access to education, work and leisure, being more socially isolated, feeling a sense of failure and low confidence, and meltdowns and extreme distress on and after the journey.

We know that many transport providers, such as East Midlands Railways, already provide support for autistic transport users, but there are still barriers that need to be addressed.

So one of the things I struggle with is asking for help. So I really appreciate it when someone comes over to ask me for help, and if I'm looking lost or panicked, it's really nice to have someone to just come over and ask if you're okay, rather than me going over to someone else.

For details on what autistic people struggle with during travel and how changes could help, please view our report on the project website. Here, you can also hear real stories from people like me and find travel tips that could help if you are autistic."

Reports

Research overview

Full research report

Travel guides

For autistic people, families and supporters

Provide feedback on resources for this project

Participatory, user-led approach

We wanted to capture the experiences of as many autistic people as possible. We were also keen to hear from parents/carers, and friends and family members of autistic people. It was essential to work closely with transport providers too. Throughout the project we gained a lot of insight through surveys, interviews, focus groups and workshops. We worked with a co-design group of autistic people, who we consulted with at each stage of the project. The group helped to steer the project, make decisions, review draft documents, and prioritise.

Here we highlight the people who made this project possible – our co-design group, our transport consultants, and every person who took part by sharing their personal or professional views and experiences. We also share some of our participatory approaches.

Co-design and collaboration

Supporting participants in the project

Case studies

We share some of the stories from our research which highlight personal challenges, the impact they have and the strategies that would help.

View our case studies

On this page we will be adding more information and resources including guides for autistic people or transport professionals, research articles, and more.

If you have any questions you can contact the Research team at research@nas.org.uk.

Funding

This project has been made possible thanks to generous funding from the Motability Foundation. The Motability Foundation funds, supports, researches and innovates so that all disabled people can make the journeys they choose.

Related links

Transport

Leisure and going out