Maintaining your mobility on public transport is so important, yet can be so confusing. This is substantially due to there being no legal requirement for bus or coach service providers to accept mobility scooters on their vehicles. Whilst train companies do allow mobility scooters onboard as a matter of course, there is a lot of complexity within that.

Let’s suppose that a provider does accept mobility scooters, and consider an example. For instance, do you want to take your mobility scooter out for a shopping trip via the bus? There are rules around that. These rules usually centre around scooter dimensions. In particular, it comes down to what is best thought of as your scooter’s “footprint”. That is the length and width of the scooter. Most bus service providers, as it stands, require mobility scooters to be no more than one metre in length and 60cm wide. That’s to allow them to fit into the mobility product bay usually found near the front on the lower deck.

It’s a Matter of Space

Essentially, if you want to take a mobility product like a scooter onto a bus, you’ll need a smaller model*. As an absolute must, of course, always check with your local public transport provider as to what their rules are. You can usually find this advice on their website. On trains, the maximum scooter length is generally 120cm, with the maximum width being 70cm, though this can vary.

Standard Terms of Carriage

Whilst individual public transport providers’ terms of carriage may vary, there is a standardised voluntary UK code of practice for taking mobility scooters on buses. Most of the major providers have signed up to this, with a full list to be found here.

Getting Permission

Some rail service providers, and those bus providers which allow mobility scooters, require mobility scooter users to have and display a permit before boarding. For rail travellers whose provider requires them to display a permit for journeys with a mobility scooter, applications can be carried out via that provider’s website. Likewise bus travellers can usually arrange to begin the assessment process to get a permit for travel with a mobility scooter via the relevant providers’ websites.

*Please be advised that individual carriers’ policies may vary and that the situation regarding mobility vehicles and public transport may change in the future.