Hey you – yes, you there. Have you never experienced feeling you weren’t included? No? Then you’re in the minority. I remember several years ago spending an afternoon on our university campus in a wheelchair.

The purpose was to give me a taste of the lived experience of being disabled. I was asked to do some tasks – get to a lecture, use the lift, go to the loo, buy a coffee. The experience will never leave me – it shone a light on built environment design flaws that I was totally ignorant of because it didn’t normally affect me.

I love the themed approach of our Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation (CIHT) memberhip magazine. The latest issue it titled “EVERYONE EVERYWHERE – Why inclusion is the key to effective transport”. Time for a cuppa and a cover-to-cover read.

Here are some extracts that stood out for me – as you read them really try and put yourself in the place of the person offering the point I’m quoting. Imagine yourself in that wheelchair (or equivalent) if you’re not living the experience yourself.

“The social model of disability says that disability is caused by barriers that exist within society and the way society is organised”.

“The [Women in Transport] report found that just 23% of the workforce identify as women, with more than half of those in non-transport roles”.

“because apprenticeships offer an alternative route into the sector, they attract a broader range of candidates which boosts the diversity of the transport industry”.

Big respect to Edinburgh for its ban on pavement parking. “Rather than just talking about fines, the videos focused on personal stories from people with disabilities whose life had been made impossible by pavement parking”.

“If you can’t go into the workplace and talk safely about your true identity, about who you are and how you feel, it’s very difficult to have great job satisfaction”.

“Over 40% of trans people have either tried or contemplated suicide as part of their journey”.

“The only true way to understand the impact of dementia on people is to ask them, and a large part of the [new] CIHT course is dedicated to looking at how to involve people with dementia in the discussion and what will make participation easier”.

“Young people offer creativity and a fresh pair of eyes that can question established processes and bring new ideas to a team”.

“some neurodivergent people can be hyper-responsive to their surroundings and have extraordinary sensory perception. That sensory perception is the canary in the coal mine. We should listen to neurodivergent people, because what they tell us could help everyone”.

“Being the first female train driver on the Victoria Line is one of them. That was amazing and something I couldn’t believe that I’d achieved. At the time, these jobs just weren’t advertised to women – they didn’t even have female toilets for drivers”.

“Comments such as ‘Don’t you think it’s time you retired?’ really aren’t appropriate.”

#equalitydiversityinclusion