Equality and Discrimination 2024

Accessing/Using Transport Services

In the 2024 survey, respondents were asked if they had experienced discrimination of any form in their access to/use of transport services, in the two years prior to interview.

Just 2% Experienced Discrimination when Accessing/Using Transport Services

At an overall level, 2% of respondents aged 18 years and over had experienced discrimination when accessing/using transport services, an increase of one percentage point on 2019 when the survey was last carried out (See Table 9.1 and Equality and Discrimination 2019).

Analysis by sexual orientation shows that 11% of those who are gay/lesbian experienced discrimination in their access to or use of transport services, compared with 2% of respondents who were heterosexual or straight, and 4% of people who identified as bisexual.

Survey data analysis by one’s gender identity shows that non-cisgender people were far more likely to experience discrimination in their access to and use of transport services. One in fifteen (7%) transgender/non-binary people experienced such discrimination in the previous two years compared with 2% of cisgender people.

Analysis by ethnicity, shows that one in sixteen (6%) respondents from a Black Irish/Black African/other Black background experienced discrimination in accessing/using transport services, compared with 2% of White Irish. Almost one in ten (9%) respondents from other ethnic backgrounds including people of Latino, Hispanic, and other mixed backgrounds, experienced discrimination in their use of/access to transport services (See Table 9.1).

Disability and Race the Most Common Grounds for Discrimination in Transport Services

While discrimination experienced accessing transport services was generally quite low overall, amongst those who had experienced discrimination, disability was cited by one-third of respondents (33%). This was followed by race (28%), then age and socio-economic background such as their address, accent, level of education, type of housing, employment status or any other similar circumstance, in joint third place at 16%.

Almost one in five (18%) of these respondents said the discrimination had happened frequently, while almost two thirds (64%) said they felt discriminated against in their use of transport services, on just one occasion. For more than one in six (16%), the perceived discrimination had happened on a few occasions.

Almost one in five were badly affected by this discrimination and said it had a serious/very serious effect on their lives. For 7% the perceived discrimination had a very serious effect on their lives, while one in ten (10%) said that it had a serious effect on them. For six in ten (59%), they were not as badly affected by the perceived discrimination, but it still did have some effect on their lives (See Table 9.1, Figure 9.1 and Table 9.3).