POLIS x Disability Pride Month: Beyond infrastructure

As Disability Pride Month comes to a close, we take a moment to reflect on how we perceive accessibility. We must approach it not as a simple matter of infrastructure, but as a system that prioritises people and their humanity.

In our previous article celebrating Disability Pride Month, we discussed several practical issues regarding accessibility. We touched on the current legal framework and discussed the steps that have been taken to improve infrastructure in European cities, as well as what is still to be done. This month's Member in the Spotlight, the city of Bilbao, is one of the examples of continuous progress in fostering more inclusive and accessible spaces for people with disabilities.

Yet, accessibility is not limited and should not be limited to a simple matter of infrastructure. Accessible travel is more than physical features: attitudes, awareness, and customer service matter too, and they do make a difference. Access is about humanity and inclusion. It is about making people with disabilities feel welcome, rather than simply accommodated.

In order to shine light on this topic, we reached out to two diversity ambassadors who shared their insights on what it means to truly think beyond infrastructure and focus on being human first and foremost.

Stefania Pesavento, Consultant & Advisor, Disability Work Group Leader, Ambassador for the Diversity in Transport (DG MOVE), highlighted how many people with invisible disabilities often face additional barriers due to social stigma, lack of recognition, and limited awareness among staff and service workers. Not being visibly disabled can make navigation around cities even more complicated.

Sandra Witzel, Chair - Research Institute for Disabled Consumers, Director & CMO - SkedGo, Board Member - Transport Focus, took time to discuss with us some paths that administrations could follow to improve co-creation and co-implementation in urban planning so that we can improve the current systems and aim for truly inclusive mobility.

Invisible disabilities and invisible barriers, with Stefania Pesavento

POLIS: We know about the unique barriers people with invisible disabilities face when navigating public transport. What do you wish more city officials and transport planners understood about these experiences? 

Stefania Pesavento, Consultant & Advisor, Disability Work Group Leader for the Ambassadors for Diversity in Transport Initiative

Stefania Pesavento: Let me start by saying that invisible disabilities account for far more than most people realise, and we must raise awareness about this very important point. Nowadays, 'empathy' might sound like a buzzword, but there is nothing more powerful than genuinely putting yourself in someone else's shoes.

This is not just about being emotional—it is about being effective and inclusive. When we design public transport systems and urban ecosystems with inclusion in mind, we do not just support people with visible and invisible disabilities, but we create solutions that work better for everyone: a mom with a stroller, women who got injured, our grandmothers... More inclusive systems lead to greater usage, more sustainable cities, and ultimately healthier lifestyles.

One powerful approach could be using virtual reality (VR) to simulate how people with different abilities experience public transport. A simple trip from A to B, experienced through the lens of different personas, can be eye-opening. For decision-makers and city officials, this kind of immersive empathy can be transformative. It moves us from designing for people to designing with them, embracing universal design principles that are not only inclusive but also practical and scalable.

POLIS: Many challenges go beyond infrastructure, such as misunderstandings, stigma, or lack of awareness from staff and other passengers alike. Can you share an example where more empathy or training could improve the outcome of a journey for someone with an invisible disability? 

Pesavento: There are many stories that have deeply shaped my understanding of accessibility and inclusion. These stories come from people I have had the privilege of working with, those I have met throughout my career, and from my own lived experience as well.

For instance, I have a visual condition that makes me see in a scale of grey: achromatopsia. While I understand the use of colour in metro system screens and signage—often used to distinguish lines or provide visual cues—this design choice presents a real challenge for me and others with similar visual impairments or even other disabilities or temporary conditions. Fortunately, this is a barrier that could be overcome quite easily with thoughtful design choices.

Using distinct patterns or textures in addition to colour, improving contrast, and ensuring that information is communicated in multiple formats can make a significant difference. These are not complex or expensive changes, but they require a shift in mindset, and the accessible design concept is considered key. With the right training and awareness, designers and transport authorities can learn to create truly inclusive systems. Often, it is not about reinventing the wheel—it is about rethinking how we use it so that everyone, regardless of their abilities and disabilities, can travel with confidence and dignity.

POLIS: If you could recommend one concrete action to urban planners today that would make transport safer and more inclusive for those with invisible disabilities, what would it be? 

Pesavento: It is tough to prioritise the many crucial actions needed, but the central idea is clear: shift from 'designing for' to 'designing with.' This means fully embracing co-creation and co-design and deeply committing to universal design.

The transport sector is not typically known for championing diversity and inclusion. While more companies are starting to commit to diversity & inclusion principles, a lack of resources or vision often turns these declarations and values into empty gestures or mere checkboxes without real impact. Therefore, when we kick off new projects or design new services, we must make inclusion mandatory. This means actively involving diverse individuals throughout the entire process.

Ideally, and hopefully as a requirement, we should engage people with various abilities and disabilities not just through focus groups and testing but also as active collaborators. There is enormous potential for improvement when we incorporate the unique perspectives of those who experience the world differently.

How to increase dialogue between administrations and people with disabilities, with Sandra Witzel

POLIS: In your view, where do you see the biggest gaps between current systems and truly inclusive mobility? 

Sandra Witzel, Director & CMO at SkedGo, Board Member at Transport Focus, Chair at Research Institute for Disabled Consumers

Sandra Witzel: The biggest gap is mindset. Accessibility is still treated as a bolt-on, a cost to be minimised rather than a long-term investment in societal and economic inclusion. We continue to retrofit infrastructure and digital services instead of embedding inclusive design from the start, which is inefficient, expensive, and frankly short-sighted.

We also fail to account for the broader cost of exclusion. When people cannot access reliable transport, they are cut off from education, employment, healthcare, and community life. That has direct consequences: higher welfare costs, worse public health outcomes, and reduced workforce participation. These are not theoretical; they are measurable and preventable.

Inclusive mobility is not about ticking compliance boxes. It’s about recognising access as a human right and a prerequisite for economic participation. Until that is understood at the policy, procurement, and design levels, we will keep building systems that exclude by default.

POLIS: What kind of partnerships or dialogue do you think cities need to initiate with disabled communities to move beyond compliance and into co-creation and co-implementation? 

Witzel: Let us start by correcting the premise: disabled communities are part of cities, not a separate stakeholder to be 'consulted'. Co-creation should not be optional or conditional on goodwill. It needs to be structurally embedded.

That means regulatory frameworks with teeth. Inclusive design must be a non-negotiable part of planning, procurement, and service delivery, with accountability at every stage. Voluntary engagement will not get us there. Cities need to involve disabled people from the start, pay them for their expertise, and ensure that their input directly shapes outcomes. True co-creation is not a workshop or a pilot—it is a governance principle.

POLIS: How can cities and regions ensure they involve people with disabilities in mobility/urban planning in ways that matter without simply taking advantage of their expertise? 

Witzel: It starts with recognising that inclusion is not a one-off exercise—it is an ongoing relationship. People with disabilities must be involved early, often, and in ways that allow them to influence outcomes. That means creating accessible ways to participate, removing barriers to engagement and feeding insights directly into design, planning, and evaluation. It also means reflecting a broad range of lived experiences, not just the most vocal or visible voices.

At the Research Institute for Disabled Consumers, for example, we work with a national panel of over 4,000 disabled and older people who contribute to product and service testing, policy consultations, and co-design projects, and their input is highly valued and then acted on.

When involvement is built into systems, not bolted on, we move from tokenism to transformation and lift our communities as a whole. Inclusive mobility is not a side project. It is a measure of whether our cities work for everyone. That requires systemic change, not just good intentions.

About the contributors 

Interviewees:

Stefania Pesavento: Consultant & Advisor, Disability Work Group Leader, Ambassador for the Diversity in Transport (DG MOVE), Stefania is a Global Innovation Leader and Strategic Advisor, with 15+ years of international experience. Passionate about entrepreneurship and mobility, she brings bold ideas to life. As an EC Diversity in Transport Ambassador and Intermobility Board Member, her leadership is uniquely inclusive due to her experience as a person with a disability.

Sandra Witzel: Witzel currently chairs the Research Institute for Disabled Consumers UK and co-founded Women in Mobility UK. She also serves as Director and CMO for SkedGo, a global transport technology company, Non-Executive Director at Transport Focus and as an Ambassador for the European Commission's Diversity In Transport network. Her leadership spans strategy, innovation and inclusive design, combining board-level insight with sector expertise in transport, technology and growth. A compelling speaker and award-winning advocate, she brings lived experience of disability and commercial acumen to the forefront of future mobility.