Access to transit services has greatly increased mobility for both rural and urban populations in Canada and around the world. Mobility is sometimes conceived of as a “social construct” that denotes the “ability to move between different activity sites, and as such includes actual and potential travel, the freedom to travel as you wish” (Bjerkan et al. 2020, 1). However, transit systems are often designed with the assumption that transport users are non-disabled individuals. This potentially reinforces and increases exclusion (both perceived feelings and real exclusions) of persons with disabilities. As mobility for the general population increases, the “relative disadvantage” of being excluded from transit systems increases for persons with disabilities (Bjerkan et al. 2020, 1).
