How Travel Training Works

The Bradford Travel Training Unit exists to offer mobility training to people with learning disabilities who live in the Bradford Metropolitan area. The Unit operates an equal opportunities policy that allows us to offer travel training to anyone with a disability, 14 years and above, who displays a willingness to learn and a commitment to succeed. The training is free, conducted on a one to one basis and follows a unique learning programme specifically designed to meet the individual requirements of each trainee.

We at the Bradford Travel Training Unit have our own mission statement:

“We believe that safe, responsible, independent travel helps reduce the impact of exclusion on disadvantaged people and supports their integration into education, employment and society in general.”

We attempt to follow this vision at all times, and keep to the dual principles of social inclusion and equal opportunities in all the work we do.

Travel training is the process by which a person learns to travel a specific route, between two different places, on their own and in a safe and responsible way. This trip can be as simple as someone finding their own way to the corner shop or as complicated as learning a difficult journey to another town or city. When the person undertaking travel training has a learning disability there are likely to be many barriers to consider and consequently the whole process can be far more complex.

The training programme therefore, has to be thoroughly planned and well supported, and must take into account all the variables (or the “what ifs” as we call them) that might occur during the training period. Assessing risks and making sure that all travel training is safe is the most important part of all the work we do.

So how does the process of travel training work? Firstly, we need to identify our prospective trainee. This person can be referred to the Travel Training Unit by a Social Worker, College or School staff, a Health Worker or similar professional, a parent or carer, or by the individual themselves. Initially, the Travel Training Unit would expect to receive a referral form giving personal details of the trainee along with a brief summary of their skills, experience and the specific journey they would like to learn. In these early stages this information is important as it is the starting point for us to gradually build up a picture of the person we are intending to be working with.

Once the form has been returned and considered we can then begin to form our action plan. This will invariably involve us contacting the referrer direct to request more detailed information that will help us determine something of the trainee’s pre-requisite skills. These are very important and include such things as being aware of dangers, understanding what it means to stay safe, and knowing how to seek help if it is required. Great care is taken at this stage, to communicate with everyone involved, especially families and carers to ensure everyone understands what is happening and is committed to the success of the travel training.

As part of this initial process The Travel Training Unit will make arrangements for a representative to visit the trainee at a place where they (the trainee) feel comfortable. This would usually be at the trainee’s home as it gives the representative a good chance to begin their risk assessment and start forming the step by step travel plan. The representative will go through exactly what is involved in the proposed travel training (and often refer to the Travel Training Unit’s Working Manual to support the processes they intend to go through). The trainee will be asked what specifically they want to learn and together with the representative they can begin to set some initial learning goals.

The Travel Training Unit will carry out an assessment of the proposed journey looking at such things as safe routes, which bus or train to catch, the time of the day when the travel is required and different ways of paying fares. This will all be explained to the trainee and again great care taken to ensure everyone involved understands exactly what is about to happen. Once this is complete the representative will seek agreement from the trainee and see that the appropriate forms are completed, signed and returned. Following on from this meeting the Travel Training Unit will then allocate the trainee their own personal Travel Trainer taking into account staff availability.

Also at this stage, and as a part of routine safety procedures, the trainee will be issued with their own unique, personal emergency card. The trainee is instructed in its use and told how to show it to certain designated people should they ever find themselves in difficulties. It is continually emphasised to trainees and families alike that all travel training is flexible so throughout the entire training process the various components are monitored and reviewed regularly and can be modified if necessary. The whole point of travel training is for the individual to succeed and experience has shown that being fully transparent and working together with everyone involved is the key to success.

The Health and Safety of trainees coupled with an effective assessment of potential risks involved forms the foundation of what travel training is all about. Because all travel training is carried out on a one-to-one basis the Travel Training Unit is able to devise and operate a risk assessment process that identifies a wide range of factors and matches ideally the individual with the route they intend to travel. Having first met the potential trainee and made the initial assessment it is then essential for the Trainer to travel the intended route in person, making it as real and relevant as possible. Only then can a true and accurate risk assessment begin to be compiled and all the significant risk factors considered.

The process the Travel Training Unit uses for its risk assessment is based on a checklist of prompts:

1 – We meet the individual and look at factors such as motivation, vulnerability, communication skills, attention span, money skills, looking after personal property and any physical limitations there might be.

2 – We travel the route and look at factors such as complexity of route, distance travelled, frequency of transport, accessibility, contact with others, availability of road crossings and any significant landmarks there might be.

When this process is complete we are then able to assess the risks there might be to that individual when travelling that particular route.

Only when this checklist is complete, and the specific risks elaborated upon, can the actions to control be determined. These can involve - a change of travelling time, an adjustment to the initial route, a greater communication with family or career, and the setting up of specific emergency procedures. It is important to note that we at the Travel Training Unit consider this risk assessment process never to be fully complete: a trainee is always developing and the environment has always the potential to change. Consequently we recognise the risk factors can be either increasing or decreasing in severity as the training progresses. We always take this into account and adjust our training accordingly.

The Travel Training Unit will attempt to work with a trainee whenever they require the training but obviously there are logistic restrictions as to when and how often this can occur. We therefore suggest to the trainee that they undertake the training, morning and/or afternoon, for just one day a week. This often means that the trainee will continue with their regular form of transport for the remainder of the week and can concentrate all their learning on that one particular day. We have found from experience that this type of process helps the trainee to gradually and over a period of time, become used to what can be a worrying and anxious time. We call this our staged approach to learning and it allows the whole training programme to be delivered in the most meaningful and effective way.

Subject to the success of this learning process the trainee can then be judged as being able to travel this particular route safely, responsibly and on their own and the Trainer can now move on to compiling what we call the Final Report.

The final report signifies the end of the learning process and hence the completion of the training. The Travel Training Unit has an obligation to officially inform the referrer of this and to state how and when the trainee has learnt the things they were supposed to have done. This is also an opportunity to record various other pieces of information that may be relevant such as: what opportunities there may now be for the trainee to develop and perhaps learn a new journey, as well as things to watch out for that may hinder any future training.

It is important to note that although this final report is invariably constructive in what it has to say and stresses the positive outcomes of the training; we only report on travel training issues and the particular route that the trainee has learnt. We do not comment on matters outside our remit and we never state that a trainee is now an independent traveller.