Grant News

The National Centre for Accessible Transport (ncat), a UK initiative dedicated to making transport accessible for disabled people has opened applications for its 2025–26 Scaling Innovation Programme.

The programme offers funding and support for projects that tackle key barriers faced by disabled passengers. Delivered by Connected Places Catapult and funded by the Motability Foundation, the scheme aims to build a barrier-free transport system by combining research, technical expertise, and the lived experiences of disabled people.

This round invites proposals addressing three core challenges:

• accessible vehicle stop design,
• improved travel assistance services,
• and better access to live travel information.

Applicants must demonstrate meaningful involvement of people with disabilities throughout their project, which carries the highest weighting in the assessment process.

The programme will run in three phases.

Up to 20 projects will each receive £10,000 in the planning stage. From there, 12–15 selected projects will secure between £50,000 and £150,000 to deliver live trials, with further funding of up to £150,000 available for 8–10 projects progressing to the pre-demonstrator stage.

The competition is open to UK-registered organisations of any size, including academia, research and technology organisations, charities, industry, and local or central government.

Applications close on 7 November 2025, with interviews scheduled for early 2026.

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