Designing for Dignity: Aligning Policy and Technology for Inclusive Public Transport Systems Serving Commuters With Disabilities

ABSTRACT Despite years of reform, equitable transport access for commuters with disabilities (CWDs) remains limited across diverse urban contexts. This study introduces the Integrated CWD Accessibility Enhancement Framework, mapping transport systems along two analytically defined axes: policy and government support and socio‐technical inclusivity. The framework identifies four configurations of accessibility: systemic exclusion, community‐driven adaptation, policy‐driven inclusion and inclusive and assistive systems. Unlike infrastructure‐centric or technology‐dominant models, the framework conceptualizes accessibility as an institutional and socio‐technical alignment problem rather than a purely design deficiency. Grounded in a structured synthesis of disability and transport scholarship, dignity is operationalized as the capacity of CWDs to travel autonomously, predictably, safely and without humiliation, thereby shifting the discourse from normative advocacy to measurable institutional performance. A scenario‐based stakeholder matrix demonstrates how commuters, families, service providers, policymakers and transport‐technology actors differentially reinforce or mitigate exclusion across system types. Positioned as a diagnostic tool applicable at the city or transit‐system level, the framework avoids binary classification and instead enables graduated assessment of accessibility maturity. The study, therefore, advances an explanatory configuration‐based model linking governance strength and socio‐technical responsiveness to dignity outcomes in commuting.