This document discusses accessibility of public transportation for people with mobility impairments. It finds that while structural accessibility has improved with features like ramps and priority seating on buses and in policies, there are still behavioral barriers like drivers not waiting for passengers or other passengers obstructing space. Observations of buses in Dundee found most had structural accessibility features but some drivers' behaviors could be barriers. Discussions with accessible and inaccessible taxi drivers revealed differing views on accessibility requirements. The findings suggest both structural accessibility and addressing behaviors that limit participation must be considered to improve transportation access.
3. Why care about participation?
• Participation in meaningful activities and
meaningful roles is correlated to quality of
life and well being (Christiansen et. al.
2005)
4. UN Convention on the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities
(CRPD)
• Demands equality for all people
regardless of ability
• Calls for adaptations to empower disabled
people to actively participate in life
ensuring all human rights are met
• Aims to decrease discrimination
United Nations, 2006
12. Public Transportation and
Disability
• Traditional view of disability applied to
public transportation
• Modern view of disability applied to public
transportation
13. Public Transportation
• Designed to give community access to all
of the public
• Decreased accessibility of public
transportation has been found to lead to
decreased participation (Hammel et al.,
2006)
14. Application to Dundee?
• 40% of households report no vehicle
• 20% population with disabilities
• 1/6 population over the age of 65
Scotland Census 2011
15. Dundee Resident Comments
I don’t know what I
would do without public
transportation.. I don’t
have a car so I use it for
everything..
I have seen the lifted
morale of older adults
when provided access to
the community through
transportation…
I dread using the bus…
his chair is too big, there
is no space, and people
don’t move to make
room…
18. Literature and Public
Transportation
• Accessibility in terms of location of bus stops
• Accessibility in terms of impact on
participation
• Accessibility in terms of structural barriers
19. Aims
• What social behaviors are typical of public
transportation?
• What structural barriers and facilitators are
present on public transportation?
– How well have DDA standards been
implemented?
– How have they been implemented differently in
different areas?
21. Sampling
• Two national bus companies
– 15 buses from each company
– Routes/Times
– Types of Buses
• Bus Stops in and outside of city centre
• Dundee Taxis
22. Data Collection
• 2 weeks of bus data collection
– Unstructured Observation
• Four buses/bus stops assessed
structurally
– Bus Usability Checklist
• Taxis: 2 accessible, 2 inaccessible
– Informant Conversations
27. Bus Driver Behaviors
• Waiting for passengers to be seated
for all passengers to be seated: 1
• Use Waitshydraulics/ramp
of
Waits for passengers with visible mobility impairments to be
•seated: 527/30to the curbwith hydraulics
Pulling buses equipped
• Giving adequate pull to curb be passengers to exit
time within 6 inches
Hydraulics used passengers for seated: 24
Does not wait forinconsistentlyto
Most bus drivers did
1 ramp used
2 buses did not pull into bus lane
Add bus driver pic here
28. Bus Attendant Behaviors
• 13 buses used bus attendants
– Help passengers move through bus
– Collect money at seats
– Help passengers off of bus
– Answer questions
30. Current Taxi Policy
• All new taxis must be accessible
• Taxis that are not accessible may only pick up
passengers by appointment
• Accessible taxis must provide maintenance to
their vehicles to ensure accessibility
31. Taxi Conversations:
Accessible Taxis
• Views
– All taxis should be accessible
– There is not a larger expense to having an
accessible taxi
– It does not take more than 2 minutes of extra
time
– People do need and use the service
32. Taxi Conversations:
Inaccessible Taxis
• Views
– There is no desire/motivation to acquire an
accessible taxi
• There is no loss of money by not being able to drive
disabled people
– There are too many accessible taxis
• Some disabled people request a saloon car because of
the easy entry
33. Discussion of Findings
• Importance of both structural and behavioral
facilitators for public transportation use
• Importance of decreasing behaviors that
cause barriers to participation
34. Limitations
• Only could observe people with visible
mobility impairments
• Could not interact with anyone being
observed
• Unstructured
35. Future Research
• Further information on the impact of
behaviors on passengers
– Interviews with disabled passengers
– Assessment of those without visible impairments
• Development of more structured observations
• Assessment of other modes of public
transportation
• Assessments of interventions for behavioral
barriers
