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Request to participate in Survey on Use of Mobility Devices on Para-transit Vehicles and Buses

Dear Friends,

I am appending the  letter at the request of Uwe Rutenberg of Rutenberg Design, Inc. He and Dr. Kate Hunter-Zaworski of the National Center for Accessible Transportation are conducting research on the “Use of Mobility Devices on Para-transit Vehicles and Buses.” The research is being conducted for TRB under TCRP Project C-20. An important part of the research is getting input from all stakeholders on this issue— transit and para-transit riders who use mobility devices, transit agencies, vehicle and equipment manufacturers, agencies that purchase mobility devices, and others.

The letter below describes the project in more detail and provides unique survey links for each type of stakeholder.

I would encourage you to assist in this study by completing the appropriate survey. I would also encourage you to forward the information to others who you feel could provide valuable input for the purposes of this research.

Survey Request Letter:

NATIONAL TRANSIT ACCESSIBILITY SURVEY REQUEST

July 9, 2012

To whom it may concern:

The National Center for Accessible Transportation, under the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP), is conducting Project C-20, “Use of Mobility Devices on Paratransit Vehicles and Buses.  “The objectives of this project are to (1) identify and assess the current and emerging issues which limit the use of mobility devices in paratransit vehicles and buses and (2) develop guidance and options to assist transit systems, manufacturers, and transit users in the implementation of accessible design and accommodation solutions for the short and long term. This research should address potential safety improvements and the level of service of public transport for larger and heavier occupied mobility devices in paratransit vehicles and buses.”

A major task of this project is to gather information from a diversity of stakeholders on the use of mobility devices on public transportation vehicles.  In addition, the survey activities will address questions for manufacturers of mobility aids, public transport vehicles, and boarding and securement equipment manufacturers, insurance agencies, as well as transit users.

To complete the online National Transit Accessibility Survey, please go to the following:

For Wheeled Mobility Device manufacturers, importers, vendors and distributors

http://myopinion.oregonstate.edu/mobility

For Transit Agencies

http://myopinion.oregonstate.edu/paratransit

For Wheeled Mobility Device Users

http://myopinion.oregonstate.edu/mydevice

The other surveys are available for download at: http://ncat.oregonstate.edu/?p=projects/c20#surveys

Survey for Lift and Ramp Manufacturers

Survey for Securement and Seating Manufacturer

Survey for Fare Payment Manufacturer, Distributors

Survey for Agencies that Fund Mobility Devices

Survey for Transit Vehicle Manufacturers

Please return surveys by mid-August 2012, by either email ncat@oregonstate.edu or Fax to 541-737-3052.

We also ask that you forward this survey invitation to colleagues who work in accessible transport services, whether or not you take the survey. We hope to enlist the participation of as many transit professionals as possible.  All individuals participating in the study must be 18 years or older.

All data will be reported in the aggregate so that no identifying information is available. The security and confidentiality of information collected from you online cannot be guaranteed.  Information collected online can be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete, or contain viruses. Your participation in this study is voluntary and you may skip any question you choose not to answer.

If you have trouble accessing the survey, please forward this email to Lydia Newton (newton@science.oregonstate.edu) at the Oregon State University Survey Research Center and describe the issue.  For other questions, please contact Katharine Hunter-Zaworski katharine.hunter-zaworski@oregonstate.edu at the National Center for Accessible Transportation. This study has been reviewed and approved by the Oregon State University Institutional Review Board for Human Subjects which can be reached at 541-737-8008 or at irb@oregonstate.edu.

Again, please feel free to forward this survey invitation, and thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,

Dr. K.M. Hunter-Zaworski. P.E.

Director, National Center for Accessible Transportation

cc: TRB Representative

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Chennai Metro will be barrier-free: CMRL

Source: The Hindu
MEERA SRINIVASAN

Chennai: Decision was taken in response to suggestions given by Disability Rights Alliance – Tamil Nadu

Persons with disability will have comfortable access to metro stations and trains, the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) said on Saturday.

According to an official of the CMRL, all metro stations will have signage within and outside the station to guide users. A dedicated parking space will be provided to persons with disability, subject to space availability. Non-slippery flooring and well-lit passages will be provided.

INCLUSIVE PATH? Access audits shared by the Disability Rights Alliance with CMRL showed Delhi Metro as having missed out on some crucial aspects in making the service accessible to persons with disability. Chennai Metro, however, has a chance to address the requirements in its upcoming facilities such as this one near the depot in Koyambedu, where tracks are being laid currently. Photo: S. S. Kumar
“We will make sure that the stations enable free movement. Tactile tiles will be provided to help persons with disability access functional areas and platforms,” the official told The Hindu.

The decision to make such provisions comes in response to suggestions made by the Disability Rights Alliance–Tamil Nadu (DRA), which has been in dialogue with the CMRL since January this year. Members had shared details of some best practices, in addition to highlighting the shortcomings in the existing metro network in New Delhi. CMRL had told the DRA that engineers and those involved in finalising the station designs would get back with details of what provisions will be made in the metro stations in Chennai.

The stations will have bumpy tiles to alert users with visual impairment, before nearing the edge of the platform. The toilets will be made accessible, and the ticket counters will be positioned at a convenient height. Induction loops at ticket counters for hearing-impaired passengers, a uniform terminal design, ramps with adequate landing space and staircases with handrails are among the other provisions promised. “The elevators will be accessible, with grip rails on three sides, audio announcements and buttons in Braille.”

The CMRL has also said that wheelchair users and mobility-impaired persons would not require ridging or lifting devices to get into the coaches. Also, a wheelchair egress request signal shall be provided, which will enable a passenger in any car of a metro train to alert the operator to stop the car for a prolonged time to enable wheelchair users to get off the train.

The provisions, according to CMRL, are in compliance with the ‘Guidelines and Space standards for Barrier Free Built Environment for Disabled and Elderly Persons’ evolved by the Ministry of Urban Development.

Members of DRA-TN said while the provisions were considerate, it would be important for the CMRL to supplement the guidelines with recommendations in the manual for standards and specifications for railway stations – June 2009, a Railway Board reference document, because the guidelines issued by the Ministry were not been updated after 1998.

Vaishnavi Jayakumar, a DRA member, said: “Also, in the absence of an in-house accessibility consultant, the CMRL could share its plans with an access consultant for comments.”

Rajiv Rajan, another member, said it arrangements for emergencies should also be made known. “Will the CMRL train its staff to deal with passengers with disability? That is vital,” he said. Acknowledging the provisions as a “good start”, DRA members said Chennai metro can be considered truly progressive and sensitive when it takes into account more such factors.

Ms. Jayakumar said: “It would be really nice when persons with disability can find out about the provisions being made for them, when the CMRL website itself is made accessible to them.”

Source: The Hindu

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Disability Rights alliance calls to make Chennai Metro Rail accessible

Call to make Metro Rail disabled-friendly

CHENNAI, INDIA: Over the next few weeks, Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) has a rather important task on hand. It will have to respond to a set of suggestions presented by the Disability Rights Alliance–Tamil Nadu (DRA), indicating which of their recommendations will be incorporated into the facility.

From January this year, DRA, an open, cross-disability collective has been talking to CMRL regarding the inclusion of features that would ensure easy access to all commuters. After sharing details of international best practices with CMRL in a series of meetings over the past two months, DRA members presented additional inputs on shortcomings in the Delhi Metro to managing director of CMRL K. Rajaraman, on Monday.

Member of the alliance and disability rights activist Rajiv Rajan said features that ensure a barrier-free environment have to be factored in at the planning stage itself. “These are not facilities that can be provided in retrospect. You have to take them into consideration well in advance,” he said.

Observing that most railway stations in Chennai are hardly accessible for people with disabilities, Mr. Rajan said: “Not one station meets all the requirements. Some may have ramps and others, toilets for the disabled. But in my experience, I have found the toilets locked all the time.” No station is an exception — be it MRTS, suburban or even the Central Railway Station.

The CMRL now has a good collection of relevant data, thanks to the documentation efforts of the DRA. The material includes guidelines on making official websites accessible to vision and reading disabilities, on making metro stations barrier-free and a legal perspective to accessibility in public spaces.

Importantly, CMRL now has a chance to learn from the mistakes made in Delhi Metro, which is otherwise considered a good facility. A compilation of access audits carried out at various metro stations in New Delhi point to aspects that the CMRL has to pay attention to. For instance, one such access audit talks of the security clearance area in a metro station in New Delhi where there is not enough space for a wheelchair to pass through.

Persons with disabilities have never had it easy, and railway stations are among the least accessible, according frequent travellers like Erode Nagaraj, the noted mridangam artist. “I often take trains to different towns and cities for concert trips. Each time I go to the station, it is a nightmare. I can’t use my wheelchair in most stations,” he said. He also had a harrowing experience with a ticket checking official who cited some “new rules” on renewing his disability certificates and demanded Rs.1,000.

Mr. Nagaraj added: “We see Metro Rail work happening across the city. I don’t know how the stations will be. In other trains, one does not expect anything except a big gap between the train and the platform which makes it most inconvenient for people like me.”

CMRL, on its part, has promised to look into the recommendations carefully. Its MD Mr. Rajaraman said: “We are going by international standards as far as trains are concerned. We are fully committed to making stations barrier-free and the points given by the DRA are certainly worthy of consideration.”

Certain aspects, he said, were not covered by the international standards and the CMRL would have to spend time studying them to see how feasible they are.

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Persons with Disabilities do not want special coaches

Dear Colleagues,

We all have been witness to the vulnerability of travelers with disabilities in secluded Railways Coaches for the Disabled as well as the chaos and disorderliness in these coaches. I had myself been witness to few such incidents. Thus we feel, it would not be in the fitness of things to continue pushing for special coaches for the disabled; we have heard attendants being pushed out saying that they are non-disabled and hence should travel in other compartments; we have seen highhandedness of Railway Protection Force officials, Police and paramilitary officials forcefully gaining entry in to special coaches for the disabled and even pushing non-disabled passengers in the special coaches after charging some amount!

We have also heard incidents of visually impaired passengers being allotted special coach, who otherwise can travel in any of the general coaches! On top of it, the coach being touted as “Coach for the Disabled” has no provision of ramp or level entry hence is literally inaccessible.

The Persons with Disabilities Act mandates making the railways barrier free and not creating secluded special coaches. The objective is to mainstream rather than excluding them.  Therefore, if persons with disabilities of this country are rejecting this announcement, it should be respected.

Persons with Disabilities are opposing creation of special coaches for the disabled in the Indian Railways since they feel more vulnerable and threatened in these secluded coaches.
The special coach for disabled is a joke played on 70 millions disabled people of India! The coach is neither accessible nor safe for people and is often added either close to Engine or at the tail of train!

Differently abled don’t want special coaches: The Hindu

The announcement by Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi on Wednesday on provision of special coaches for the differently abled people has not found favour with a section of them.

“We expect the government to have a universal design for coaches, which would be accessible for all with furnished washrooms, considering the needs of the differently abled people,” said Sminu Jindal, managing director of Jindal Saw and the chairperson of Svayam, a charitable trust for differently abled people. Ms. Jindal is herself a differently abled person.

Discrimination

“We have been working hard to provide equality and dignity to all, including the elderly and the disabled, and this step goes in the opposite direction discriminating the disabled from the rest. This renders the community more vulnerable, as it does not allow [their] joining the mainstream and restricts them from travelling on general coaches,” she said

Further, the plan to build escalators would not help the differently abled, she said and requested the Minister to provide for ramps and elevators which would help everyone.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2995796.ece

Coverage in Deccan Chronicle

“The announcement on introduction of special coaches for disabled friendly is not a welcome step. We expect the government to have a universal design/coaches which would be accessible for all with furnished accessible washrooms, considering the needs for differently abled people… This step goes in the opposite direction which discriminates the disabled from the rest. This is more vulnerable for the community, as it does not allow mainstreaming and restricts disabled from travelling on general coaches,” said chairperson Sminu Jindal, Svayam, an initiative of Sminu Jindal Charitable Trust.

“Announcement of building escalators, will not come in aid of differently-abled people. We would request the minister to alongside build ramps and elevators which would help all,” she said.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/north/special-facilities-differently-abled-360

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Indian Social Justice Minister wants provision of ramps to board all aircrafts

Dear Colleagues,

Several things in India, including the access rights of disabled are so routinely denied that many have just stopped even questioning them. Be it non availability of para transit systems to reach the nearest accessible bus shelter/city bus service/ accessible Metro or inaccessibility of the Platforms/ compartments etc of Indian Railways.

The law that requires access at all public places including the modes of transports is almost 16 years old, but doesn’t seem to bother the airline operators (despite the Civil Aviation Requirements on carriage of persons with reduced mobility binding on them!) nor the Indian Railways which faces several Public Interest Litigation Petitions in various High Courts. The most recent being heard in the Mumbai High Court that is hearing a matter on inaccessibility of Railway platforms and Coaches that was widely covered by media. Click here to look at what the Honorable  Court had to say on the same.

Now our Hon’ble Minister for Social Justice realizes that even the airline operators are routinely defying the law and had to take this initiative. We commend it and hope the Minister, Civil Aviation takes the right steps to “Let the Law Prevail”!

Make ramps compulsory in all airlines, demands Social Justice Minister

NEW DELHI: Union social justice minister Mukul Wasnik has asked civil aviation minister Ajit Singh to make ramps compulsory in all airlines to facilitate boarding by physically challenged persons.

The request, in a letter to Singh, came after Wasnik saw a person lifting a disabled to help him board the plane because there was no ramp to help the wheelchair. The minister also expressed concern at the insufficient availability of Ambulifts in airports.

Wasnik asked Singh to advise all airline operators to provide access to their aircraft through ramps instead of stairs. The Persons with Disabilities Act requires the air transport sector to adopt measures to ease the access to the disabled to aircrafts, airports and toilets.

The absence of Ambulifts in most airports makes the operators provide stairs for passengers to embark, requiring those on wheelchairs to be physically lifted.

Source: Times of India

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Metro needs to be more user-friendly

Metro needs to be more user-friendly 

Differently abled Take Ride.Parking Causes Trouble

TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Bangalore: It was a rare occasion.For 12-differently abled persons,it was a Saturday date with Namma Metro.Some of them communicated their excitement in sign language as the Metro chugged into the MG Road station.
Of the group,Ajith,Nilesh,Deepa and Sunil, all physically challenged, arrived at the station with Satish Subramanian, a friend who had worked with them in the past. The others, speech-and-hearing-impaired, had come of their own for a ride.
They had a hassle-free ride but it was not so for the wheelchair bound. The trouble began outside the station itself. There is no parking space on MG Road.The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation (BMRC) should make space at least the physically challenged. I wanted to take a ride from MG Road to Byappanahalli and back. But due to lack of space, I had to park my vehicle at Baiyappanahalli and then take my car back to MG Road, said Ajith KS, who works in a private firm.
Sunil Jain, a chartered accountant, said: There should be parking space for the vehicles of at least physically challenged people. Otherwise, it will be difficult for us to travel in the Metro independently.

But they did not let it spoil the thrill. Deepa Narasimhan, a marketing and communication professional, exclaimed: It is my first ride in the Metro.

Once inside the station,Shivakumar,an employee of IBM who was from the other group helped the four enter the platform.

NOT VERY FRIENDLY

Trouble arose when it was time for the group to board the train with the wheelchairs. Getting into the train was the difficult part because of the gap between the platform and the train. People on wheelchairs cannot board trains without any support. When everyone is talking about inclusive, why is there no inclusive growth in this asked Deepa.
Nilesh Raikar, who runs a tutorial in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, said: We want to be self-reliant. I cant travel in the Metro without anyones support. There is only one lift and it can accommodate only one physically challenged person .This is a railway station. People will come in thousands. This infrastructure wont suffice. While coming from Baiyappanahalli,we cannot get down and wait till the Metro changes track. There is a lift only on one side of the station. What will happen if the Metro rail is extended and cannot change tracks.
Nonetheless, everyone enjoyed the ride from MG Road to Byappanahalli and back. We all enjoyed the Metro ride, he said. It was a smooth ride. The travel experience in Namma Metro is superb, gestured Sandeep KR.

….To read more click: Time of India, Bangalore

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Differently-abled pour out transport woes

Click here to read from source: The IBN Live

CUTTACK: The Government proclaims that it is sensitive to the problems of access faced by the physically challenged. It also claims spending huge sums in installing infrastructure. But the disabled are still to feel any discernible change in the scene across the State.

Travelling by the public transport system has posed a major challenge to the physically challenged as the vehicles do not have the facilities for easy boarding and alighting. They are also subjected to serious harassment while commuting.

The Government has spent Rs 1.60 crore on equipping the public transportation systems with facilities for people with disabilities. In spite of the claims, the people have not benefited.

Instances of harassment were galore at the public hearing organised by the National Trust of the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in association with the Committee for Legal Aid to Poor under the Badhte Kadam initiative here.

Submitting before the hearing panel, one Bijay Kumar Sahoo, a student of BJB College, Bhubaneswar, alleged that seats were not offered to persons with disabilities. Though there was provision of free travel for persons with disabilities, he was charged by the conductor even in the State-run City Bus Service in the State capital. Another participant Dolly Sahoo of Arabinda Nagar in Ganjam district also stated that she was harassed and misbehaved by the bus conductor while travelling regularly. Though there were provisions for reserving seats for physically challenged, they were not offered to the beneficiaries.

The panel comprising Dr V Pruthviraj, former Justice of the Orissa High Court PK Mishra, People with Disabilities Commissioner Kasturi Mohapatra, Registrar of State Commission for Persons with Disabilities SK Mishra, Cuttack Collector Girish SN took note of the problems.

The issues would be put up before the Government for immediate action, the panel promised.

(Watch CNN-IBN live on your iPad. IBN7 and IBN Lokmat too. Download the IBNLive for iPad app. It’s free. Click here to download now)

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India approves Metro rail for small cities | iGovernment.in

India approves Metro rail for small cities | iGovernment.in.

New Delhi: The environment- and commuter-friendly metro rail will soon run in Indian cities having a population of more than 2 million with the government approving the ambitious project.

“We will be looking at the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for metro rails in the cities which have a population of more than 2 million,” Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath said at a press conference here.

The DPRs are prepared by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and submitted to the other states.

“While respective DPRs have been prepared for Pune, Ludhiana, Ahmedabad and Lucknow, the preparation of reports for Indore, Bhopal and Chandigarh is in process,” Kamal Nath told reporters.

The minister also said that the ministry is in talks with the Maharashtra government for getting a DPR for metro in Nagpur, reports IANS.

The Minister informed that projects for the Kochi and line three of the Mumbai metro will be sent for cabinet approval within the next two weeks.

Kamal Nath said the government will support preparation of DPRs for such a system in the cities across the country, by meeting 50 per cent of the cost.

The minister also said that to promote indigenisation in the field of transport, the government will set up a research and design cell as well as focussing on indigenous procurement.

“We have directed Delhi Metro to procure equipment for its Phase-III project through manufacturing facilities based in the country,” he said.

Kamal Nath also said that a National Urban Rail Transit Authority will also be set up to lay donor technical standards and advise government on various metro rail-related issues.