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EUROPEAN CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS
OF TRANSPORT (ECMT)The European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) is an inter-governmentalorganisation established by a Protocol signed in Brussels on 17 October 1953. It is a forum inwhich Ministers responsible for transport, and more specifically the inland transport sector, canco-operate on policy. Within this forum, Ministers can openly discuss current problems and agree
upon joint approaches aimed at improving the utilisation and at ensuring the rational developmentof European transport systems of international importance.
At present, the ECMT’s role primarily consists of:– helping to create an integrated transport system throughout the enlarged Europe that is
economically and technically efficient, meets the highest possible safety and environmental
standards and takes full account of the social dimension;– helping also to build a bridge between the European Union and the rest of the continent at apolitical level.
The Council of the Conference comprises the Ministers of Transport of 39 full Member
countries: Albania, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia,
the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M.), Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania,
the Russian Federation, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey,
Ukraine and the United Kingdom. There are five Associate member countries (Australia, Canada,
Japan, New Zealand and the United States) and three Observer countries (Armenia, Liechtensteinand Morocco).
A Committee of Deputies, composed of senior civil servants representing Ministers, prepares
proposals for consideration by the Council of Ministers. The Committee is assisted by working
groups, each of which has a specific mandate.
The issues currently being studied – on which policy decisions by Ministers will be required –include the development and implementation of a pan-European transport policy; the integration ofCentral and Eastern European Countries into the European transport market; specific issues relating
to transport by rail, road and waterway; combined transport; transport and the environment; thesocial costs of transport; trends in international transport and infrastructure needs; transport forpeople with mobility handicaps; road safety; traffic management; road traffic information and newcommunications technologies.
Statistical analyses of trends in traffic and investment are published regularly by the ECMTand provide a clear indication of the situation, on a trimestrial or annual basis, in the transport
sector in different European countries.
As part of its research activities, the ECMT holds regular Symposia, Seminars and Round
Tables on transport economics issues. Their conclusions are considered by the competent organs of
the Conference under the authority of the Committee of Deputies and serve as a basis forformulating proposals for policy decisions to be submitted to Ministers.
The ECMT’s Documentation Service has extensive information available concerning thetransport sector. This information is accessible on the ECMT Internet site.
For administrative purposes the ECMT’s Secretariat is attached to the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Publié en français sous le titre :AMÉLIORER LES TRANSPORTS POUR LES PERSONNES À MOBILITÉ RÉDUITE
Guide de bonnes pratiques

Further information about the ECMT is available on Internet at the following address:
http://www.oecd.org/cem/
 ECMT 1999 – ECMT Publications are distributed by: OECD Publications Service,
2, rue André Pascal, 75775 PARIS CEDEX 16, France.

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Page 3FOREWORD

Over the last ten years or so there has been considerable progress in making
transport more accessible for people with mobility handicaps. Low-floor
wheelchair accessible buses are coming into service in ever increasing numbers;
new light rail systems are now built to be fully accessible and many existing
metro and heavy rail systems are gradually being refurbished and made moreaccessible. Air and maritime transport now provide much improved access formobility handicapped passengers.
Transport infrastructure has also improved, and for example much more use
is now made of tactile warning and guidance surfaces; ramps and lifts areprovided where formerly there were only steps. New technology is also playing
an important role in making travel easier for many disabled people, particularly
in providing better, more immediate and useable information both before andduring journeys.
Although a lot has been achieved, much still remains to be done to maketransport services and travelling accessible to everyone. Over the last decade theEuropean Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) has played an importantrole in bringing together experts on the many aspects of transport for the mobility
handicapped and producing reports and recommendations which provide
guidance on achieving barrier-free travel. Political support for this work has been
given through the adoption of several formal resolutions by the Council of
Ministers. They are all available on ECMT’s Internet site at the following
address: http://www.oecd.org/cem/
The ECMT decided that, in the furtherance of accessible transport, it would
be helpful to bring together current good practice in one publication. Thispublication is not a detailed statement of specific guidelines. It is intended toprovide an overview of the subject as well as references to reports and otherpublications which provide further details.
ECMT would like to acknowledge the invaluable help of Philip Oxley of
Cranfield University, United Kingdom, in preparing this publication. The

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Page 4members of the working group (listed in Annex 2) are also warmly thanked forproviding examples and illustrations of good practice from their own countries.
We hope this publication will be of help to everyone who works in the fieldof transport for mobility handicapped people, but particularly to those who are inplaces where much still remains to be done to achieve barrier-free transport.

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Page 5TABLE OF CONTENTSINTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

7

1. INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.1 Clarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.2 Concise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.3 Hearing information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.4 Accurate and timely . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.5 General information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2. THE ROAD AND PEDESTRIAN ENVIRONMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.1 Footpaths and footways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.2 Junctions and road crossings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.3 Pedestrianized areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.4 Roadworks: holes and how to avoid them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.5 Tactile surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.6 Car parking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.7 Longer road journeys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3. INFRASTRUCTURE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.1 Getting into the building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
3.2 Moving within the building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.2.1 Pedestrian clearways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.2.2 Facilities and services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.2.3 Waiting for buses, trains, etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3.2.4 Refreshment facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.2.5 Toilets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.2.6 Other infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.3 Boarding the vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.3.1 Bridging the gap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.3.2 Heavy rail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.3.3 Getting onto aircraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
3.3.4 Other features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

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4. VEHICLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.1 Buses and Coaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.1.1 Measures to assist ambulant disabled people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.1.2 Measures to assist wheelchair users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.1.3 High floor coaches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
4.2 Taxis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.3 Trams and Light Rail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
4.4 Heavy Rail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
4.5 Aircraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
4.6 Ferries and Ships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
5. NEW AND INNOVATIVE TRANSPORT SERVICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
5.1 Demand-responsive: individual transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
5.2 Demand-responsive: shared transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
5.3 Community transport and shared transport services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
5.4 Variations on a theme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
5.5 Other innovative services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
6. PRIVATE CARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
6.1 Advice and guidance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
6.2 Travelling and arriving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
7. THE ROLES OF GOVERNMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
7.1 Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
7.2 Seamless Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
ANNEX 1All Aboard: Making the case of Accessible Buses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
ANNEX 2
List of contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
1. Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
2. Road and Pedestrian Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3. Transport Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
4. Vehicle Design Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
6. Private Cars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
7. Policy Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
8. General and Multi-modal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
6

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Page 7INTRODUCTION

Mobility handicap is a broad church. It includes people who by reason of
accident, disease or a congenital condition find it difficult to move around, or tosee or hear or understand. It includes people who have a temporary impairment
which can encompass anything from a leg broken in a skiing accident to having
a small child and/or several baskets of shopping. In fact at one time or anothervirtually everyone has a degree of mobility impairment, so good design oftransport – in the broadest sense – has a universality of relevance.
It is worth keeping this thought in mind when reading this guide. Of course
the ideas contained in it are of particular importance to people conventionally
thought of as disabled – roughly 12 per cent of the population – but the guidelines
are relevant to a much larger proportion than that. Two studies, one in Germany
the other in France, estimated that at any one time between 20 and 30 per cent ofpeople travelling have a mobility impairment for one reason or another.
In a recent publication by John Gill1 the following estimates of numbers ofpeople with various types of impairment are given. They relate to geographic
Europe, which has a total population of about 800 million.

Wheelchair users
Cannot walk without aid
Cannot use fingers
Cannot use one arm
Reduced strength
Reduced co-ordination
Speech impaired
Language impaired
Dyslexia
Intellectually impaired
Deaf
Hard of hearing
Blind
Low vision

3 million
45
”
1
”
1
”
22
”
11
”
2
”
5
”
25
”
30
”
1
”
80
”
1
”
11
”

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Many people, especially as they grow older, have more than one impairment:
the total number of people out of the 800 million with some degree of impairment
is probably of the order of 110 to 120 million.
This publication is not intended to be a very detailed and absolutely
comprehensive guide to good practice: if it were that it would be several times
bigger than it is. Rather, it is intended to provide a vade mecum for anyone who
is concerned with transport whether as a designer, planner or operator; to give
good advice and some details of the more important aspects of transport
infrastructure, vehicles and information, and to provide a list of sources wheremore detailed and specific information can be found.

Notes
1. “Access Prohibited? Information for Designers of Public Access Terminals” published by theRoyal National Institute for the Blind, London (May 1997). Note that the figures are based on
1986 data.

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INFORMATION

In whatever form information is made available it should meet the four
criteria:– clear;– concise;– accurate;– timely.
It makes no difference whether the information is presented on a leaflet, asign, in response to a telephone call or in any other way, those criteria must be
satisfied if it is to meet the needs of travellers.
These criteria, of course, apply to information for everyone who has to travel,
but for disabled people there are aspects of these criteria that are particularly
important.

1.1 CLARITY
Clear means two things: easily legible in the case of textual information
whether printed or on a screen or a sign and in all cases, including spoken
information, easily understood.
There are quite a lot of good guidelines developed for the presentation of text.
Generally people find it easier to comprehend text when it is written in lower
case, with appropriate capitals RATHER THAN ALL IN CAPITALS. Thisapplies to timetables and leaflets as well as signs and television displays.
Size is important. Failing eyesight is a common accompaniment toincreasing age and very small print is difficult to read. Conventional timetables

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and brochures should be printed in a clear type face for the benefit of everyone
but should also be produced in large print, minimum 14pt, preferably 19pt:

which is this size.
Even large print can be rendered difficult to read if the contrast between thecolours used for the text and for the background paper is not good. Brown print
on a beige background may be aesthetically pleasing but it is not easy to readespecially if the light is not too good. Black or dark blue on a white backgroundis fine.
These guidelines generally also apply to signs. Lower case lettering, again,
should be used and the type face should be a clear one like:– Helvetica;– Airport;– Futura;– Folio.
Part of the process of ensuring that signs are legible is the placing of them.
The ideal position for seeing a sign is on a level with the eyeline of the individual
but this is often not possible. Put at that level in, for example, a railway terminus
would mean that unless you were right by them you would not be able to see thembecause of other people in the way. So they often have to be raised. The extent
to which they are raised will depend on the specific location, but to avoid otherpeople (apart from American basketball players) getting in the way they shouldbe placed not less than 2.3m 1, 2 above ground level. Of course in large areas likea station concourse they will be a lot higher than that because people need to seethem from a long way away.
There are several guidelines on the size of lettering in relation to distancevarying according to the degree of visual impairment of the observer. The figure
below shows the size of lettering required at a range of distances. Thus to meetthe needs of elderly people and others with rather poor sight a letter height of
25 mm is required for a viewing distance of 7.5 metres. At 20 metres distance,
letters should be about 75 mm. Some transport authorities have more exacting
standards. For example London Transport’s standard is based on 10 mm letterheight for every metre of viewing distance, with no lettering less than 22 mm.
10There is an increasing use of variable message signs particularly in air andrail services but also growing on bus services as well.

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INFORMATION

Source: Improving Transportation Information. Prepared for Transportation Development
Centre, Transport Canada by TransVision consultants Ltd (1996).

These take a variety of forms from television screen displays, LED and fibre
optics to the more old-fashioned but still much used flip disks. Following theadvice given for printed texts and static signs will improve the legibility of these
displays - clarity, appropriate size of letters and contrast are just as important.
But, by their nature, variable message signs change by scrolling or flipping. It is
most important that speed of change should not be too fast otherwise people who
can read, but not well, will find it difficult to understand the message. It is
recommended that a line of text should be displayed for at least ten seconds,
preferably a little longer. Dynamic signs should have non-reflective glass andshould be shielded from direct sunlight.
There are increasing numbers of public access information terminals andkiosks at transport terminals and on-street. The type of information they givevaries. It may be related to one specific service or to a whole range of transport
information including planning journeys by car. Examples include the11

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Photo A: Dynamic information at bus stops helps all passengers

12

Source: Courtesy of ROMANSE project, Southampton, United Kingdom.

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Photo B: ROMANSE TRIPlanner information terminal

Source: Courtesy of ROMANSE project, Southampton, United Kingdom.

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TRIPlanner terminals developed as part of the European Commission’s
ROMANSE project in Southampton and the INFOPOLIS travel terminals in
Madrid.
It seems likely that this source of information will increase in the future andit obviously has great value if properly designed. A recent ergonomic evaluationof the ROMANSE terminals 3 produced the following guidelines:– the operational face of the machine, which is a touch-sensitive screen,
should be no more than 1 200 mm from ground level;– the screen should be flush with the front surface of the terminal casing, notrecessed into it;– parallax can make it difficult for people to place their finger on the desired
icon or symbol on the screen; this effect can be reduced by carefulpositioning of the screen in relation to the viewing angle;– the cabinet in which the screen is placed should have a foot and knee
recess, so that wheelchair users can get close to it;– displays of text should follow the guidelines mentioned earlier concerning
clarity, contrast and legibility.
Further information on the design requirements for new information
technologies, including Internet services, can be found in reports produced by theEC project QUARTET PLUS. A contact point for obtaining this information is
included in the References section of this publication.
Help Points, which people can use to get travel information or to call for
emergency assistance, are becoming more common, particularly on stations
which are not staffed all the time. These help points should be placed so that the
maximum height of any button which the caller has to use is 1 200 mm, theyshould be clearly distinguishable by visually impaired people and should be fittedwith an induction loop.
Lighting of static signs

14

Signs should be well lit. As a rule of thumb it should be possible for a personwith good (20/20) vision to read a newspaper in the vicinity of the sign. Where
ambient light levels are not as good as this illuminated (back-lit) signs may be
preferable. In conditions where the light is good, glossy finishes to signs should
be avoided as they can cause glare and disadvantage people with low or impaired
vision; a matt finish is better.

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INFORMATION

1.2 CONCISE
Quite a lot of information is seen while en route when the observer himself
is moving – perhaps walking or maybe on a bus or a train. The time available tosee, read and understand the information may therefore be quite short. This thenemphasises the importance of keeping information as concise as possible andemphasises the value of using symbols.
COLITRAH4 has produced a comprehensive set of recommendations on
signage – “chaîne signalétique ” – which makes the point that for passengers intransit signs should be designed to give an instantaneous “snap-shot” ofinformation. Symbols can be very helpful in this process, not least because they
can be understood by people with low levels of literacy, but they must be usedconsistently, be unambiguous and if or when new ones are introduced, theyshould be accompanied by a verbal explanation until the public is fully familiar
with the symbol and its meaning5.

1.3 HEARING INFORMATIONThe emphasis on the preceding paragraphs has been on visual display of
information, but audible information is also important, especially for conveying
any unexpected changes to services and in emergencies. However audible
information is not restricted to announcements at stations and on-board public
transport vehicles. Other sources include telephone information, information andticket offices.
Many personal hearing aids incorporate a “T-coil” which provides direct
inductive coupling with a second coil, for example in a telephone receiver or at aticket office window. However, as not all hearing aid users have a T switch, it isrecommended that telephones should also have user-controlled amplification ofreceived sound. Amplification of sound is accessed via a button on the telephonethat automatically reverts to the ordinary sound level once the telephone handset
has been replaced.
Some telephone information services now include a Telecommunications
Device for the Deaf (TDD)5. Text phones are available and are essential for thosepeople who are profoundly or severely deaf.

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1.4 ACCURATE AND TIMELY

Of course it is obvious that any information in whatever form should be
accurate. This means more than just making sure that it is correct at the time it isfirst presented it also means a process of up-dating and checking to make surethat it continues to be accurate. A mistake in a timetable may be the cause of
irritation to anyone, but to a disabled person the consequences can be much more
serious.
Timing of information is also important. Thought should be given not just to
the content but to the point in the journey when it is needed. To take one simple
example, an audible announcement of the next stop on a metro is very helpful
particularly to visually impaired people but it needs to be made in sufficient time
for the passenger to get ready to leave the train; an announcement as the train
draws to a halt (or the bus) is too late for people who are less than fully agile.

1.5 GENERAL INFORMATION

The preceding sections have dealt with specific aspects of the ways in which
information should be presented, but there is also a need for more general
information. Transport services change over time and so do the facilities that they
offer. Knowledge about public transport services – where and when they operate,
what the fares are and so on – is important for everyone but disabled people reallyneed more information especially if they use a wheelchair.
A good example of this is the guide produced by SNCF6 which gives
information on facilities and equipment (toilets for disabled people, ramps, lifts,
accessible telephones, etc.) at stations and on trains, ticket booking and seatreservation and, most importantly, also gives information on accessible public
transport (buses, trains, etc.) to and from the rail stations.

16

At a more general level, covering a range of modes of public transport,
guides such as that published by the Department of the Environment, Transport
and the Regions for the United Kingdom (“Door to Door”) or the French “Guidedes transports à l’usage des personnes à mobilité réduite” can be of value todisabled people. These publications provide a summary of the range of services

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INFORMATION

available to disabled people. They are not intended to offer detailed, local
information but to provide a broad overview of what is available and to givecontact telephone numbers for more specific enquiries.
With a different purpose in mind, guides on good design for accessibility canbe used to raise awareness of transport operators and local authorities to the needsof disabled people. In the Netherlands, for example, brochures are being preparedwith specifications on accessibility in urban public transport, for information
systems, and for parking and facilities on motorways. The idea is that such
brochures will provide guidance to operators and authorities in a way that iseasier for them to assimilate than if the same information is conveyed in ascientific report.

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NOTES
1. See page 22, “Access prohibited” by John Gill, published by the Royal National Institute for theBlind, London, for more information on this and related subjects.
2. Fruin JJ, “Synthesis of Transport Practice: Passenger Information Systems for Transit Transfer
Facilities”. US Transportation Board, Washington DC (1985).
3. Barham, P. and Alexander, J. “Evaluation of Interactive Information Terminals (with respect totheir use by the elderly and people with disabilities) – ROMANSE Project.” CCLT, Cranfield
University (1998).
4. Stevoux P, Smolar M, Thery C and Briaux-Trouverie C. “Une conception de la ‘signalétique’adaptée aux besoins de l’ensemble des usagers”. COLITRAH, Conseil National des Transports(1989).
5. See ECMT Transport for People with Mobility Handicaps - Information & Communication,
p 65 and pp 104-105 ECMT (Paris, 1991).
6. “Guide du voyageur à mobilité réduite” published by SNCF, Paris.

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Almost all journeys start and finish by walking or wheeling. No matter how
accessible transport itself may be, if the walking environment contains barriers tomovement then the usability of transport services is largely negated.

2.1 FOOTPATHS AND FOOTWAYS1
The underlying purpose of a pavement is to provide safe, easy access foreveryone walking or using a wheelchair. To achieve this the following guidelines
should be followed wherever possible:– a minimum obstacle free footway at least 1 800 mm wide – preferably
2 000-2 500 mm;– widths should be greater at bus stops (minimum 3 000 mm) and in front of
shops (3 500 mm or more);– if possible gradients should be not more than 5 per cent (1 in 20) to caterfor self-propelled wheelchairs: this should be used as a design limit in new
development (The Swedish Association of Local Authorities2 noted that a
gradient of 2.5 per cent (1 in 40) can be managed by the majority ofpeople, but gradients steeper than this begin to cause difficulties for somemanual wheelchair users.);– where gradients are unavoidably steeper than this, level areas (preferably
1 800 mm long) should be incorporated at intervals of 10 metres;– crossfalls, which are needed to make sure rain water drains away quickly
should not be more than 2.5 per cent (1 in 40). Anything steeper than thismakes it difficult for a wheelchair user to steer in a straight line;– where there is a drop or steep slope at the rear side of a footway (or bothsides of a footpath) a 100 mm edging upstand should be provided as asafeguard for wheelchair users and as a tapping rail for long cane users;– surfaces should be non-slip, well maintained and any joints between
paving slabs should be closed and flush to avoid catching the small wheelsof a wheelchair;19

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A GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICE– covers and gratings should be non-slip and flush with the pavement
surface;– nothing should overhang the footway (signs, tree branches, etc.) to aheight of less than 2 100 mm (preferably 2 500 mm);
– where it is not possible to avoid having obstacles in the pavement, such as
lamp-posts, traffic signs, etc. they should have a contrasting band of colour
140 mm to 160 mm wide with the lower edge 1.5 to 1.7 metres above
ground level. Trees in the footway should have a distinctive surface
around them (for example grating or pebbled) to warn blind people;– seating should be provided at regular intervals of around 100 metres.

2.2 JUNCTIONS AND ROAD CROSSINGS

These are potentially hazardous for visually impaired people and wheelchairusers. Dropped kerbs are of great help to wheelchair users and should be
provided at all pedestrian crossing points. At side roads where there is space to
do it, dropped kerbs should be set up on the side road out of the direct line of the
footway of the main road. This is to prevent blind people walking into the sideroad without realising it.
The dropped kerb or “kerb cut” should be flush with the carriageway,
2 metres wide (more if it is a heavily used crossing point) and the gradientsassociated with it should be gentle.
To help visually-impaired people, when a dropped kerb is in the direct lineof travel, a tactile surface should be laid to a depth of 1 200 mm (see below) in acontrasting colour to the surrounding pavement. This will provide a warning to
the pedestrian that they are approaching a road.
Busy junctions require some form of control to assist pedestrians across theroad. This may be just a pedestrian crossing (“zebra”) or a controlled crossing(traffic signals with a pedestrian phase and various other forms of control such as“pelicans” and “puffins”). Again all these crossings should have dropped kerbs
and tactile warning surfaces.
20

Further help can be given to visually-impaired pedestrians at controlled
crossings by means of audible and tactile (or haptic) signals. Examples of these

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THE ROAD AND PEDESTRIAN ENVIRONMENT

include the signal popularly known as “bleep and sweep” which is designed to be
used at staggered crossings across roads which have a centre reservation.
Straightforward crossings can use a standard bleep which should have twotones – one to indicate that it is safe to cross, the other to indicate that the safe
period is about to come to an end. Electronic systems have been developed which
will extend the safe crossing period; this can be helpful to disabled people who
cannot move as quickly as an able-bodied person. The sound output of bleepers
can be modified by reference to the ambient (traffic) noise level to ensure that it
can be heard over traffic noise but does not cause a noise nuisance at quieter
times.

2.3 PEDESTRIANIZED AREAS

Areas, particularly in town centres, that are traffic free for some or all of thetime can provide a pleasant and safe environment for all pedestrians, but they canalso contain hazards.
The gradients mentioned earlier (in 2.1) also apply to pedestrianized areas
and, where there are unavoidable changes in level, ramps should be provided aswell as steps. Two level (or more) shopping precincts must have lift access to all
floors.
The walking surface, like that of footways, should be non-slip and well lit;
good maintenance is also essential.
There is very likely to be some encroachment onto the pedestrian areas ofshop displays and goods as well as street furniture – lamp posts, bollards, wastebins and the like. Such encroachment should be carefully controlled otherwise it
can be dangerous for visually-impaired people. The aim should always be tomaintain all the principal directions of movement as “pedestrian clearways”.
Large open pedestrian areas are difficult for visually-handicapped people tonavigate, so tactile guidance surfaces should be incorporated in such areas (see2.5) as well as appropriate warning for any flights of steps. In the futurenavigation systems may help blind people to find their way through these typesof area.

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2.4 ROADWORKS: HOLES AND HOW TO AVOID THEM

It is inevitable that from time to time repairs will have to be made to
footways and pedestrian areas. When this happens the area should be barricaded
off with a continuous rail about 1 000 mm above ground and a tapping rail below
this. Audible warnings and lamps should be provided and where a diversion isnecessary, the needs of wheelchair users should not be forgotten. Temporary
footways should never be less than 1 200 mm wide and, wherever possible, atleast 1 800 mm wide.
Where scaffolding or other temporary structures are erected on or adjacent toa pedestrian way, it is essential that their presence is made apparent to visually
impaired people. There should be a minimum passage width of 1 100 mm (more
if possible) where scaffolding is erected over a footway.
Corner poles must be padded and all vertical supports should have a band ofcontrasting colour about 150 mm in depth and with the lower edge 1.5 to
1.7 metres above ground level. Lighting and audible warning should be provided.

2.5 TACTILE SURFACES

For people who are blind or who have little residual vision, tactile surfaces
are essential for the safe progress through the street environment.
Many European countries have developed tactile surfaces of various kinds.
There is a strong case for Europe-wide agreement on which surface should be
used in what circumstance, but this does not exist at moment and indeed there issome inconsistency even within one country, let alone between countries.
However, there are some general guidelines of good practice that can be
adduced:22– tactile surfaces have to be sufficiently “rough” or “rigorous” for blind
people to feel them through their shoes, bearing in mind that some medical
conditions which lead to vision impairment also cause loss of feeling in
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Photo C: Road works on a pavement with protective barricade and lamps

Source: Courtesy of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions(DETR), United Kingdom.

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A GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICE– The surface should not be so rigorous that it causes problems to otherpedestrians, particularly ambulant disabled people and wheelchair users;– because most visually-impaired people still have some vision, tactile
surfaces should be readily distinguishable by colour and tone from thegeneral pedestrian area;
Photo D: Tactile surfaces are essential to warn blind and visually impaired
people of hazards

24

Source: Courtesy of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions(DETR), United Kingdom.

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THE ROAD AND PEDESTRIAN ENVIRONMENT– there are two categories of tactile surfaces; those that warn of a potential
hazard and those that impart information;
warning surfaces should be used in the following circumstances andshould be readily distinguishable one from another:• at pedestrian crossings (where colour may be used to differentiate
between controlled and uncontrolled crossings),• at the edges of rail, tram and raised bus platforms,• to warn of other hazards: steps, level crossings, the approach to on-street
light rapid transit platforms;– information surfaces can be used to:• provide a guidance route through large open spaces or through complex
pedestrian environments• indicate the presence of facilities such as bus stops, telephone kiosks,
tactile or talking information services, toilets and so on.

Photo E: Tactile guidance surface

Source: Courtesy of the Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management,
The Hague, Netherlands.

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A GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICE

Research3 has shown that a height of approximately 5 mm for the raised
profile part of a surface is sufficient for almost all blind people to detect thesurface and at this height it does not cause too much of a problem to otherpedestrians. An alternative to a surface with a raised profile is one that feels
different underfoot. A surface made of neoprene rubber or similar elastomericcompound feels noticeably softer than normal paving – and sounds different
when walked on. This type of surface is recommended in the UK as an
information surface.
Sound itself can be a guide. Hamburger Hochbahn AG has equipped someof its underground stations with ceramic tiles with raised bumps 30 mm indiameter but only 1.5 mm high 4. The detection of these tiles depends on soundrather than feel, and thus the environment is of major importance.
The Dutch town of Gouda has introduced an extensive system of tactile
surfaces including route guidance and warning of a junction, the latter based on aconcrete tile coated with a layer of hard rubber.

2.6 CAR PARKING
It is usual in European countries for special car parking arrangements to bemade for disabled car users.
Parking bays should be wide enough to give space for a wheelchair user totransfer from chair into the car, that is about 3.6 metres wide compared with astandard bay width of 2.5 metres. Where there are several bays together somespace can be saved by having one shared extra space (1.2 metres) to two bays.
Where parking bays are on-street kerb-side they should be 6.6 m long toallow for access to the rear of the vehicle, where wheelchairs are often stored. An
adjacent flush dropped kerb should be provided to give access to the pavement.
Whether on or off-street, enforcement is essential to ensure that parking bays
(marked with the wheelchair symbol) are not used by other motorists.

26

The recommended numbers of parking spaces for disabled motorists vary
according to the type and capacity of car parks. The following examples are takenfrom the British Institution of Highways and Transportation Guidelines:

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THE ROAD AND PEDESTRIAN ENVIRONMENT(i) for car parks associated with employment premises and providing for
employees and visitors:
Up to 200 spaces : 5% of capacity (minimum two spaces)
Over 200 spaces : 2% of capacity plus six spaces.
(ii) for car parks associated with shopping areas, leisure or recreational
facilities and places open to the public:
Up to 200 spaces : 6% of capacity (minimum three spaces)
Over 200 spaces : 4% of capacity plus four spaces.
Other countries have different recommendations – for example the French
regulation (1994) envisages one space per 50 parking spaces and a minimum often spaces for car parks with over 500 spaces. When deciding on the number of
spaces to be allocated, it should be remembered that the number of disabled carusers as a proportion of all car users is likely to increase in the future.
The reserved spaces in whatever type of car park should be placed at theclosest point possible to the place they are intended to service. This is particularly
important in pedestrianized town centres where, because of the distances
involved, it may well be appropriate to make provision just for disabled motorists
within the pedestrian area rather than on its periphery.
Increasingly, variable message signs (VMS) are being used to tell people
whether there are spaces available in public car parks. It would be helpful if thesesigns could also show whether there are any spaces for disabled motorists
available as well.

2.7 LONGER ROAD JOURNEYS
Although much emphasis is, and should be, placed on making the local roadenvironment accessible and safe for disabled people, their needs on longer
journeys should not be forgotten. The Federal Government in Germany, forexample, has produced guidelines that should ensure that wheelchair users have
unimpeded access to emergency telephones and that motorway service areas
include parking spaces for disabled motorists and accessible facilities including
toilets. Where motels are provided they should include rooms equipped fordisabled people.
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NOTES
1. Footpaths are defined as pedestrian ways without a contiguous road, footways (or pavements)
run alongside roads. Design standards will generally apply to both.
2. “Streets for Everybody” Swedish Association of Local Authorities (1993).
3. “Tactile footway surfaces for the blind” TRL Contractor Report 257, TRL Crowthorne, UK(1991).
4. BILOS und Seine Effektivität, Report on a symposium held in Hamburg (1991).

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3
INFRASTRUCTURE

3.1 GETTING INTO THE BUILDING
The physical location of transport infrastructure – bus station, rail stations,etc. varies enormously – ground level, below ground, above ground, one level,
multi-level and so on.
The basic principles in designing access, however, remain the same whatever
the specific physical characteristics of the building. Expressed in a different way,a single step at the entrance to a station or a kerb without a ramp in the roadoutside can make the most carefully-designed terminal inaccessible to people
with certain disabilities.
Ideally, doors should be avoided at the entrance to the station but this is notalways feasible, for example for reasons of climate. Where doors are needed theyshould be automatic, linked either to a weight sensor or sensors mounted above
the door.
The clear width of the door(s) once open must be sufficient to allow easy
access for anyone, including people in powered wheelchairs, walking with ahelper or pushing a double-buggy. Recommendations on minimum width varyfrom one guideline to another but to be on the safe side a clear width of 1 200 mm
should be provided. Where double doors are installed each door should be aminimum of 800 mm (or preferably a little more – 830-900 mm) wide.
Glass doors must be marked with a brightly coloured banding about 150 mm
deep at a height of at least 1 500 mm from the ground. Glass should not be usedbelow a height of 400 mm to avoid damage from pushchairs and wheelchairs.
Obviously the way into the building has to be fully accessible and step free.
Where the height change between the pavement or road outside and the floor
level of the station is comparatively small, a ramp (in addition to steps) will beadequate. The ramp should have a fairly shallow gradient, ideally about 1 in 20
certainly no steeper than 1 in 12. The maximum length between level landings,

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Photo F: A clearly marked pedestrian way, with dropped kerbs,
through a bus station

Source: Courtesy of Cranfield University, Cranfield School of Management,
United Kingdom.

where a wheelchair user could rest to regain his breath, should ideally be no morethan 6 metres1 and the ramp itself should be at least 2 000 mm wide, so that two
wheelchair users can pass one another. The level landings should be at least
1 200 mm long, preferably 1 800-2 000 mm.
30

Ramps should be built with handrails on both sides, these being set at about
850 mm above the surface of the ramp. The handrail should be circular in

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INFRASTRUCTURE

Photo G: Glass or other translucent doors and panels should have clear
coloured markings on them

Source: Courtesy of Cranfield University, Cranfield School of Management,
United Kingdom.

cross-section and about 45 mm in diameter. If fixed to a wall there should be aclear space between rail and wall of 45 mm. A second lower handrail, set at
700 mm above the ramp surface, can be helpful for children and people ofreduced stature. Where the ramp is open sided a tapping rail or kerb for long caneusers should be provided along each (open) side at a height of 100 mm.
Even where a ramp is provided, there should also be stairs. Some people,
often those suffering from arthritis and back pain, find it easier to climb stairs
than to use a ramp. In designing any stairs, whether two steps or twenty, the same
principles apply :– all the steps in a flight should be uniform;– the risers should be between 100 and 150 mm high; 130 mm is preferred;– treads should be 300 mm deep and treated with a non-slip surface;– nosings (step edges) should be slightly rounded (6 mm radius) without any
overhang and colour contrasted;– risers should be vertical;– the minimum width between rails should be 1 200 mm;

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A GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICE– the maximum rise of a single flight of stairs should be 1 200 mm;– rest areas between flights of steps should be at least 1 200 mm long,
preferably 1 800 mm;– there should be a minimum of three steps in each flight;– handrails (dimensions similar to those mentioned above for ramps) should
be provided and should extend 300 mm beyond the start and finish of theflight of steps;– approaches to steps should have a tactile “warning surface” to alert blindand visually handicapped people.
Open tread staircases should be avoided: some people feel unsafe on themand they are more difficult for visually impaired people to use.
Photo H: Open tread stairs are a hazard for many disabled people
and should not be used

Source: Courtesy of Cranfield University, Cranfield School of Management,
United Kingdom.

32

Where there is a substantial difference in height between the pavement andthe interior of the station or where space is limited a ramp may not be appropriate
and a lift will have to be provided.

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INFRASTRUCTURE

Photo I: Interior of a wheelchair accessible lift showing control panel

Source: Courtesy of the Athens Hilton Hotel, Greece.

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A GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICE

The size of the lift will obviously be dependant on the numbers of people
expected to use it but there are minima which must apply if the lift is to be usedby a wheelchair passenger. These are shown in the following diagram.

The internal height of the lift should be 2 300 mm, 2 100 mm at the entrance
door.
To allow easy access into and out of the lift there should be a clear spaceoutside the door sufficient for a turning circle of 1 700 mm (minimum 1 500 mm).
The lift call buttons on the outside of the lift should be between 900 and
1 200 mm from the floor – similar dimensions should apply to the control buttons
inside the lift. The buttons themselves should be at least 19 mm across theirsmallest dimension and protrude from the wall. Usual convention is for the
emergency buttons (call and stop) to be at the bottom of the control panel.
To help visually impaired people, buttons should be labelled with raisedcharacters in both Braille and text and, for all users, there should be a visual
acknowledgement that a call has been registered and when it has been answered.
Pre-recorded announcements of direction of travel of the lift and of the floors
should be provided.
Escalators
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These are not popular with some disabled people, they cannot be used bypeople with guide dogs or, of course, wheelchair users, but others can and do use

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them. To make them safer and more user friendly for ambulant disabled people
the direction of travel should be clearly shown at the top and bottom of each flightusing red and green signs. Lighting should be provided near to floor level with avisible change in lighting at the bottom and top of each flight and edges of the‘steps’ should be clearly marked in a contrasting colour and tone.
Approaches to the top and bottom of escalators should have a change of floor
texture or tactile strip to alert blind people.
Travelators
These are helpful where there are long distances to be traversed but theyshould not be at a gradient of more than 1 in 8. They are not suitable forwheelchair users, so a parallel passageway should be provided.

3.2 MOVING WITHIN THE BUILDING

The size and complexity of transport buildings varies enormously from small
bus and rail stations to huge interchanges and international airports. Designs forthe interiors of those buildings will reflect their size, complexity and the numbersof passengers using them, but there are some design guidelines that should apply
whatever the size and type of terminal.
3.2.1 Pedestrian clearways
As a general principle, station furniture should be designed to minimise
obstruction to the main pedestrian flows. Facilities such as telephones, vending
machines, seating, litter bins, etc. should all be placed in such a way that,
although easy to see and to reach, they do not obtrude into the pedestrian flow
corridors.
At a minimum there should be a 2 000 mm pedestrian footway clear of all
obstacles. It should include a directional tactile surface to help blind people (andappropriate warnings of any changes in level) and any station furniture or
structural features such as columns supporting the roof in the vicinity must be incontrast (colour and tone) to their surroundings. If there are columns in the mainpedestrian flow corridor, they should be marked with two horizontal bands 140 to

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160 mm wide, preferably of alternative yellow and black stripes, with the lower
band 800 mm from the ground and the upper one 1 600 mm. For secondary
circulation spaces such as short passages to toilets, offices or service areas areduced width (minimum 1 200 mm) may be acceptable.
Photo J: Badly designed interiors can be confusing for people
with impaired vision

36

Source: Courtesy of Cranfield University, Cranfield School of Management,
United Kingdom.

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INFRASTRUCTURE

3.2.2 Facilities and services
Buying a ticket
Where there is a ticket office it should :(i) have one position suitable for wheelchair users (and people of reduced
stature) with a desk height of between 75 and 85 mm;(ii) all positions where there is a security screen between the ticket salesman
and passenger should have an induction loop;(iii) handrails along the queuing positions which passengers who find it
difficult to stand can lean against.
These guidelines also apply to information offices and desks.
Many terminals, whether or not they have a ticket office will have ticket
machines. The scope for designing these so that they are awkward to use is
Photo K: Check-in facility for wheelchair users at Oslo airport

Source: Courtesy of the Norwegian Association of the Disabled.

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immense and frequently used. As with ticket offices, designers should rememberthat wheelchair passengers will want to use the machines so none of the operating
elements of the machine – push buttons, coin/note slots, ticket dispenser should
be more than 1 200 mm from the ground.
Operating buttons should be at least 19-20 mm in diameter, protrude
sufficiently to enable use by people who use palm pressure and contrast in colour
from the face of the machine.
Tickets and change should be easy to retrieve for people who have limited
manual dexterity.
Instructions on how to use the machine, and the process of actually using it,
must be kept simple and clear. Ideally this should be just a three stage process:choose ticket – tender fare – collect ticket (and change if any). The face of theticket machine should be well lit.
Many transport systems require tickets to be validated before the journey isstarted. Much the same principles apply to validation machines: they must be
clearly identified and within reach of passengers in wheelchairs.
Where there are ticket barriers at least one gate should be available at all
times for use by wheelchair passengers, people with guide dogs and others withheavy luggage or pushchairs. Ticket slots in barriers must be clearly visible.
3.2.3 Waiting for buses, trains, etc.
A lot of disabled and elderly people find standing for any length of time
uncomfortable or even impossible, so providing seating at appropriate points
throughout the terminal is very important. It is worth remembering that some ofthe distances people have to negotiate within a terminal are considerable. At
Heathrow Airport interchange passengers may have to walk as far as 1300 metres
between gaterooms.
Research by Leeds University2 found that only 40 per cent of wheelchairusers and 20 per cent of ambulant disabled people using walking sticks could
manage to walk 180 metres without a rest. Quite large proportions of theambulant disabled could not manage more than 60 to 70 metres without a rest.

38

So, as a general guide seating should be located so that people don’t have towalk more than about 50 to 60 metres without the opportunity to sit down and rest
for a moment.

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There are a lot of different types of seating, some more suitable than othersfor people with different kinds of disability. There are five broad types of seat:
1. Perch-type seats against which passengers can lean or “half sit” for a shortperiod of time. They require minimal maintenance, take up very little
space and are attractive to some passengers with arthritis, stiff joints orback problems who find it difficult to get up from a low seat.
2. “Flip-up” seats, which also have the advantage of saving space and do not
become wet when it rains.
3. The traditional wooden bench, with end (and possible intermediate)armrests, is more comfortable for sitting on for extended periods than either
the perch-type or the “flip-up” seat. Wood is a relatively “warm” and nonslip surface which dries quickly and does not encourage vandalism.
4. Wire-mesh or perforated metal seats installed in rows fulfil largely the samerole as the traditional bench. A brightly-coloured coating (possibly theprovider’s corporate colour scheme) helps visually-impaired passengers
and makes the seats less cold and slippery. Arms help passengers to get up
from the seat and also deter vagrants from sleeping on them.
5. For indoor waiting rooms where there is not a serious problem withvandals, a more expensive form of upholstered seating can be provided.
Seat heights should be about 450 mm (and not less than 420 mm) for
conventional seating, about 550 to 600 mm for flip-up seats and about 700800 mm for perch-type seats. If possible and space permits the three basic typesof seating should all be provided. Whatever type of seating is provided sharpedges and corners should be avoided and for conventional seating arm rests
should be provided at a height of 200 mm above the seat.
At terminals where passengers are likely to wait for quite a long time,
enclosed waiting rooms should be provided. They should be heated/air
conditioned, free of draughts but well ventilated and have easy access doors.
Most importantly, both visual and audible information should be relayed to all
waiting rooms.
3.2.4 Refreshment facilities
Many terminals have restaurants, cafés and bars but not always designedwith the needs of disabled people in mind. Key design criteria include:– gangways and spaces between tables sufficient to allow wheelchair access:1 300 mm if possible;

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A GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICE– tables designed for wheelchair users with space under the table foradequate leg room – 700 mm high, 500 mm deep and 600 mm wide. Thismeans a table-top height of about 730 mm;– furniture, trays and crockery that contrast with their surroundings.
There seems to be an increase in refreshment rooms designed with fixed
furniture – seats and tables. If designers really insist on doing this, some spaces
must be left for wheelchair users to sit at a table.
3.2.5 Toilets
It is most important that terminals and stations and other transport – relatedbuildings used by the public should have toilets for disabled people. Theseshould be designed to accommodate people in wheelchairs. There are usuallynational building regulations which specify the design standards for toilets fordisabled people, but there are common requirements:– a wide, easily opened door (minimum clear width 1 000 mm);– sufficient space for a wheelchair user to manoeuvre inside the cubicle;– space around the lavatory to enable the wheelchair user to transfer fromfront or side from wheelchair to lavatory;– hand washing and drying facilities within reach from the lavatory;– sufficient space for a helper to assist in the transfer.
As a general rule toilets for disabled people should be no less available thanordinary toilets for able-bodied people.
3.2.6 Other infrastructure
The previous sections have dealt with relatively large and complex
infrastructure, but there are other, smaller pieces of transport infrastructure thatneed to be designed carefully.
Bus and tram stops may be no more than a pole with a timetable board
attached (sometimes not even that) but bearing in mind that people do have to
wait at them, sometimes for more than just a minute or two, the following should
be taken into account:40– shelters to keep the worst of the weather off waiting passengers arehelpful, but they should be designed so that people inside them can see theapproaching bus or tram;

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INFRASTRUCTURE– they should be lit, or if that is not possible, situated in a well-lit area;– modern shelters make a lot of use of glazed areas which is good from thepoint of view of increasing ambient light in them but can make them ahazard for people with impaired vision. Where glazing is used, a boldbrightly coloured band 140 to 160 mm wide should be placed on theglazing about 1 500 mm from the ground;– seating should be provided, ideally some at the conventional height(450 mm) and some perch seating (700 to 800 mm high);– timetable information should be provided at a height of between 1 000 and
1 700 mm from the ground – this really should be lit if at all possible.
Whether or not a shelter is provided, timetable information should be given
perhaps on the pole which also has the bus or tram stop flag. The flag itself should
contain the route numbers of the services using the stop in clear bold numbers on
a contrasting background (black on white or dark blue on yellow). The numbers
should be at least 50 mm high (the Syndicat des Transports Parisiens recommends
60 mm) and the flag itself should be a minimum of 450 mm wide by 400 mm high.
The bottom of the flag should be no lower (but not much higher) than 2 500 mm
from ground level. If services using the stop are fully accessible, the international
wheelchair symbol can be used on the timetable information.

3.3 BOARDING THE VEHICLE
3.3.1 Bridging the gap
The previous sections have discussed ways in which it is possible to improvea journey through rail, bus stations and other termini. Before moving on toconsider the vehicles themselves, there is the matter of bridging the gap between
the platform or pavement and the vehicle itself.
For able-bodied people a step up or across, say from platform to train is, atworst, a mild inconvenience: a slightly greater inconvenience if encumbered withheavy luggage but still not too difficult. For a person who can only walk withdifficulty or who uses a wheelchair a relatively small gap may simply be nonnegotiable. For a person who is visually-impaired it may be dangerous.
Research has shown that virtually all ambulant disabled people can manage
a step height of 200 mm3 but this is much too large to be negotiated by a41

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wheelchair user without assistance. Research for the design of the South
Yorkshire Supertram4 showed that the maximum horizontal gap possible forwheelchair users was 45 mm and the maximum vertical gap was 20 mm.
In an ideal system the design should be such that the interface between theplatform and the boarding/alighting point on the vehicle – whether bus, tram ortrain – meets this standard. In practice this is often not possible though there is
no reason why it should not be achieved in newly-built systems.
An increasing number of bus stops are being built as raised bus boarders –raised to the height of the entrance of the bus when the (air) suspension is knelt –usually about 240-250 mm. Provided the bus is able to draw up close and parallelto the bus boarder, a wheelchair user will be able to board or alight without
assistance. A common problem which prevents this is the existence of cars
parked at or close to the stop. This can be overcome by using cape-type bus stops,
but these are still few and far between and for other reasons, such as interferencewith general traffic flow, may not always be appropriate.
The alternative then is to provide a ramp to bridge the gap between bus (ortram/light rapid transit). A raised boarding platform is still an advantage when aramp is used because it reduces the gradient. Some recent research5 suggests thatthe maximum gradient for a short ramp of this kind – about one metre in length– should not be more than 1 in 11 (9%) for self-propelling wheelchair users.
Powered wheelchair users can manage steeper gradients: 1 in 6 (17%) is generally
acceptable. The report prepared by COST322 recommends a gradient of 13% up
to a ramp length of one metre.
There are various types of ramp, in ascending order of cost:– manual demountable: carried on the bus and put in position when required;– manual: usually a “book leaf” type which is folded out by the driver or
attendant;– powered: electro-mechanical.
The decision on which type should be used will depend on the amount of use
expected as well as the cost. Manual ramps will only be appropriate for lightly
used bus services; for those with heavier use and for rail-based vehicles powered
ramps should be provided.
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One consequence of the use of a ramp is that there must be sufficient spaceon the boarding area to allow the ramp to be fully extended and for the wheelchair

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Photo L: The new metro line (Météor) in Paris is designed to enabledirect train/platform access for wheelchair users

Source: Courtesy of the RATP-Audiovisuel, France.

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users to manoeuvre onto or off the end of it. A minimum space (width) of
2.5 metres is recommended.
3.3.2 Heavy rail
The vertical gaps between buses, light rapid transit and their platforms areusually quite small, but this does not apply to some heavy rail systems. In the
United Kingdom and Ireland railway station platforms have generally been built
Photo M: Train mounted lift in Sweden

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Source: Courtesy of the Passenger Division, SJ Swedish State Railways, Sweden.

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to a greater height than elsewhere in Europe and it is possible to provide
wheelchair access by means of a portable ramp. Use of it does, of course, require
the presence of station staff and therefore of advance notification from thewheelchair traveller.
Elsewhere in Europe the vertical distance platform to rail carriage is often too
great for a ramp to be used. A number of train operators now use mobile platform
lifts – for example at French, Austrian and Swiss stations. Prototype trainmounted lifts have been developed and tested, notably in Holland and in the longer
term this method may be preferable to station-based lifts. The Austrian lifts, forexample, are hand operated and can deal with a height difference of 1.5 metres but,as the Helios6 report noted, the use of the lift is “a little scary for passengers withvertigo”. Further examples of provision for wheelchair access to trains areprovided under the SJ Swedish State Railways programme for measures to assist
handicapped people, including both platform and train-based lifts.7 In Germany
Deutsche Bahn AG is working on the design of a train-based boarding aid andsome local and regional train carriages are now fitted with these boarding aids.
Some organisations representing disabled people believe that only on-train
solutions can offer satisfactory access in the long term. However, whether theaccess means used is a lift on the train or a mobile ramp, safety concerns requirethat they should be operated by railway staff.
3.3.3 Getting onto aircraft
Airports are designed with the need for easy movement by wheeled luggage
trolleys and so are generally convenient for wheelchair passengers to movearound, but problems can arise when it comes to boarding the aircraft.
At larger airports, with medium size or bigger aircraft, access from gateroom
to the aircraft is by jetty which will be step-free: the problem arises with smaller
aircraft or where there is no jetty system. A government funded boarding lift forpassengers was introduced in Kjavik, Norway in June 19968. It consists of anelectrically-powered platform which runs on rails at the sides of standard
detachable stairs. Other lifts suitable for use with smaller aircraft have beendeveloped and used in Finland and in the United Kingdom (e.g. the Sampson
Aircraft Loader).
An alternative to this is a “bus” which raises itself to the height of the plane
door; examples are at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport and at Washington Dulles.

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Photo N: Aircraft boarding lift at Munich airport

Source: Courtesy of the Ministry of Transport, Building and Housing, Germany.

A further alternative for access to smaller (commuter) type aircraft is the useof a low-level loading bridge of the type developed in Canada and suitable for use
with aircraft such as Dash 8s, SAAB 340s and BAe 146s. The loading bridge,
which would be used by all passengers, is electrically operated, provides smooth
step-free access and has contrasting lighting to assist visually impaired passengers.
3.3.4 Other features
Where there is a raised bus boarder, and on all rail platforms there must be atactile warning strip laid parallel to the edge of the platform with a width of
400 mm and set back at least 500 mm (preferably 600-700 mm) from the platform
edge9. The edge of the platform should also be clearly marked with a contrasting
colour, usually white or yellow.

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The surface of the platform should be non-slip and should not have a crossfall greater than that needed to ensure good drainage (usually 1:30 or 1:40). That
slope should be away from the tram or train in order to avoid accidental rollingof wheelchairs or prams onto the rails10.

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Many platforms whether for trams, trains or buses will have other furnitureon them. Where this is the case, furniture such as ticket machines, litter bins,
seating should be placed so as to leave an unobstructed area of two metres widthalong the boarding edge of the platform. If the platform is open and raised itshould have railings or fencing of some kind along its rear edge and this should
include a kerb or “kicking board” which can help long care users. This board
should be 150 mm in depth with the top of it 200 mm above the platform surface.
Large and complex platforms should include a tactile map at their entrance(as on some stations on the Brussels metro) which blind people can use toorientate themselves.
Photo O: Tactile information wall panel in a metro station

Source: Courtesy of Direcção Geral de Transportes Terrestres, Ministério do
Equipamento, do Planeamento e da Administração do Território, Portugal.

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NOTES
1. There is some variation between countries on this distance. In France and Sweden therecommended maximum is 10 metres, in the United States it is 12 metres for a 1 in 20 gradient,
9 metres if the gradient is steeper. The Netherlands railway station standard is a maximum 1
in 16 gradient with rest places every 8 metres.
2. “Ergonomic standards for disabled people in pedestrian areas: results from Leeds observation
work 1988/89”. Transport Research Laboratory Working Paper, TRL, Crowthorne, United
Kingdom (July 1989).
3. Flores JL, and Minaire P, “Epidémiologie du handicap: étude fonctionelle d’une population”
LESCO, INRETS, Lyon, 1986 and also Oxley PR, and Benwell M, “An experimental study ofthe use of buses by elderly and disabled people” Transport Research Report 33, TRL,
Crowthorne, United Kingdom (1985).
4. Fowkes A, Gallon C and Oxley PR, “Supertram Ergonomic Study”, Cranfield University(1992).
5. Research for Motability (UK) on access to vehicles by wheelchair users, to be published in
1999 (Cranfield University).
6. “The Design and Operation of Accessible Public Transport Systems” HELIOS Report(November 1996).
7. See COST 335 “Passengers’ accessibility of heavy rail systems” (pp 123) Brussels (October1997).
8. See HELIOS Report ut supra.
9. See “Guidance on the use of tactile paving surfaces”, DETR, London (1997).
10. See p 79, “Principles for Travel Centre Design” Ministry of Transport and Communications,Finland (1997).

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4.1 BUSES AND COACHESFor many people with limited access to a private car buses are usually themost frequently used mode of public transport. Many countries have been
progressively improving the design of buses for many years; initially withchanges intended to help ambulant disabled people, subsequently (in somecountries) with designs that enable people in wheelchairs to use them.
In Germany, for example, over 80 per cent of all buses ordered by themembers of the Association of German Transport Operators are low-floor, usuallywith a kneeling device and a ramp. In Greece low-floor trolley buses haverecently been ordered for the Athens area.
Photo P: A low floor trolley bus of the type to be used in Athens

Source: Ministry of Transport and Communications, Greece.

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It is worth distinguishing between buses and coaches because the basic
designs of these vehicles are rather different and therefore have implications forthe methods by which full accessibility can be achieved. It is also sensible todistinguish between design guidelines that assist ambulant disabled and sensorily
impaired people and those that make wheelchair access possible.

Photo Q: Increasing numbers of buses are now designed to be accessible
by wheelchairs users. A low, step-free entrance helps all passengers

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Source: Courtesy of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions(DETR), United Kingdom.

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The essential difference between buses and coaches is the floor height. Even
quite old designs of buses did not have floor heights more than about three-quartersof a metre, while coaches, especially those used for holiday tours and excursions
have floor levels well in excess of one metre; frequently over three metres.
Modern designs for buses used on local and some inter-urban services havebecome progressively lower until the point has been reached at which it ispossible to board with just one step and for a substantial part of the interior thento be step free. In turn this means that it is then possible, with the use of a small
ramp at a comparatively shallow gradient, for a wheelchair passenger to board thevehicle.1
Ramped access is not practical because of the high floor of modern coaches.
Access for wheelchair users has to be by lift, which has implications for both
vehicle design and costs.
Ideal though it may be, it may not always be feasible to introduce low-floor
wheelchair accessible buses into local services but quite a lot can be done to makenon-wheelchair accessible buses easier for other disabled people to use. The firstof the following sections sets out design guidelines for achieving this, the second
then sets standards for wheelchair access to buses and the third section considers
access to coaches.
4.1.1 Measures to assist ambulant disabled people
For people with impaired sight:– clear marking of the edge of any steps (yellow and black sharks tooth
markings are effective);– colour contrasted hand rails and stanchions;– colour contrasted bell pushes;– audible announcements (of next step, terminus, etc.);– adequate space in the priority seating for guide dog.
For ambulant disabled people:– any interior steps to be between 120 mm and 200 mm and all of the sameheight (± 10 mm);– gangway width to be a minimum of 450 mm (preferably 550 mm asrecommended by COLITRAH) up to a height of 900 mm above the floor
increasing to a width of 550 mm at a height of 1 400 mm above the floor;51

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A GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICE– stanchions / handrails to be at intervals of no more than 1 050 mm apartdown the length of the bus (COLITRAH recommends a minimum of
1 000 mm);– bell pushes within reach of a seated passenger;– priority seating with a minimum pitch of 650 mm; this gives sufficientspace for people with stiff legs to get in and out and sit down easily.
For hearing impaired people:– visual display “bus stopping”;– where feasible display of name of next stop.
In general, all surfaces should be non-slip and all entrances and exits should
be well lit and have appropriately placed hand rails.
4.1.2 Measures to assist wheelchair users– minimum gangway width from entrance to wheelchair space of 750 mm,
preferably 800 mm or more (see also 4.1.1);– a wheelchair space, clearly marked as such, with a flat surface without
obstacles and with minimum dimensions of 1 300 mm x 750 mm as well
as space to manoeuvre;– it is safer for the wheelchair passenger to sit with his back to the directionof travel; there should be a back rest (from 350 mm to 1 400 mm in height)
against which the wheelchair can rest, a horizontal rail or armrest at aheight of about 900 mm to one side of the space and a bell push withineasy reach; a movable armrest should also be considered;– the general consensus is that on low floor buses, there is no need for thewheelchair and occupant to be secured.
4.1.3 High floor coaches
Unlike low floor buses, where a wheelchair passenger can wheel directly infrom the boarding area, access onto a high floor coach has to be by lift.

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This can be integral with the coach, or a free-standing lift. The latter thougha cheaper option can only really be used at major coach stations. A possible
alternative to an integral lift is a stair climber though the usual step configuration
at coach entrances makes this a difficult option to design in to a coach. Both thefree-standing lift and the stair climber mean that the wheelchair passenger would
have to transfer to a boarding chair (similar to that used on aircraft and some

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Photo R: Access onto a high floor coach is possible with an on-board lift

Source: Courtesy of the Canadian Transportation Agency.

trains) to get to a seat. The integral lift can be designed so that the passenger
travels in his own wheelchair which is an advantage for some who findtransferring difficult or painful. The recently produced USA evaluation2 of thesesystems shows, however, that the integral lift is the most expensive option.

4.2 TAXIS
Taxis can provide a vital link in the transport chain for the disabled traveller.
The European Commission has recognised this with its recently started project on
the Eurotaxi – a taxi accessible to all customers.
Various different strategies have been adopted by European countries in thedevelopment of accessible taxis but they can be broadly divided into two groups.

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A GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICE(i) a proportion of the taxi fleet is made fully accessible, usually by the useof minivan-based vehicles, with the remainder of the fleet being ordinary
saloon cars (e.g. in Finland), or,(ii) requiring that all taxis, whether purpose-built or based on minivans or
multi-purpose vehicles should become, in due course, fully accessible (asin the United Kingdom).
Whichever method is adopted it should be possible to define some design
standards which when applied will ensure that whatever the type of vehicle, it willmeet requirements for wheelchair access and for easy use by other disabled people.
The UK Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions has
recently3 published an informal consultation document on proposals foraccessible taxis and these include a number of design requirements:– at least one doorway through which a wheelchair passenger can enter:
1 350 mm high and 780 mm wide;– at least one doorway on the nearside of the taxi which has a height of notless than 1 700 mm from ground level and a minimum clear width of
600 mm;– no more than three steps into the vehicle, the first one no more than
250 mm high, any subsequent ones between 120 and 200 mm, consistent
to within ± 10 mm;– a boarding device must be provided at the doorway used by wheelchairpassengers. This will usually be a ramp, which must be at least 750 mm
wide, no more than 1 700 mm long and when deployed, must give a
gradient of not more than 25% (1 in 4). If a lift is used it must have aplatform at least 750 mm wide and 1 200 mm long;– inside the taxi, the space for the wheelchair must be sufficient to take a“reference wheelchair” (1 200 mm x 700 mm) and with headroom of atleast 1 400 mm.
There are a number of other requirements including colour contrasted handholds, provisions for passenger wishing to transfer from wheelchair to seat andguidelines for swivel seats. The latter are particularly helpful for elderly people
with arthritis or similar conditions who find it difficult to get into a fixed seat.

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The dimensions given above are to some extent a compromise between theideal and the practicable. COLITRAH, for example, recommends a minimum
width of doorway for a wheelchair passenger of 800 mm. In Sweden, Lund
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VEHICLES– 900 mm preferred width for door used by wheelchair passengers;– minimum door opening height of 1 400 mm for saloon cars, 1 650 mm for
van-type taxis;– maximum slope on access ramp of 1 in 12;– wheelchair space inside the vehicle 800 x 1 300 mm, with minimum
headroom of 1 400 mm in cars, 1 800 mm in van conversions.
In Spain the C.E.A.P.A.T. technical guidelines also include a recommended
1 350 minimum height and 800 mm width for access to a taxi and a space
1 200 mm x 700 mm (800 mm if possible) with headroom of 1 400 mm for thewheelchair space. Thus it can be seen that there is already a considerable degreeof agreement between countries on minimum acceptable standards for taxis.
Passenger safety for wheelchair users must also be considered. Unlike low
floor buses, where it may not be judged necessary to secure passenger andwheelchair, it is essential to do this in taxis. It is also most important thatwheelchair passengers should travel facing either forwards or backwards but
never sideways.
There are some good examples of accessible taxis based on conversions ofsmall vans, for example Fiat Scudo in Spain, but in most places in most countries
good examples of fully accessible taxis are few and far between.

4.3 TRAMS AND LIGHT RAIL
Trams are operated in many continental European cities. Some are still of the
traditional relatively high floor design, not easily used by ambulant disabled
people and completely inaccessible to wheelchair users. However, they are
gradually being replaced by modern designs, for example those developed inGermany (where about half of cities and towns with trams have low-floor
vehicles) and in France.
Ultra-low floor trams have been developed (e.g. in France, the Tramway
Saint-Denis-Bobigny and the Tram Val-de-Seine) which provide wheelchair
access without ramps or lifts, but low floor versions usually do require a boarding
aid. The tram system in Grenoble, France, uses vehicles with a (minimum) floor
height of 350 mm and with ramp access available at the centre door.

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Light rail or light rapid transit represents a half-way house between tram andtraditional heavy rail. It is normally built to the same gauge as heavy rail but withlighter vehicles and relatively much more frequent stops. The majority of thesesystems are comparatively recent and generally provide good levels of access for
all disabled people including wheelchair users. As they are usually built withdedicated infrastructure (boarding platforms) there is no reason why they should
not permit direct access for wheelchair passengers without the need to use a ramp.
Aside from the question of access, other requirements for the design of trams
and light rail are really similar to those for buses: adequate gangway widths,
space allocated for wheelchair passengers, colour contrasted handrails and stepedges, audible and visual information and so on.
The requirement needed by some tram and light rail vehicles (and somebuses) is a press-button on the outside of the vehicle, which when pressed opens
the doors. This should be placed at 90 mm from platform height, raised from thesurrounding area and should be illuminated. It should be big enough to bepressed by the palm (i.e. about 20 mm diameter).
As trams have a longer operational life than buses, it may be worthwhileconsidering modifying existing high-floor vehicles with a central low-floor
section. This has been done in several places in Germany (including Nuremberg,
Mülheim and Cottbus), giving vehicles a low-floor proportion of 15 to 30 per
cent, so that disabled passengers can board and alight at least through one door.
Another way of achieving access more quickly is to construct low-floor trams
which can be coupled to non-convertible power cars, as is being done in Berlin.

4.4 HEAVY RAIL
Many of the design requirements for heavy rail are similar to those for lightrail, but because some journeys made on heavy rail will be long, there are some
additional requirements.
Perhaps the most important of these, aside of course from providing adequate
space in carriages for wheelchair passengers, are accessible toilets.
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These should be located close to the wheelchair position (and to any priority
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Thought should be given not just to the interior layout and facilities, but also to
the approach to the toilet, making sure that there is sufficient space for awheelchair to manoeuvre to and into the toilet. The Helios report noted that theaccessible toilets on Austrian inter-city trains were a little difficult for awheelchair user to negotiate because of a narrow corridor (1 080 mm) and poorly
positioned seating in the approach area to the toilet.
There are various ways of designing the layout of an accessible toilet, but thefollowing4 items and standards should be followed:– the doorway into the toilet cubicle should be at least 900 mm wide;– there should be sufficient space inside for a wheelchair to be positioned in
front of the lavatory or to one side of it so that it is possible for a disabled
person to move from wheelchair to the lavatory seat from the front or the
side;– the surface of the lavatory seat when lowered should be not less than
475 mm and not more than 485 mm above floor level;– the toilet cubicle should have facilities to enable a person in a wheelchair
to wash and dry his hands without moving from the seat of the lavatory;– there should be two control devices to enable a disabled person tocommunicate in an emergency with train staff, one placed no more than
450 mm above the floor, the other placed between 800 and 1 200 mm
above the floor;– there must be adequate hand holds and hand rails, including a hinged
handrail at the side of the lavatory where the wheelchair space is.
Further information on access to rail services is contained in the proceedingsof the COST 335 Seminar (referenced earlier) which includes a section on rail
rolling stock design.
Many countries have set national standards for access to their rail services
and related infrastructure. A good example of this is the Dutch Standard Station
Complex Accessibility which sets out in considerable detail the design
requirements that should be met to give disabled people access to rail services.
The corollary to this is that disabled people need to be made aware of the
improvements – see Section 1.5.

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4.5 AIRCRAFT

Travel by air has increased more than any other form of public transport andseems likely to continue to do so. It is important therefore to ensure that disabled
people are able to use aircraft.
The European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) has maderecommendations concerning fittings within new-build aircraft to serve the needsof disabled people 5:– all aircraft with 60 seats or more must carry an on-board wheelchair;– in aircraft with 30 or more seats, at least 50 per cent of all aisle seats haveto be equipped with moveable arm rests in order to make them accessible
for people with reduced mobility;– wide-bodied aircraft with more than one aisle must be equipped with atleast one spacious lavatory for the special needs of people with reduced
mobility;– aircraft with 100 or more seats must be equipped in a way that at least one
foldable wheelchair can be stowed inside the passenger cabin;– aircraft with 60 or more seats with a special lavatory for people with
reduced mobility must carry one on-board wheelchair all the time;– aircraft with 60 or more seats not yet equipped with a lavatory for people
with reduced mobility have to carry an on-board wheelchair when such apassenger applies for it at least 48 hours before departure.
These requirements are very similar to those adopted under the US Air
Carrier Access Act, 1989 and the regulations set out in the Canadian Code ofPractice (1997).
It should also be noted that many other design requirements on aircraft are
no different to those that apply to other vehicles. Thus floor surfaces should beglare-free and slip-resistant, handrails on integrated boarding stairs should be
sturdy, rounded and slip-resistant as should grab rails in toilets.

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The air carrier should also provide large print and Braille supplemental
passenger briefing cards on an aircraft that includes a recommendation thatpassengers make sure they receive a personal briefing. Where a video film is used
for safety or information purposes, it should include signing for passengers with
impaired hearing.

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Photo S: Specially designed wheelchairs can be used to assist passengers
on vehicles with narrow gangways, including aircraft

Source: Courtesy of the Canadian Transportation Agency.

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4.6 FERRIES AND SHIPS
Ferries and ships operating on inland waterways are an important link in thetravel chain in some countries. Many vessels are large enough to have thefacilities such as toilets, restaurants, etc. found at land-based transport terminals,
and these facilities should be accessible to all passengers including wheelchairusers. Where vessels operate in tidal waters care should be taken to ensure thatslopes on access gangways do not become too steep for wheelchair users as tides
ebb and flow. The gangways should wherever possible conform with the general
requirements for ramps, as described in Section 3.1.
For the purpose of safety, new passenger ships should be designed in such a
way that there is barrier free passage for elderly and disabled people in publicareas on board and in escape routes to muster stations.
The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has produced
recommendations on the design and operation of passenger ships to meet theneeds of elderly and disabled passengers. Many of the requirements are similar
to those found in other transport systems, including wheelchair-accessible toilets
and cabins, clear signage, slip-resistant surfaces, etc. Where vehicles are carried,
the IMO recommends that there should be barrier free access from the parking
area to the passenger facilities, which will often require an elevator. The IMO
also recommends that at least one place per 100 passengers carried should bereserved for a wheelchair user who wishes to travel in his wheelchair, and thatfour per cent of the ship’s passenger seats should be suitable for disabled people.
Ferries and other ships, like heavy rail rolling stock, have a long life: 30 ormore years. So it is important to ensure that their design is good. A number ofcountries have made considerable progress in improving access to and on
maritime vessels. In Germany, for example, ship operators have voluntarily taken
into account the needs of disabled passengers including the provision of lifts
between decks and fully accessible toilets.
Norway has been developing and improving access on its ferries for morethan 20 years. Since 1975 all larger vessels (with a capacity of 75 car units ormore) have been built with lifts, accessible toilets and designated car parking
spaces near the lifts. It is recognised that it is not practical or economically viable
to require full access on smaller ferries, but at least accessible toilets can belocated close to the deck area assigned for disabled passengers.
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NOTES
1. COST 322, Low Floor Buses, Brussels (1995).
2. “Evaluation of Technology and Department Alternatives for Providing Regularly ScheduledIntercity Bus Service to Mobility Impaired Travellers” Nathan Associates Inc (November 1997).
3. The Government’s Proposals for Taxis, Department of the Environment, Transport and theRegions, London (1997).
4. Based on the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee’s Rail Working Group
recommendations (1998).
5. “Access to Air Travel for People with Reduced Mobility” European Conference of Ministers ofTransport, Paris, France (1995).

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NEW AND INNOVATIVE TRANSPORT SERVICES

Even when all modes of public transport are fully accessible there will still bea need for special services designed specifically with the requirements of disabled
people in mind. It is quite likely that as mainstream public transport becomes moreaccessible many of the people who at present have no option but to use special
services will switch, at least for some of their trips, to mainstream services.
This is to be encouraged, both on grounds of equality of opportunity but also
on cost grounds since special services are almost always much more expensive tooperate per passenger carried than mainstream transport. However, for somedisabled people on some occasions – and for more severely disabled people – mostof the time, the extra care that can be provided by special services will remain
essential.
The variety of special services is almost infinite, but they can be categorised
to some extent.

5.1 DEMAND-RESPONSIVE: INDIVIDUAL TRANSPORTThis is the group of services that provide transport for an individual (pluscompanion) door-to-door. They fall into two categories; voluntary car schemes
and accessible taxi (or “Taxicard”) schemes.
Voluntary car schemes, in which the passenger is carried in the volunteer’s
own car are quite widely used for taking people to out-patient treatment at
hospitals. The volunteer will usually be paid a mileage allowance to coverrunning costs of the vehicle, while the service is free to the user. Such services
can be very useful in rural areas where conventional modes of transport,
accessible or otherwise, may be thin on the ground. These services, since they
rely on the cars owned by volunteers are not appropriate for wheelchair users who
cannot transfer from their chair to a car seat, though quite a lot of wheelchairusers can transfer and so use ordinary cars.

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Some community transport services (see 5.3) also provide a car service witha vehicle adapted to carry a passenger in his wheelchair.
Accessible taxis can, of course, be used by any disabled person provided they
can afford the fare. That, for many disabled people, is the problem: the fares are
more than they can afford. To help overcome this problem various schemes havebeen introduced to make taxis available to disabled people at a heavily subsidised
rate.
This type of service is frequently found in Scandinavian countries especially
Sweden and in the UK, where the largest is the London Taxicard scheme. To be
fully effective the service must be provided by fully accessible taxis. In the UK
this is normally done with the accessible purpose built (“London”) cabs,
elsewhere multi-purpose vehicles or minibus taxis are used. It doesn’t reallymatter much what type of vehicle is used as long as it is accessible and, mostimportantly that the taxi driver has had disability awareness training.
Providing a service of this kind can be expensive for the funding authority(local and/or central government) so it is important to try and ensure that thepeople using it really do need it. Some form of eligibility criteria should be usedand even then it is very likely that an upper limit on the number of trips any one
individual can make over a given time will have to be imposed.
Having said that, there is some evidence to suggest that an accessible taxibased service for disabled people can be more cost-effective than a shared-ride
demand-responsive minibus service (see 5.2). In planning and developing thesetypes of service, it would be prudent to consider all the forms and systems; themost effective, in terms of both use of resources and delivery of a good level ofservice to the individual, may be found by a combination of services rather thanjust one.

5.2 DEMAND-RESPONSIVE: SHARED TRANSPORT

64

Often known as dial-a-ride or dial-a-bus, this service also provides door-todoor service, using minibuses which should be equipped to carry passengers inwheelchairs. They are booked in the way that taxis are – by telephone – orpossibly by regular (“standing”) order and the theory is that the control office of*06A. Ch. 5. New and innovative

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the service will be able to organise the requests for trips in such a way that morethan one individual is carried at the same time. This shared ride concept, if it
could be achieved, would reduce the cost per passenger carried, in theory to lessthan the cost of an equivalent taxi journey.
In practice this often does not happen, with the result that the cost perpassenger trip is higher than the equivalent taxi trip. However, taxi drivers cannot
be expected to exercise the level of special care and assistance needed by somedisabled people. Dial-a-Ride drivers will not only assist passengers from theirdoor to the vehicle, but may also help them to finish dressing. They may, as forexample in Copenhagen, carry special equipment to enable a wheelchair passenger
to negotiate a flight of stairs. It is this level of necessary extra care which, as
accessible taxis become more commonplace, should be used to determine whether
Dial-a-Ride is appropriate, and if so who should be eligible to use it.

5.3 COMMUNITY TRANSPORT AND
SHARED TRANSPORT SERVICES

This is the category of services, again usually using lift-equipped minibuses,
which provide collective transport for disabled people. They will provide aservice from an individual’s home to a facility such as a day centre or luncheonclub or to an accessible town centre for shopping. The essential difference
between these services and the ones described in Section 5.2 is that they do notcater for individual requests for a journey, but take individuals to a collective or
joint activity.
Community transport services are usually funded, at least in part, by local
government and are available for use by a wide range of people, not just disabled
or elderly. It is their general availability which distinguishes them from the hostof transport services provided by disability associations for the use of their own
members.
Although these services are specific in the sense that they are provided by
and for the members of a specific association, they nevertheless represent atransport resource which may not always be used in the most effective way.
When considering the planning and provision of special services, it is always
sensible to include these “disability association” services in the planning process.

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5.4 VARIATIONS ON A THEME
Between the special services, of the types described above, and mainstream
public transport services there is scope for services which, while not being
exclusively designed for disabled people, nonetheless offer a level of service
beyond that normally associated with conventional public transport.
Probably the most widely-known example of this is the Swedish Service Bus
system, but there are other examples such as London Transport’s Mobility Bus.
The attributes of this class of service can be summarised as:– use a fully accessible buses, medium or full-size;– time tabling of the service which allows more time at stops than on aconventional service;– routeing of the service which is planned to serve places where there willbe numbers of disabled passengers – residential homes, clinics,
daycentres, etc.;– flexible pick-up / set down points – hail stop where appropriate andpossibly a degree of route diversion;– well trained drivers (and other staff).
It is possible that the role of this kind of service will diminish as more of themainstream services become fully accessible, but it is probable that in some areas
and at some times they will remain as a useful means of providing a better levelof service to disabled passengers than can be achieved by conventional means.
Certainly there is evidence, vide a recent study of six towns with Service Routes
in Finland, that these services improve the mobility of many disabled people.
The other aspect of special services is their integration into mainstream
transport. The Mobinet system in the Dutch town of Voorst is an example, withwheelchair accessible minivans acting as shuttles to regular public transport
services. Door-to-door service is available to anyone who wants it, but people
who are not disabled pay a premium fare for it.

5.5 OTHER INNOVATIVE SERVICES

66

There are other ways in which transport can be provided in an
unconventional manner, some of which are of value to disabled people.
Examples include the taxitrain service which is being operated in the Netherlands

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Photo T: Swedish service bus routes provide flexible,
accessible services close to people’s homes

Source: Omninova Technologies AB, Sweden.

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and in Sweden, and the use of taxis as a replacement for buses on the outer partsof bus routes during evenings (as in Germany). Taxi bus systems – using aminibus or multi-purpose vehicle as a shared ride taxi – may be an effective wayof providing service in low density rural areas.
In the District du Pays de Saint-Brieuc, a system known as “Taxitub” hasbeen introduced1. Known as a “virtual” transport system, Taxitub serves
14 communes in Saint-Brieuc, with vehicles sent out in response to telephone
calls for service which can be made anything from ten days to 45 minutes aheadof the required journey time. If no requests are received for a particular journey,then that journey is not made.
No doubt there are other innovative schemes in operation in Europe. The
point is that when considering the development of special services, planners
should be aware of, and take due account of, the range of systems that are there.
In the section on the Road and Pedestrian Environment (Section 2) the
development of pedestrianized areas in town centres was mentioned. The
walking distances in these areas can be substantial, certainly more than can easilybe accomplished by ambulant disabled people.
The Praxitele system2 which uses small self-drive or automatically controlled
electric cars offers one possible solution to this problem. Another system, quite
widely used in the UK, is the Shopmobility scheme, which provides powered
wheelchairs or manual wheelchairs with a pusher for use by ambulant disabled
people who cannot walk very far.
Yet another innovative system is the electric buggy service operated in
Woking town centre by the local Community Transport department of theborough council3. This is designed to help people who can walk a reasonabledistance, but who still find it difficult to walk across the whole town centre. Thissystem is rather similar in some ways to the electric buggy service provided atsome of the larger airports. The vehicles used for these services, which are either
derivatives of electric golf buggies or of small industrial vehicles, are not ideal foruse by disabled people, but the principle of the service is a good one.

68

Innovation is not limited to the services themselves but also applies to theways in which services are used. One current development which could be of
considerable benefit to disabled people is the contactless smart card used for
payment of fares on public transport. In the longer term this type of card could
be used for payment of car parking and road toll charges and perhaps for otherpurposes.

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NOTES
1. See “Taxitub: Définition, contenu, Coûts et répercussions” by François Josse, pp 238-242,
proceedings of the Conference of the International Association of Transport Regulators,
Strasbourg (October 1996).
2. Parent, M. and Fouconnier, S., “Design of an electric vehicle specific for urban transport”
INRIA, Le Chesney, France (1995).
3. Oxley, P.R. and Alexander, J., “Electric Buggies – Concluding Report” Cranfield University(1996).

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Page 716
PRIVATE CARS

Most of this guide is concerned with public transport but, no matter how muchsome politicians might wish it, the private car is and will remain a major elementin the personal mobility of disabled people. As was said in the introduction to thispaper, disability is related to age and the sector of the population that has the most
rapidly growing car ownership is that of retirement age.
It is not the purpose of this publication to describe how cars can or should be
adapted to meet the needs of elderly and disabled people. Important though thatis, it is a subject for another and different report. From the point of view of thispublication there are two aspects which should be considered: advice and guidancefor disabled people who wish to travel in cars either as driver or passenger, and,sensible provision for disabled car users while travelling and at their destinations.

6.1 ADVICE AND GUIDANCEThe onset of disability whether traumatic or gradual can change the ability of
an individual not just to drive a car but to even get in and out of one as apassenger. A few disabilities – epilepsy is the most obvious – will, for reasons ofsafety, prevent an individual from driving, but in the majority of cases a disability
prevents driving a conventional car but certainly need not prevent driving asuitably adapted car. The key word is “suitably” and it means not just appropriate
in the sense that the individual can use the controls to drive the vehicle but alsothat the controls themselves are well and safely designed.
The range of disabilities, and therefore of abilities, is wide and so too is therange of adaptations to car controls to meet the needs of people with impaired
functions. The only sensible way to approach this is to make assessment andadvice available to all who need it. CARAin Belgium was one of the first places
to offer this type of service, to advise people whether they could drive safely and,if so, what type of adaptations they would need both to get into and out of the car71

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Photo U: Even small cars can be adapted for use by disabled people,
including wheelchair users

Source: Courtesy of Direcção Geral de Transportes Terrestres, Ministério do Equipamento,
do Planeamento e da Administração do Território, Portugal.

Photo V: Sophisticated controls now enable many people
with severe levels of disability to drive safely and in comfort

72

Source: Courtesy of the Mobility Advice and Vehicle Information Service (MAVIS),
Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR),
United Kingdom.

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and to drive it. Assessment and advice centres have now been established inmany European countries, most recently in Greece (the HNIOXOS services) and,with the support of Fiat, in Italy.
It is not possible to provide a blueprint for a successful driving assessment
and advice centre within the confines of this publication, but some sources of
information on this are included in the References section. In outline, though, acentre should:(i) be staffed by experienced and expert driving assessors; medical
knowledge may be an advantage in some cases, but is not necessary for
dealing with many disabled drivers;(ii) the centre should have a good range of vehicles and of adaptations forboth primary and secondary controls(iii) it should have access to private road space, on which drivers can try out
adapted vehicles at no risk to themselves or other road users(iv) it should provide advice not just on driving but on a wider range ofmobility aids and should be able to give advice on other aspects such as
grants that may be available to help with buying a car, where to obtain
insurance, etc.
(v) it should include advice on, and examples of, aids for disabled car
passengers.

6.2 TRAVELLING AND ARRIVING
Much of what is needed by disabled people when travelling by car is the sameas that needed by every other driver. There has been a substantial increase inrecent times in the use of information technology or transport telematics, and thisincrease will continue. Many of these systems – route guidance, parking aids,
sensor systems that detect when a driver is becoming drowsy, emergency alert
systems are of particular potential benefit to disabled and elderly drivers, provided
they are properly designed. How those design standards can be achieved is also amatter for a different report, but there is a considerable and growing body ofresearch on these issues, much of it coming from research supported by DGXIII of
the European Commission. There are references to sources for their informationin Section 8 of this publication. All that can be said here is that anyone involvedin the development of car-based IT systems should take full account of the needsof elderly and disabled car users. As with so much else, the design of a system thatmeets their needs will meet the needs of everyone else as well.

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There are, aside from this issue, two more specific matters that should betaken into account: provision of parking space and access into areas from which
private cars are normally excluded.
General standards for parking space were given in Section 2.6, but there is a
specific issue relating to pedestrianized areas in town centres. These are growing
in popularity and can provide a very pleasant environment for pedestrians, butsome are very large in scale. Shopping or other journeys within these areas caninvolve a considerable amount of walking – some areas may be as much as two
or more kilometres end to end. Obviously such distances cause problems formore severely disabled people, so in developing or extending these areas, careful
thought should be given to appropriate parking spaces for disabled motorists
either immediately on the edge of the pedestrian area if it is a small one, or within
the area if it is large.

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7
THE ROLES OF GOVERNMENT

Both central and local government should have responsibilities towards thedevelopment of accessible transport and infrastructure. The balance between thetwo will differ one country from another but in broad terms responsibilities canbe apportioned as:– Central government: national laws and regulations defining access in theenvironment – highways, pedestrian areas, public buildings, commercial
and retail premises, etc. These may take the form of town planning
regulations or specific laws or decrees. They provide the statutory or
mandatory framework within which local and regional authorities carryout their duties and transport operators plan and provide their services.
Central government should also be the source of information and guidanceon matters relating to access and mobility for disabled people which, while
not considered appropriate for legislation, should be provided to aconsistent standard throughout the country. An example might be thedesign of tactile guidance surfaces for visually impaired people. While
there is no legal requirement to provide these it is obviously sensible that
wherever they are provided they should be of the same design.
A new and interesting development, initiated by the Netherlands Ministry
for Social Affairs, is for a company contracted by the Ministry to organise
longer distance (city to city) journeys for disabled people, including
ensuring that assistance is provided for the traveller wherever it is needed.
The traveller will pay his own fare, but the cost of organising the trip andmaking assistance available will be borne by the government. This service
is intended to help overcome travel problems until such time as public
transport services become fully accessible and can be used by disabled
people without the need for assistance.
– Local and regional government: carry out duties laid on them by central
government, where appropriate to enact local regulations and bye laws
concerning access and mobility. To monitor the provision of accessible
infrastructure and transport services and to ensure that they meet
appropriate legal requirements and standards.
In many countries, local authorities have direct control over local public
transport services and should therefore be able to influence their75

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development to the benefit of disabled people. In some countries, most of
the local public transport is in private ownership and therefore beyond
direct control of local government, but there may be scope for the local
authority and local transport operators to enter into “quality partnerships”.
In these the two parties jointly undertake to improve the quality of local
services – and better access for mobility handicapped people should be an
important part of this. An example would be a local authority agreeing toprovide raised bus boarders and covered seating at bus stops and the bus
operator matching this by introducing low-floor wheelchair accessible
buses.
The European Commission also has a role to play. In some areas it has adirect responsibility for matters of concern to disabled people. An example of thisis the Directive on special provisions for vehicles used for the carriage ofpassengers containing more than eight passenger seats. In other areas, eventhough it may have no regulatory responsibilities the EC can lead by example inthe sense of sponsoring research and information exchange (e.g. through COST
actions on access to buses and to rail services.)

7.1 TRAINING

Training all staff who come into contact with members of the public indisability awareness is essential. Without this, the best of technical aids toaccessibility may fail to fulfil its potential value. Unfortunately, to quote the
HELIOS report 1, “the adequacy of training rarely meets the needs of passengers
in most Member States and whilst this situation is improving, it urgently needs tobe addressed.”76

That said, there are some good examples of training. In the Netherlands a
project on the improvement of knowledge and perception of staff of public
transport companies has been started. A training programme of 3.5 hours has
been developed to show the staff what it means to travel with a handicap. Staff
members can experience for themselves how disabled people can best be helped.
This is done actively, including use of a video and discussions and getting thetrainees to go through a course set out with obstacles which they have to negotiate
in a wheelchair or as a blind person. The training is given by disabled people withtravelling experience.

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7.2 SEAMLESS TRAVEL
There is a third and continuing role for government. Much of the advice andinformation contained in this publication is specific to various aspects of thetravel process or to particular modes, but one thing which is very important is tobring all these examples of good practice together. Hardly any journeys justinvolve using one mode of transport; at the very least a journey is likely to include
walking (or wheeling) and a vehicular trip. Longer journeys will probably
involve more than one mode of vehicular transport, or at least changes within thesame mode: bus to bus or train to train.
Obvious though it may seem, it is worthwhile stressing that any journey is
only as good as its weakest link. There should, therefore, be a conscious effort
on the part of government, local and central, to ensure that accessible transport
services link together. The physical process of making a journey should mirror
the “chaîne signalétique” approach advocated by COLITRAH2 for information;a carefully planned sequence without breaks or interruptions.
Until comparatively recently such an approach would have seemed
unrealistic, even irrelevant, because so much needed to be done to make any
single link in the transport chain accessible. This is changing, rapidly so in somecountries, but the full value of accessible links will not be realised unless journeys
are considered as a whole, rather than as a series of discrete movements.
To achieve this continuous accessible transport will require the continued
collaboration of government (central and local), vehicle manufacturers, operatorsand disability organisations. In other words the physical chain of accessible
transport has to be paralleled by an administrative chain.
In further developing their policies for improving access to all modes oftransport, government should not lose sight of the over-arching need to provide
seamless transport for disabled travellers, and to achieve it by a combination of
appropriate regulations and encouragement for collaboration between all theorganisations concerned.

NOTES
1. “The Design and Operation of Accessible Public Transport Systems” (p 74).
2. See Section 1.2.

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ANNEX 1
Action plan agreed at conclusion of the seminar“All aboard: making the case for accessible buses”
held in Liverpool, May 1998

A seminar on this subject, organised by the ECMT and the UK Departmentof the Environment, Transport and the Regions, was held in Liverpool in
May 1998.
At the conclusion of the seminar, the following Action Plan was agreed:(a) vehicles and the associated infrastructure must be considered at the sametime – the concept of “accessible bus/coach systems”. Mandatory
requirements for the infrastructure might be considered. But much canbe achieved where operators and local authorities work together to realise
the full benefits of accessible transport.
(b) traffic management systems, giving priority to buses, will help to realise
both the access benefits and the return on investments. Such systems
also fit with the environmental concerns of Member States and the EC.
(c) strict enforcement of no parking rules at bus stops and on pavements is
crucial. Stronger punishments are required, supported by education ofother road users, to raise awareness of these anti-social practices.
(d) the question of which boarding aids are most effective is not yet resolved.
Practical operating experiences need to be exchanged and, where
necessary, further research carried out to identify practicable andworkable solutions.
(e) more effort needs to be made to tackle the accessibility of small buses
and high floor coaches; to find solutions which are both technically andeconomically viable.
(f) targeting existing subsidies both for vehicles and for transport
infrastructure to reflect the need to take account of disabled people cancontribute to solving the financing problems.
(g) taking forward the concept of the “accessible transport chain” bydeveloping new forms of mixed services – combining mainstream

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bus/coach services with door to door and other innovative services,
including taxis and paratransit services.
(h) consideration needs to be given not only to urban areas, but also to rural
areas which are generally more poorly served by public transport.
(i) accessibility should be seen as part of agreed “quality charters” for public
transport. Recognising that making public transport more attractive islikely to increase patronage.
In addition, new partnerships are needed between the main players –Governments (European and national), the bus industry – operators andmanufacturers and disabled people.
Such partnerships need not have a statutory basis. They simply require awillingness on the part of all concerned to work together towards a common goalof accessibility which reflects the aspirations of disabled people – both those whoare physically disabled and sensory impaired, the operational requirements ofindustry and the political objectives of Governments.
This could usefully include the development of travel training packages fordisabled people, as well as disability awareness training for all levels of personal
within transport companies, but particularly for drivers and “front line” customer
care staff.
Partnerships could also facilitate the provision of information to disabled
people about new vehicles and systems. Knowledge of new developments isessential if disabled people are to have the confidence to use then. All
information provided must be accessible to all disabled people including thosewith sensory impairments.
In this respect:– the EC Directive on construction standards for buses and coaches, inpursuing a common goal of accessibility, needs to offer flexibility which
recognises the different starting points across member states whilst clearlylegislating for what is practical and achievable.
– the UITP should be invited to review their existing formal position onaccessibility with a view to bringing it more into line with current thinking
and policies on social inclusion.
– the EC should target their support for Central and Eastern European
transport projects which reflect the needs of disabled people for improved
accessibility.
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ANNEX 2
LIST OF CONTACTSECMT Member countries
Mr Shkelqim XHAXHIU
General Director of Transports
Ministry of Public Works andTransport
Skanderbeg Square
AL- TIRANA
Rép. d’Albanie / Albania
Telephone No. (355-42) 22892
Telefax No.
(355-42) 34654
Monsieur Gennady ALEKSIYAN
Conseiller
Ministère des Transports
et des Communications
Département des Relations
Economiques Extérieures
21 rue Tchitchérine
BY-220029 MINSK
Rép. de Bélarus / Belarus
Telephone No. (375-17) 234 30 19
Telefax No.
(375-17) 232 83 91
Mr Siegfried VOGT
Ministry of Transport, Building andHousing
Referat A 22
Robert Schuman Platz 1
D-53175 BONN
Allemagne / Germany
Telephone No. (49-228) 300 25 20
Telefax No.
(49-228) 300 24 09

Mme Véronique CNUDDE
Conseiller-adjoint au SecrétaireGénéralMinistère des Communications
et de l’Infrastructure
Rue d’Arlon, 104
B-1040 BRUXELLES
Belgique / Belgium
Telephone No. (32-2) 233 15 10
Telefax No.
(32-2) 231 18 33
e-mail: veronique.cnudde@vici.fgov.be
Mrs Liliana PREROWSKY
Federal Ministry for Science andTransport
International Department of Transport
Department II/A/2
Radetzkystrasse 2
A-1031 WIEN
Autriche / Austria
Telephone No. (43-1) 711 62 1207
Telefax No.
(43-1) 711 62 1299
e-mail: liliana.prerowsky@bmv.gv.at81

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A GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICEMr Nedzad JAHIE
Ministry of Civil Affairs andCommunications
Musala Str 9
BIH-71000 SARAJEVO
Bosnie-Herzégovine / BosniaHerzegovina
Telephone No. (387-71) 664 831
Telefax No.
(387-71) 655 060
Mr Kaviz H. ABDULLAYEV
Vice-President“Azerautonagliyyat”
State Concern
Block 1054
Tbilisi avenue
AZ-370062 BAKU
Azerbaïdjan / Azerbaijan
Telephone No. (994-12) 937 068
Telefax No.
(994-12) 937 068
e-mail: az@autotrans.baku.az
Mr Dimitar SAVOVExpert, Transport Policy Dept.
Ministry of Transport
9 Vassil Levski Street
BG-1000 SOFIA
Bulgarie / Bulgaria
Telephone No. (359-2) 800 237
Telefax No.
(359-2) 988 50 94
e-mail: dimitar_savov@hotmail.com
Mrs Romana PALCIC
Senior Adviser
Ministry of Maritime Affairs,
Transport and Communications
Prisavlje 14
HR-41000 ZAGREB
Croatie / Croatia
Telephone No. (385-1) 517 000
Telefax No.
(385-1) 518 113
82

Mrs Irja VESANEN-NIKITIN
Legal Adviser
Ministry of Transport andCommunications
Department of Road Transport
Passenger Transport Unit
P O Box 235
FIN-00131 HELSINKI
Finlande / Finland
Telephone No. (358-9) 160 2544
Telefax No.
(358-9) 160 2592
e-mail: irja.vesanen-nikitin@lm.vn.fi
Ms Bente MOESLUND LAURSEN
Ministry of Transport
Division for Planning, Research andDevelopment
Frederiksholms Kanal 27
DK-1220 COPENHAGEN K
Danemark / Denmark
Telephone No. (45-33) 92 34 66
Telefax No.
(45-33) 91 56 82
e-mail: bml@trm.dk
Madame Catherine BACHELIER
Rapporteur Général du COLITRAH
Conseil National des Transports
34 avenue Marceau
F-75008 PARISFranceTelephone No. (33 1) 53 23 85 82(33-1) 53 23 85 85
Telefax No.
(33 1) 53 23 85 80

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ANNEX 2

Mr Zekirija IDRIZIAssistant Minister
Ministry of Transport andCommunications
Pl. Crvena Skopska Opstina N° 4
MK-91000 SKOPJE
E.R.Y.M. / F.Y.R.O.M.
Telephone No. (389-91) 119 375
Telefax No.
(389-91) 117 072

Mrs Alexandra RADOU
Architect
Olympic Airways
Facilities Department
Athens Airport West
GR-166 04 ATHENS
Grèce / Greece
Telephone No. (30 1) 936 2701/2173
Telefax No.
(30 1) 936 2109

Mr Zviad KVATCHANTIRADZEHead of Department, European
Integration and Int. Relations
Ministry of Transport of Georgia
12 Alexander Kazbegi Avenue
GEO-380060 TBILISI
Rép. de Géorgie / Georgia
Telephone No. (995-32) 77 00 17(995-32) 93 91 45
Telefax No.
(995-32) 77 00 17

Mrs Ruth MARTIN
Chancellor
Ministry of Transport andCommunications
9 Viru Street
EST-0100 TALLINN
Estonie / Estonia
Telephone No. (372-6) 397 614
Telefax No.
(372-6) 397 699

Mrs Cristina RODRIGUEZPORRERO MIRETCentro Estatal de Autonomia Personaly Ayudas Tecnicas
Directoria del CEAPAT
C/de los Extremenos No. 1
E-28018 MADRID
Espagne / Spain
Telephone No. (34 91) 778 90 61
Telefax No.
(34 91) 778 41 17
e-mail: ceapat@seg-social.es

Mr Ferenc TOLGYESI
Hungarian State Railways (MAV)
Division Tarifs Voyageurs
Andrassy ut. 73-75
H-1940 BUDAPEST
Hongrie / Hungary
Telephone No. (36-1) 322 94 48(36-1) 432 34 30
Telefax No.
(36-1) 342 85 36
e-mail: tolgyesi@szszi.mav.hu
Ms Niamh O’DOHERTYNational Rehabilitation Board
25 Clyde Road
Ballsbridge
IRL- DUBLIN 4
Irlande / Ireland
Telephone No. (353 1) 608 04 12
Telefax No.
(353 1) 668 50 29
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Monsieur Jean MORBY
Secrétaire Général
Ministère des Transports
19-21 Boulevard Royal
L-2910 LUXEMBOURG
Luxembourg
Telephone No. (352) 47 84 435
Telefax No.
(352) 22 82 75/464315
e-mail: jean.morby@tr.etat.lu
Mr Jon Birgir JONSSONSecretary General
Ministry of Transport
Hafnarhus
ISL-150 REYKJAVIK
Islande / Iceland
Telephone No. (354) 560 9630
Telefax No.
(354) 562 1702
Mme Angela COVALGIU
Coordinating specialist
Ministère des Transports
et Communications
International Relations Department
12A Bucuriey Street
MD-2004 KISHINAU
Moldova
Telephone No. (373-2) 54 65 51
Telefax No.
(373-2) 54 65 57
e-mail: untila@mci.gov.md
Mrs Maria Beatrice BRUCIAFERRI
Ministère des Transports et de la Mer
Direzione Generale Programmazione
Organizzazione e Coordinamento
Piazza della Croce Rossa
I-00161 ROME
Italie / Italy
Telephone No. (39-06) 849 04500
Telefax No.
(39-06) 841 7268
84

Ms Kristin DAHLE
Senior Executive Officer
Ministry of Transport andCommunications
P O Box 8010 Dep
Akersgt 59
N-0030 OSLO 1
Norvège / Norway
Telephone No. (47-22) 24 82 28
Telefax No.
(47-22) 24 95 72
e-mail: kristin.dahle@sd.dep.telemax.no
Mr Janis KANCEVICS
Vice Director
Ministry of Transport
25 Miera Street
LV-1743 RIGA
Lettonie / Latvia
Telephone No. (371-7) 025 740(371-7) 025 750
Telefax No.
(371-7) 217 180
Mr Ad VAN HERK
Ministry of Transport, Public Works
and Water Management
DG Passenger Transport
PO Box 20901
NL-2500 EX THE HAGUE
Pays-Bas / The Netherlands
Telephone No. (31-70) 351 69 11
Telefax No.
(31-70) 351 64 13
e-mail: ad.herk@dgp.minvenw.nl

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ANNEX 2

Mr Aleksas ADOMAITIS
Ministry of Transport
Road Transport, Transit &Environment Department
Gedimino av 17
LT-2679 VILNIUS
Lituanie / Lithuania
Telephone No. (370-2) 39 38 20
Telefax No.
(370-2) 39 39 59
e-mail: transp@transp.lt
Mr Andrzej ZURKOWSKI
Ministry of Transport and Maritime
EconomyTransport Policy Department
ul. Chalubinskiego 4/6
PL-00 928 WARSAWPologne / Poland
Telephone No. (48-22) 524 46 32
Telefax No.
(48-22) 629 65 14
Mme Elizabete Maria RAMOS
VIDIGAL
Ministère de l’Equipement,de la Planification
et de l’Administration Territoriale
Dir. Générale des Transports
Terrestres
Avenida das Forças Armadas 40
P-1699 LISBONNE CODEX
Portugal
Telephone No. (351-1) 794 9000
Telefax No.
(351-1) 793 6257

Mr Igor TOMCALA
Ministry of Transport, Posts andTelecommunications
Mileticova 19
SK-820 06 BRATISLAVA
Rép. Slovaque / Slovak Republic
Telephone No. (421-7) 352 281
Telefax No.
(421-7) 352 274
Mrs Catalina PATRASCU
ExpertMinistry of Transport
European Integration andInternational Relations Department
Section 1
38, Dinicu Golescu Blv.,
RO-77113 BUCAREST 1
Roumanie / Romania
Telephone No. (40-1) 222 36 28(40-1) 63 77 991
Telefax No.
(40-1) 223 02 72
Mr Igor ZAJECState Secretary
Ministry of Transport andCommunications
Transport Policy and International
Relations
Langusova 4SL0-1535 LJUBLJANA
Slovénie / Slovenia
Telephone No. (386-61) 178 80 00(386-61) 178 82 69
Telefax No.
(386-61) 178 81 41

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Ms Ann FRYE
Head of Mobility Unit
Department of the Environment,
Transport and the Regions
Zone 1/11
Great Minster House
76 Horseferry Road
GB- LONDON, SW1P 4DR
Royaume-Uni / United Kingdom
Telephone No. (44-171) 890 44 61(44) 4 10 355 969
Telefax No.
(44-171) 890 61 02
e-mail: frye.mu.detr@gtnet.gov.uk
Mr Hakan JANSSONHead of Section
Ministry of Transport andCommunications
Jakobsgatan 26
S-103 33 STOCKHOLM
Suède / Sweden
Telephone No. (46-8) 405 3855
Telefax No.
(46-8) 21 37 94
e-mail: hakan.jansson@communications.ministry.se
Mr Yury A. SCHERBANIN
Chief of the Department of Foreign
Economic Relations
Ministry of Transport
Sadovaya Samotechnaja, 10101438 MOSCOW GSP-4
Russie / Russia
Telephone No. (7-095) 299 42 75(7-095) 200 14 85
Telefax No.
(7-095) 200 33 56

86

Mr Bernhard RUEGG
Office Fédéral des Transports
Palais Fédéral Nord
CH-3003 BERNE
Suisse / Switzerland
Telephone No. (41-31) 324 96 63
Telefax No.
(41-31) 322 58 11
e-mail: bernhard.ruegg@bav.admin.ch
Mr Dusan VALASEKMinisterial Counsellor
Ministry of Transport andCommunications
Transport Policy, International
Relations and Environment
P.O. Box 9
Nabrezi L Svobody 12
CZ-110 15 PRAHA 1
Rép. Tchèque / Czech Republic
Telephone No. (420-2) 230 31 216
Telefax No.
(420-2) 248 12 293
e-mail: valasek@mdcr.cz
Mr Leonid M KOSTYUCHENKOFirst Deputy Minister
Ministry of Transport
7/9 Schorsa Street
UKR-252006 KIEV 6
UkraineTelephone No. (380-44) 226 22 06(380-44) 269 01 31
Telefax No.
(380-44) 268 22 02

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ANNEX 2

Ms Gülcan DEMIRCIHead of Co-ordination Department ofEC
Ministry of Transport andCommunications
8 Cad. 91 Sok. No.5
TR-06338 Emek/ANKARA
Turquie
Telephone No. (90-312) 212 41 68
Telefax No.
(90-312) 215 21 68

ECMTAssociate Member countries
Mr & Mrs M. FOX
ACCESS Australia
20 Clifford Street
AUS-MOSMAN NSW 2088
Australie / Australia
Telephone No. (61-2) 9960 4222
Telefax No.
(61-2) 9968 2490
Mr Robert STOUT
Federal Transit Administration
400 7th Street, S.W.
USA-20590 WASHINGTON D.C.
Etats-Unis / United States
Telephone No. (1-202) 366 1656
Telefax No.
(1-202) 366 7951

Ms Hélène NADEAU
Canadian Transportation Agency
Accessible Transportation Directorate
18th Floor (room 1847)
15 Eddy Street
HULL (Quebec)
K1A 0N9 Ottawa
CanadaTelephone No. (1-819) 953 2749
Telefax No.
(1-819) 953 6019
e-mail: Helene.Nadeau@cta-otc.x400.gc.ca
Mr Yosuké WAKABAYASHIPermanent Delegation of Japan to theOECD
11, avenue Hoche
F-75008 PARISFranceTelephone No. (33-1) 53 76 61 41
Telefax No.
(33-1) 45 63 05 44
e-mail: wakabayashi@deljp-ocde.fr87

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A GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICEEC
Mrs Danae PENN
CE/EC
DG VII - B-2, Office 6/20
Avenue de Beaulieu 31
B-1160 BRUXELLES
Belgique / Belgium
Telephone No. (32-2) 296 83 45
Telefax No.
(32-2) 299 58 87
e-mail: danae.penn@dg7.cec.be

ECMT
Mr Jack SHORT
Deputy Secretary General
CEMT/ECMT
2 rue André Pascal
F-75775 PARIS CEDEX 16
FranceTelephone No. (33-1) 45 24 97 21
Telefax No.
(33-1) 45 24 97 42
e-mail: jack.short@oecd.org

88

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REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING

1. Information“Cahiers des charges pour la mise en place d’une information multimodale desvoyageurs en region Ile-de-France”, Syndicat des Transports Parisiens(STP), Paris, France (1991).
“Transport for people with mobility handicaps: information and communication”
European Conference of Ministers of Transport, Paris, France (1991).
“Signage for pedestrians using public transport interchanges and terminals: a
review of existing research and guidelines”. Philip Barham and Philip Oxley.
Report for the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive. Available
from Cranfield Centre for Logistics and Transportation, Cranfield University,
Bedford MK43 0AL, UK (January 1992).
“The Development of Ergonomic Guidelines for Electronic Customer
Information Systems”. Prepared by Katherine Hunter-Zaworski and Dean
Watts, Transportation Research Institute, Oregon State University, for theFederal Transit Administration, US Department of Transportation,
Washington, DC, USA. Available from NTIS, 5285 Port Royal Road,
Springfield, VA 22161, USA (December 1994).
“Improving Transportation Information: Design Guidelines for Making Travel
More Accessible” Tom Geehan, TransVision Consultants Ltd, forTransportation Development Centre, 800 René Lévesque Boulevard West,
Montreal, Quebec H3B 1X9 Canada (October 1996).
“Draft Ergonomic Guidelines for Accessible Information Systems”
Transportation Research Institute, Oregon State University, Corvallis,
Oregon, 97331-4303, USA (February 1997).
“Access Prohibited? Information for Designers of Public Access Terminals”
John Gill, Royal National Institute for the Blind, 224 Great Portland Street,
London, UK (May 1997).
Information on design guidelines for new information technologies, including useof the Internet, can be obtained from the QUARTET PLUS project. Contact
point, Mats Börjesson, Transportidé, Kälkvägen 10, 756 47 Uppsala, Sweden.

89

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A GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICE

2. Road and Pedestrian Environment“Aménagements de voirie en faveur des personne à mobilité réduite”. Fiche
Technique 08, Ministère de l’urbanisme du logement et des transports(October 1985).
“Audible and tactile signals at pelican crossings” Traffic Advisory Leaflet 4/91,
Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, Great Minster
House, 76 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DR, UK (November 1991).
“Audible and tactile signals at signal controlled junctions” Traffic Advisory
Leaflet 5/91, (available as above) (December 1991).
“Guidance on the use of tactile paving surfaces” Department of the Environment,
Transport and the Regions and The Scottish Office (available as above)(September 1997).
“Revised Guidelines for: Reducing Mobility Handicaps, Towards a Barrier-Free
Environment”. The Institution of Highways and Transportation, 3 Lygon
Place, Ebury Street, London SW1W 0JS, UK (1991).
“Accessibility of the built environment: The way ahead” Thematic Group No 2,
Helios 11 Programme (Danish Building Research Institute, PO Box 119, DK2970, Hørsholm, Denmark) (1996).
3. Transport Infrastructure“Manual-traffic provisions for people with a handicap” Ministry of Transport andPublic Works, The Hague, The Netherlands (1986).
“Streets for Everybody” Swedish Association of Local Authorities, S-118 82
Stockholm (1993).
“Design guidelines for public transport infrastructure - Technical Report “ Philip
Barham, Philip Oxley, Tony Shaw and Christine Gallon, TRL project
Report 83, Transport Research Laboratory, Crowthorne, Berks, RG45 6AU,
UK (1994).
“Automatic service machines. Service for everybody?” The National Swedish
Board for Consumer Policies and The Swedish Handicap Institute, Vallingby,
Sweden (1995).

90“Building Sight” A handbook of building and interior design solutions to include
the needs of visually impaired people. Royal National Institute for the Blind,
224 Great Portland Street, London W1N 6AA, UK (1995).

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REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING“Cahiers de reference ; pour l’implantation d’un point d’arrêt bus en Ile-deFrance”. Syndicat des Transports Parisiens, (STP), Paris, France (1996).
“Making railway stations accessible” Philip Oxley, Christine Gallon and Andrew
Fowkes, TRL Report 199, Transport Research Laboratory, Crowthorne,
Berks, RG45 6AU, UK (1996).
“Des bâtiments publics pour tous”. Ministère de l’Equipement, du Logement,
des Transport et du Tourisme, La Grand Arche, Paroi Sud, 92055 La Defence
Cedex, France (April 1997).
“Passenger’s accessibility of heavy rail systems.” Proceedings of the Seminar,
COST 335, Brussels (October 1997).
“Principles for travel centre design.” Ministry of Transport and Communications
Finland, Helsinki, Finland (1997).
“Bus Stops A Design Guide for Improved Quality.” Prepared by The Bus Priority
Working Group, Translink and the Department of the Environment for
Northern Ireland, Belfast (1997).
“NS-norm Toegankelijkheid Stationscomplex” NS Railinfrabeheer Utrecht,
Netherlands (1997).
4. Vehicle Design Guidelinesa) Air“Access to Air Travel for People with Reduced Mobility” European Conferenceof Ministers of Transport, Paris, France (1995).
“Code of Practice Air Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities” CanadianTransportation Agency, Ottawa, Canada K1A 0N9 (January 1997).
“Communication Barriers” (Barriers to Communication Facing Persons with
Disabilities Who Travel by Air) Canadian Transportation Agency, Ottawa,
Canada K1A 0N9 (1997).
b) Buses and coaches“Access to Coaches” European Conference of Ministers of Transport, Paris,
France (1990).
COST 322: Low floor buses, Final report of the action. Directorate-General forTransport, European Commission, Brussels, Belgium (1995).

91

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A GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICE“Disability Discrimination Act: The Government’s Proposals for Buses andCoaches”. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions,Great Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DR, UK(December 1997).
“Recommended specification for higher floor vehicles used on longer distancescheduled services features to help disabled and elderly passengers”
Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee, London (draft, 1998).
c) Taxis“Access to Taxis” European Conference of Ministers of Transport, Paris, France(1992).
“Accessible Taxi for People with Reduced Mobility, Technical Requirements”
C.E.A.P.A.T., Spain.
“Disability Discrimination Act: The Government’s Proposals for Taxis.”
Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, Great Minster
House, 76 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DR, UK (July 1997).
d) Rail“Passengers’ accessibility of heavy rail systems” Proceedings of the Seminar,
COST 335, Brussels October (1997).
“The Rail Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 1998” Department of theEnvironment, Transport and the Regions, London (1998).
6. Private Cars

92

“Richtlinien für Rastanlagen an Staßen” Forschungsqesllschaft für Staßen und
Verkherswesen e.V., Konrad Adenhauer-St 13, D 50996, Köln, Germany(1981).
“Transport for disabled people: disabled people and cars” European Conferenceof Ministers of Transport, Paris, France (1989).
“Empfehlungen zur Flächenhaften Verkehrsberutigung städtischer Teilgebiete inden neuen Bundesländern” Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Referat A22,
Robert Schuman Platz 1, D-53175, Bonn, Germany (1994).
“Setting the Pace”. Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Transportand Mobility for Elderly and Disabled People, Perth, W. Australia (1998).
The proceedings include a number of papers dealing with different aspects ofdriving and car use by disabled people.

*11A. References

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REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING“Mobility for Everybody” Autonomy Mobility Program, Fiat S.p.a.,
Via Nizza 250, 10126 Torino, Italy (1998).
7. Policy Framework“International Coordination and Standardisation of Measures and Policies topromote Mobility.” European Conference of Ministers of Transport, Paris,
France (1987).
“Transport for People with Mobility Handicaps: Policy and Achievements in
Europe” European Conference of Ministers of Transport, Paris, France(1991).
And if all else fails:“Accessibility Complaint Guide” Canadian Transportation Agency Ottawa,
ON K1A ON9, Canada (July 1996).
8. General and Multi-modal“Transport for people with mobility handicaps: policy and achievements in
Europe” European Conference of Ministers of Transport, Paris, France(1991).
“Bergerfreundliche und behindertengerechte Gestaltund des Strassenraums”
Bundesministerium für Verkher, Referat A22, Robert Schuman Platz 1,
D-53175 Bonn, Germany (1992).
“Construction adaptée aux personnes handicapées” Norm SN 521 500, Office
Fédéral des Transports, 3003 Berne, Switzerland (1993).
“The Design and Operation of Accessible Public Transport Systems”
Thematic Group 8, Helios 11 programme (November 1996).
“Technological Developments to meet the Needs and Requirements of Sensory
and Cognitively Impaired Travellers” Goss Gilroy Inc. for Transportation
Development Centre, 800 René Lévesque Boulevard West, Montreal,
Quebec H3B 1X9 Canada (1997).
“oud <=> nieuw” ouderen ab uitgangspunt voor innovatief ontwerpen (theelderly as a starting point for innovative designs). Netherlands Design
Institute, Amsterdam, Netherlands (March 1998).
“Mobility for All, Accessible Transportation Around the World”
Exchange International, San Francisco, USA (1998).

Access93

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A GUIDE TO GOOD PRACTICE“TELSCAN” European Commission supported project, co-ordinated by A
Naniopoulos, University of Thessaloniki, Greece. Has produced a number ofreports on different aspects of travel and travel information for disabled andelderly people. Information on the project and the design guidelines it has
produced is available on http://hermes.civil.auth.gr/telscan /telsc.html.
“Making Transportation Accessible” Transportation Development Centre, 800
René Lévesque Boulevard West, Montreal, Quebec H3B 1X9 Canada (1998).

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OECD PUBLICATIONS, 2, rue André-Pascal, 75775 PARIS CEDEX 16
PRINTED IN FRANCE(75 1999 04 1P) ISBN 92-821-1244-6 - 1999