**RVAAC	Subcommittee	on	Circulation**

Date March	2 5 ,	2014
To: Subcommittee	members
From: Ed	Steinfeld,	IDeA	Center
Re: Clear	floor	space	proposal

**Introduction** Clear	floor	space	(CFS)	dimensions	are	the	basis	for	the	minimum	required	size	of spaces	used	by	wheeled	mobility device users	(e.g.	platform/wheelchair	lifts)	and for	seating	spaces/locations	that	are	designated	for	wheeled	mobility	users.	The clear	floor space	width	also	informs	the	minimum	clearance	width	for successful passage	through corridors, doorways and	wheelchair	ramps. The	CFS	represents	the	space	required	for	a n	occup ied stationary	wheeled	mobility device (WMD) .	This	area	is	typically	depicte d	as	a	rectangular	space.	The dimensions	of	the	CFS	should	be	based	on	measurements	of	occupied	length	and occupied	breadth	of	wheeled	mobility	devices,	which	are	defined	as	follows:

 Occupied	length :	measured	as	the	horizontal	distance	between	the	forward

most	(anterior

- most)	point and the rear - most	(posterior

- most)	point	o n the wheelchair	or	occupant

.  Occupied	width :	measured	as	the	horizontal	distance between	the side

- most (lateral

- most)	points of	the	wheelchair	or	participant on	the	right	and	left sides

. Minimum	dimensions	for	clear	floor	space	should	be	considered	as	a	starting	point for	accessible	design.		When	determining	the	clear	floor	space	for	tasks	that	involve reaching	or	grasping	to	adjacent	design	elements	other	space	needs	and	functional abi lities	of	the	user	population	must	be	considered,	e.g.	the	position	of	the	CFS	with respect	to	the	reach	target	or	distance	from	the	CFS	to	the	target.	To	simplify decision	making, however,	decisions on	the	size	of	the	CFS	should	be	made	first	so that	a	ba sis	for	addressing	the	other	issues can	then	be	made	within	the	context	of the	CFS. In	the	U.S.,	federal	accessibility	guidelines	prescribe	a	minimum	floor	area	of	30 inches	wide	by	48	inches	long	for	wheeled	mobility	access. Additional	space	of	6 inches in	width	and	12	in.	in	length	is	required	when	this	space	is	located	within	an alcove	(36	x	60).The	Center	for	Inclusive	Design	and	Environmental	Access	(IDeA)	at	the	University

at	Buffalo	conducted	an	anthropometric	study	of	500	individuals	who	use	whe eled mobility	devices	(WMD).		The	research	included	the	collection	of	demographic information	and	WMD	characteristics,	and	the	measurement	of	structural	and functional	anthropometry.	Data	collection	included	3	dimensional	measurement	of approximately	90	po ints	located	on	the	body	and	device.	The	methods	used	to collect	the	information	have	been	reported	elsewhere	(e.g.,	Paquet	et	al.,	2004, D’Souza	et	al.,	2010;	Steinfeld	et	al.,	2010a;	2010b).
**Research	Results**

**Figure 1: Accommodation model on clear floor space for wheeled mobility users. Lengths and widths in inches are given in the parentheses.** Data	on	occupied	floor	area	length	and	width	are	summarized	in	the	form	of	an

“accommodation	model”	(Fig.	1)	th at	depicts	the	50th,	75th,	90th	and	95th percentile	values	computed	for	occupied	length	and	width	across	manual	chair, powered	chair	and	scooter	users.	International	convention	requires	the	use	of	the metric	system	in	the	science	of	anthropometry.	So,	we	h ave	shown	imperial equivalents	in	parentheses.	The	results	suggest	that	a	width	of	32”	and	length	of	54” approximates	the	95th%tile	values	of	occupied	length	and	width	for	manual	chair users,	and	90th%tile	values	of	length	and	width	for	the	power	chair	and scooter users	(highlighted	in	red). In	vehicles,	tight	spaces	require	greater	tolerances,	similar	to	what	would	be required	in	alcoves,	to	position	wheelchairs	into	place	in	reserved	seating	areas	and in	securement	locations.	On rail	vehicles,	securement	of	WMD	users	is	not	required for	two	reasons.	First,	it	is	not	required	of other	passengers.	Second,	the	mass	of	rail vehicles	is	so	large	that	the	de

- acceleration	forces	in	a	collision	are	not	as	severe	as with	motor	vehicles.	But,	on	long	distance	rail,	WMD	users	may	transfer	out	of	their device.	In	that	case,	the	device	should be	stowed	to	prevent	it	from	becoming	an obstacle	in	an	emergency	or	from	injuring	others	due	to	a	collision	or	sudden movement.	Stowage	spaces	do	not	have	to	be	as	large	as	the	CFS	because	the	devices are	unoccupied.	Note	that	scooters	and	power	chairs	cannot	be	folded	to	be	stowed. Research	on	rail	systems	also	demonstrates	that	many	large	items	are	brought	onto rail	systems,	including	things	like	baby	carriages,	bicycles,	lawnmowers	and plumbing	fixtures.	When	not	used	by	WMD	users,	reserved	spaces	ca n	be	useful	for keeping	these	objects	out	of	the	circulation	path.	Moreover,	flip	down	seats	can	be provided	that	can	be	used	to	eliminate	any	loss	of	capacity	when	WMD	users	are	not occupying	such	spaces. In	some	rail	systems,	seating	is	longitudinal,	e. g.	along	the	outside	walls	facing		in;	in others	it	is	in	rows	facing	forward	or	both	forward	and	backward.	In	still	others, both	types	are	used.	In	special	cars,	like	dining	and	observation	cars,	table	seating may	be	provided.	WMD	users	should	have	equivalent	types	of	seating, with	access	to equivalent	amenities	such	as	a	firm	table	top, wherever	it	is	provided	in	an accessible	level	or	car.	Thus,	flexibility	is	needed	to	address	the	different possibilities. **Proposals**
1. CFS	for	occupied	devices	shall	be	provided	immediately	inside	accessible entrances. 2. An	accessible	path	of	travel	shall	be	provided	to	all	CFS. 3. The	CFS	shal l	not	be	located	in	vestibules or	other	areas	where	seating	is	not provided	for	other	passengers,	although	an	accessible	path	of	travel	is needed	in	these	areas

.4. The	CFS for	occupied	devices shall be a	minimum	of 32	in.	x	54	in. for	each device	accommodated unless	the	sides	of	the	CFS	are	bounded	by	immovable objects

. 5. At	least	two	CFS	spaces	shall	be	p rovided	on	each	car.	They	can	be	grouped together	in	one	contiguous	space	or	separated	into	more	than	one	space. 6. An	additional tolerance	of 6	in.	of	width	and	12	in.	of	depth	should	be provided	where	the	space	is	bounded .		Both	tolerances	are	needed	where the space	is	bounded	on	three	sides	but	only	one	tolerance	(whichever	is appropriate)	if	the	space	is	only	bounded	on	two	sides. 7. A set	of	illustrations	is	needed	to	show	how	these	basic	tolerances	are applied	in	different	types	of	seating	arrangements. 8. Fl ip	down	seats	should	be	provided in	the	CFS to	use	by	ambulant	passengers when	not	used	by	wheelchair	users

. 9. “Transfer	seats”	should	be	available	o n	all	accessible	cars. The	number required	should	be	based	on	the	capacity	of	the	car	(to	be	determined). 10. Flip	down	seats	may	be	designated	as	transfer	seats,	in	which	case,	the	flip down	seat	cannot	protrude	into	the	CFS. 11. A	CFS	should	be	provided	next	to	all	transfer	seats. 12. The	stowage	space	for	unoccupied	devices	should	be	large	enough	for stowing	as	many	WMDs	as	there	are	seating	spaces	for	WMD	users	on	a	car. Minimum	dimensions	of	any	stowage	space	shall	be	??	x	??. Note:	Although	we	have	not	yet	analysed	our	data	for	unoccupied	devices,	we can	do	that	and	determine	the	overall	space	needed	for	power	cha irs	and scooters.
13. Stowage	for	WMD	users	may	be	combined	with	stowage	space	for	other devices,	e.g.	bicycles,	strollers,	packages	and	other	objects. Stowage	space	shall	be	separated	from	passenger	seating	by	partitions.