Title

Creating a tool kit for assessing the safety and accessibility of bus stops

Document Type

Conference Paper

Publication Date

2007

Subject Area

Infrastructure - Facilities, Location - USA, Modes of Transport - Bus

Abstract

Bus stops and their immediate surroundings are often the weak link in the series of trip segments required for usage of a bus system by people with disabilities. People with disabilities and older adults often cite access and safety issues surrounding bus stops as the reasons for their reluctance to ride the bus. As paratransit costs escalate and people with disabilities become increasingly visible as bus riders, U.S. transit agencies are focusing on the usability of their bus stops and are confronted with the challenge of how to prioritize bus stop improvements in a strategic manner. Project ACTION (Accessible Community Transportation In Our Nation), which conducts applied research in the U.S. in the area of accessible transportation, commissioned NelsonNygaard Consulting Associates to develop a toolkit to incorporate best practices of bus stop design and accessibility into one document, and include an easy to use checklist for transit and public works staff to determine the safety and accessibility of the bus stops in their system. The Toolkit, which is available in hard copy and on the web, incorporates information on both universal access and U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements related to bus stops; how to conduct a bus stop inventory; comprehensive and abbreviated checklists that can be used by agency staff and disability advocates; and examples of good and poor design from locations throughout North America. The web site also allows an opportunity for providing input and sharing ideas on bus stop design, and is hosted on the Project ACTION web site. The location of the toolkit on the web creates an opportunity for practitioners world-wide to benefit from the experiences of North American transit agencies that have been attempting to address this issue. It also allows transit agencies and those responsible for improvements to the pedestrian environment to customize the checklists to suit local conditions. This paper will provide the reader with an overview of the toolkit contents in order to determine whether it would be a useful resource to particular individuals in developing countries, both agency staff and disability advocates. Feedback from the presentation at the conference could be used to modify the toolkit in a manner that would make it more suited to practitioners in developing countries.