Mobility for all

Introduction

by Tom Rickert

Entire guide as a PDF file (1.43 MB)

People with disabilities and frail elders need transportation to get to work, school, recreation, medical services, and all the other activities of daily living. Public transportation needs to become accessible for blind persons, those who are partially sighted, people with mobility and cognitive impairments, and persons who are deaf, deafened, or hard-of-hearing. Disabled persons and seniors need the mobility provided by buses trains vans, taxis, and other means of transportation

The first section of this publication discusses advocacy for access to transport around the world while the second section introduces some aspects of access to streets and pathways, shelters and waiting areas, and bus stops. The third section deals with access to transit vehicles. The guide continues with brief discussions of access to public buildings and houses of worship and ideas about the role of laws and regulations. The guide concludes with a section on resources about accessible transportation. Readers are referred to this section for sources of further information about the many topics introduced in this guide.

This manual is being sent to people in countries around the world. It will help introduce persons with disabilities and their friends to different types of accessible transportation. It will help transportation professionals, social service workers and government officials to review different approaches to transit system accessibility. And it will assist clergy, religious workers, members of communities of faith, and others to be advocates for accessible transportation in their communities. We hope this publication will be especially helpful to persons in less wealthy countries where first steps must be taken on the long path to mobility for all.

This guide is published by the Health and Welfare Ministries of the General Board of Global Ministries of The United Methodist Church. Other publications on accessibility concerns may be found in the section on "Resources" on page 24 of this guide.

This publication was prepared by Tom Rickert, Executive Director of Access Exchange International (AEI), a non-profit agency in San Francisco, California, USA. Prior to founding AEI, the author was Manager of Accessible Services for the San Francisco Municipal Railway, which is San Francisco's public transportation agency. Photos not credited are by the author.