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Promotion of user-friendly public transport systems
for people with disabilities
Contents
Introduction
I. Magnitude
of the problem of inaccessible public transport systems
II. Current policies and measures
to improve access to public transport
III. Issues for consideration and
action
INTRODUCTION
According to estimates by the World
Health Organization, it can be expected that between
5 and 10 per cent of the population is likely to be
disabled in one form or another at any one time. It
can be thus estimated that there are between 150 and
300 million people with disabilities living in the
ESCAP region.
At the country level, disability
prevalence ranges from 18 per cent of the general
population in a developed country to 0.2 per cent
in the case of a developing country. This anomalous
variation in disability prevalence between developed
and developing countries must be viewed in the knowledge
that existing disability statistics in many developing
countries are believed to be extremely conservative.
Also, such statistics do not reflect the widespread
invisibility and lack of recognition of people with
disabilities in many developing countries. Those ESCAP
developing countries which have conducted sample surveys
report disability prevalence rates ranging usually
from 1.9 to 4.9 per cent, and more recently, as high
as 8.1 per cent.
Widespread and deep-seated attitudinal
barriers to disabled people’s participation in
society are commonly reflected in the physical barriers
in the built environment, which includes public transport
infrastructure. Those barriers obstruct their freedom
of movement. The lack of accessible public transport
is a severe constraint on the participation of people
with disabilities in the fields of education, skills
enhancement and other mainstream development programmes,
and civic forums. This factor limits the productive
contributions of people with disabilities to the development
process.
European cities which have introduced
access features into their public transport systems
have done so not only to meet the needs of disabled
and older persons, but because they realize that systems
which are user-friendly for these groups are preferred
by everyone and therefore more widely used. In Europe,
the public transport system includes tramways, light
rail, conventional rail, as well as bus and trolleybus
services. The wide coverage of European public transport
systems has facilitated the development and introduction
of initiatives such as the low-floor bus which enables
people with disabilities and older persons, as well
as passengers with heavy loads, trolley bags, prams
and pushchairs, to get on and off vehicles easily.
The developed countries and areas of the ESCAP region
have tended to adopt the European model in addressing
this issue.
In sharp contrast to the European
experience is the North American experience. Most
North American cities were developed to accommodate
cars, with dispersed settlement patterns that required
private car ownership. Consequently, public transport
service tends to be sparse. The exceptions are large
cities such as San Francisco, New York and Washington,
where there is a dense network of routes. However,
the older subway systems made no provision for access
by infirm and older persons and people with disabilities.
The expense of
retrofitting a subway system is instructive for ESCAP
developing countries. For example, it cost US$ 2 million
to install just one elevator in a New York city subway
station. Where the transport needs of people with
disabilities are met through paratransit services,
this is usually on a dial-up basis and using special
vans or taxis for the exclusive use of disabled persons.
In one instance, 90 per cent of the cost of paratransit
travel for disabled customers is subsidized through
public sources[1]. The expense
factor (both of retrofitting and of providing segregated,
paratransit services), combined with the already evident
ageing of Asian and Pacific societies, underlines
the need to build accessibility into all new public
transport systems.
In the ESCAP region, which is characterized
by rapid urbanization and expansion of public transport
services, it is critical that countries quickly benefit
from the lessons of the developed countries, especially
those in Europe.
I. MAGNITUDE OF THE
PROBLEM OF INACCESSIBLE PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEMS
This section highlights
trends which have implications in the context of efforts
to promote user-friendly public transport systems
for people with disabilities. In the preparation of
this section, recent documentation [2]
has provided valuable insight.
A. Invisibility of people with disabilities
A common argument used against the
introduction of access for disabled persons to public
transportation is that there are too few of them to
warrant attention.
On the question of the validity and
reliability of disability data, much depends on the
purpose for which the data are collected and the definitions
of disability used to include (or exclude) certain
groups.
Other dependent variables include
the degree of acceptance within a society of the citizenship
entitlements of people with disabilities to participate
in and benefit from all mainstream development programmes.
This particular variable affects not only the readiness
(or reluctance) of statistical personnel to undertake
work on disability data, but also the willingness
(or fear) concerning the reporting of disability.
Finally, the quality of disability data is influenced
by the methodologies employed for data collection,
analysis and presentation, as well as the skills of
disability data enumerators and other statistical
personnel.
Thus, it is widely believed that
existing disability statistics in many ESCAP developing
countries are extremely conservative estimates. The
invisibility of people with disabilities as a group
has misled many transport planners and operators into
concluding that they are too few in number to be of
consequence.
B. Emergence of ageing societies
Between 1960 and 1990, the ESCAP
region witnessed the largest increase in life expectancy
of any region in the world. By the year 2030, the
region will be home to more than half of the world’s
old people. United Nations statistics indicate a strong
and positive association between ageing and disability.
Given the rapid ageing of Asian and Pacific societies,
it is noteworthy that the likelihood of being disabled
dramatically increases as one enters the sixties age
group. However, disability statistics in the region
tend not to have captured this phenomenon.
C. Definition of transport-disadvantaged
persons
Transport-disadvantaged persons include
the following:
(a) People who already use public
transport systems, albeit with difficulty, among
whom are people who:
(i) Require mobility devices
(for example, walkers, crutches, calipers) to
move about;
(ii) Require sensory devices
(for example, white canes, low vision devices
and hearing aids) to function in mainstream society;
(iii) Need assistance in communicating
(for example, sign language interpretation and/or
other support in communication), moving to and
using public transport systems;
(iv) Need information, especially
on schedules, service routes, fares and safety
aspects, to be presented in user-friendly formats
(for example, visual format (colour-coded, in
large print), braille or aural format), and in
ways that the information can easily be located,
including by people who:
a. Have cognitive difficulties;
b. Are from out of town;
c. Are unaccompanied child passengers;
(v) Are temporarily disabled
as a result of accident or disease and have the
same need for assistive devices, user-friendly
information and passenger assistance as those
with long-term disabilities;
(vi) Have difficulty negotiating
steps, climbing stairs and walking long distances,
among whom are people who may not self-identify
as disabled persons or be considered as such by
others, but who, nevertheless:
a. May have health problems
(for example, respiratory, cardio-vascular,
back or joint problems);
b. Are generally frail and
slow because of old age;
c. Carry heavy loads;
d. Escort small children and/or
senior citizens;
e. Are pregnant.
(b) Potential public transport
users whose need for access to public transport
is not met because of the absence of access features
in public transport systems.
In ESCAP developing countries, people
who are transport-disadvantaged such as those listed
above constitute a group with the largest, hidden,
unsatisfied demand for user-friendly public transport
systems.
Historical travel patterns of people
with disabilities cannot be used to determine transport
planning for the next century. With further progress
expected in the remaining years of this decade, it
may be expected that, in the twenty-first century,
there will be more opportunities in Asian and Pacific
societies for the full participation and equality
of people with disabilities.
Increasingly, people with disabilities
in the region will want to be mobile. Many will want
to be independently mobile. Senior citizens of tomorrow
will be far less tolerant of transport disadvantage
than today’s disabled persons.
For transport planning purposes,
it matters little whether a user of public transport
holds a certificate of disability (which in many cases
is still based on the narrowest of medical criteria)
or is a person who would also benefit from disabled
user-friendly public transport, just like the person
who has a certificate of disability. To address the
needs of all transport-disadvantaged persons, it is
essential that systems are designed which welcome
and facilitate their use.
D. Urban transition
As of 1990, over
70 per cent of the world’s rural population lived
in the ESCAP region. At the same time, 32 per cent
of the region’s population lived in urban areas.
The Asian region is at a point in the urban transition
process which is beginning to see a substantial increase
in the number of people living in urban places[3].
By 2020, the level of urbanization in the ESCAP region
is expected to reach 55 per cent[4].
This does not mean that 55 per cent will be living
in cities. Rather, it means that a significant proportion
will be living in market towns and administrative
centres[5]. However, rapid
urbanization notwithstanding, the rural population
continues to grow.
The projected level
of urbanization indicates that a steadily declining
proportion of the region’s population will be
making a living from agriculture, forestry, livestock
farming and fishery. Instead, it is likely that, although
increasing numbers of rural dwellers may live in settlements
designated by censuses as "rural", they
will in fact derive incomes in urban areas[6].
E. Present situation of public transport
systems
Transport systems in the region are
characterized by their diversity. For the poor, non-motorized
forms of transport are the backbone of their transport
system, to move both people and goods. In the rural
sector, animal-drawn carts and paddle-boats are still
widely used. Rickshaws (for example, in Bangladesh
and India) and becaks (for example, in Indonesia)
are popular transport modes in urban areas.
Inter-island transportation by vessels
carrying cargo and passengers is the common transport
mode for island developing countries and areas in
the ESCAP region. However, as fishing vessels may
be used (for example, the dhondi in the Maldives),
the service may be neither convenient nor regular.
Over the past two to three decades,
the region has experienced an explosive transformation
in transport modes. Non-motorized transport and pedestrians
have given way to motorized vehicles, especially cars.
There is growing concern over traffic congestion of
a severity which paralyses several cities in ESCAP
developing countries. Air and noise pollution from
motorized vehicles affects the quality of life in
many Asian and Pacific cities, with especially harsh
consequences for the health of children and those
who make a living in areas subjected to high levels
of exhaust emissions. The implications of poor public
transport services for reduced levels of psychological
well-being, physical health and participation in society
are compelling grounds for serious policy review as
the region prepares to enter the twenty-first century.
In the region, the past few decades
have witnessed an extraordinary increase in passenger
movement and traffic, especially within and between
cities, and between the rural areas and urban centres.
For individual commuters, the growth of urban centres
means longer travel time.
Public transport systems (especially
buses, trains and boats) in much of the ESCAP developing
region are predominantly used by lower income groups.
With few exceptions, services are overcrowded and
irregular. A major problem for passengers is the large
gap between ground level and the doorways of public
transport vehicles.
The problems
that commonly beset public transport systems in low-
and middle-income countries in the ESCAP region include
user-insensitive planning, inadequate investment,
poor management, inadequate revenue (due partly to
revenue leakage), poor maintenance and deterioration
of services[7]. At the same
time, user demand continues to grow simply because
most low-income users have no alternative.
F. Significance of public transport
systems
Public transport systems will have
an even greater role in ensuring the articulation
of activities undertaken by people living in the rural
areas, including the periphery of urban centres, with
the economic opportunities within those centres. Together
with the development of amenities, such systems will
also have a crucial role in decentralizing economic
activities and population away from the present pattern
of concentration in cities, thus helping to relieve
the projected excessive strain on those cities.
It is noteworthy
that there is an enormous potential growth market
for public transportation in Asia and the Pacific[8].
Buses account for 90 per cent of public transport
movement in the world[9].
In the ESCAP region, daily bus passengers constitute
a significant proportion of the total population using
public transport[10]. Moreover,
buses have a low investment and fare cost advantage
over other modes of public transportation. A recent
ESCAP survey of the integration of non-motorized transport
in the urban transport system of Dhaka revealed that
the cost of passenger kilometre movement by bus is
a quarter of that by auto-rickshaw and under half
that by rickshaw.
The projected growth presents an
opportunity for new design options, for example, low-floor
or wheel-chair lift buses. Furthermore, plans may
be developed for gradual replacement of buses over
their estimated average service life of 12-15 years
in most cases.
In comparison, railway rolling stock
lasts at least 30 years, while a subway system lasts
for at least 100 years. It is, therefore, easier to
redesign a bus than a rail system, although the technical
solutions to make railway systems accessible are available
and already in use in some countries of the region.
With new design
options, growth potential and possibilities of funding
gradual conversion with modest system-wide fare increases
and tightening of revenue leakage[11],
the case against enhancing the accessibility of fixed
route services on cost grounds is no longer valid[12].
Private motorized vehicle use (motorcycles
and cars) is a dominant symbol of upward social mobility.
The challenge is to improve public transport systems
in the region’s developing countries to a level
of reliable service, which, while affordable by the
majority, is not associated with low status in society.
The wide use of public transport services in Hong
Kong China, Japan and Singapore exemplify successful
responses to that challenge, which bear consideration.
Funding assistance in infrastructure
development, which ignores the incorporation of access
features in public transport systems, rests on questionable
premises, that is, that the human costs borne by low-income
and low-status groups in their daily struggle with
user-unfriendly systems do not matter and that only
those who are physically fit are entitled to use public
transport systems since existing designs do not address
user diversity and equality of access.
The above trends call for urgent
reexamination of conventional approaches to the development
of public transport systems in the ESCAP region. As
far as transport planning is concerned, there is a
need to reconsider the current five-year time-frame
in favour of a 20-year integrated, strategic perspective.
It is in this forward-looking context that a people-focused
emphasis needs to be incorporated into transport planning.
II. CURRENT
POLICIES AND MEASURES TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO PUBLIC
TRANSPORT
This note draws on responses to an
ESCAP questionnaire survey conducted among members
and associate members. Its purpose was to ascertain
the existence of current policies and measures on
access to public transportation and the views of respondents,
including officials, and organizations of disabled
persons concerning access to public transportation.
The following highlights are based
on 62 questionnaire responses received from agencies
and organizations in 27 member and associate members.
A. Policy
Most responses indicate an absence
of any policy statement that explicitly recognizes
the importance of accessible public transport for
diverse user groups. Exceptions include Australia,
China, Hong Kong China, India, Indonesia, the Islamic
Republic of Iran, Japan, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea
and the Philippines, all of which have clear policy
positions on the issue.
In certain cases, policy statements
are a first step, with as yet limited introduction
of access features into the public transport systems.
Wheelchair access in airports and train stations is
one area where innovative steps have been taken.
Australia has developed draft disability
standards for accessible public transport with guidelines,
whose implementation is under consideration by the
Federal Government. China’s Design Code for
the Accessibility of People with Disabilities to Urban
Roads and Buildings covers, inter alia,
buildings for public transport, audible signals and
parking space. The Hong Kong China Review of Rehabilitation
Programme Plan contains a chapter titled "Access
and transport for people with disabilities".
The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Design Criteria
for Handicapped Planning and Architecture contains
a reference to the need for public transportation
vehicles to be equipped with mechanical lifts to make
them accessible to disabled persons. Currently, a
new policy document for the Islamic Republic of Iran
is being approved. Japan’s seven-year government
action plan for persons with disabilities contains
strategies for mobility and transportation. At the
prefectural level, ordinances exist for a barrier-free
environment which covers public transport. The Philippines
has the Accessibility Law and Implementing Rules and
Regulations.
B. Existing measures
Overall, user-friendly access for
people with disabilities in public transport systems
is at a nascent stage of development in most developing
countries of the ESCAP region. Some national coordination
committees on disability have subcommittees or advisory
bodies devoted to access issues. Their members are
representatives from ministries and councils responsible
for transport, housing, environment, urban development
and road safety.
In some countries, certain locations,
for example, bus stops and train stations, are barrier-free
while buses and trains are not. In another instance,
both trains and train stations are barrier-free. Such
instances have occurred where governments have introduced
certain measures for disabled persons in the absence
of explicit policy.
In developing countries of the region
characterized by overcrowding of public transport
systems, the most common measures are the designation
of special seats, fare counters and rest facilities,
and the provision of concessionary fares (for a disabled
passenger and a helper) or free travel. However, these
measures per se have not reduced the difficulties
that disabled people face in using bus and train services.
In some cases, in the planning of
mass transit railway systems, it was decided not to
provide access for disabled people. The concerns cited
included safety and the high passenger volume expected.
In one case, a study conducted on actual conditions
concluded that the system could cater to people with
disabilities without affecting either safety or the
effectiveness of the system. Following this study,
areas for improvement have been identified and new
facilities tested prior to expansion of improvements.
Where both lift
and low-floor buses have been introduced, low-floor
buses are more popular among users. Their attractiveness
derives from their strategic design and development
intent to enhance the appeal of bus travel as a transport
mode, not just to facilitate access for people with
mobility impairments[13].
Local government in one country subsidizes
the installation of lifts in train stations, as well
as the purchase (50 per cent of the total cost) of
lift and low-floor buses. A new "non-step"
bus produced in that country was introduced in April
1997 by five cities into their public transport systems.
Another city in the same country has a "non-step"
metro. In yet another city, every subway station has
lifts connecting platforms and ground surface level.
Where there is progress on access
provision in public transport infrastructure (new
construction and renovation) it is associated with
the following:
(a) Enactment of legislation protecting
the rights of disabled persons and, particularly,
access requirements mandated under such legislation;
(b) The foresight of senior civil
servants, especially in:
(i) Promoting government consultations
with disabled people in transport-related decision-making
and supporting their dialogue with transport operators;
(ii) Establishing strong government
mechanisms for inter-agency coordination;
(iii) Initiating specialized
transport studies on user needs and continuous
reviews;
(iv) Participating actively in
international information exchange to seek, for
incountry application, relevant research findings;
(c) Action by people with disabilities
and civic groups, including:
(i) The development of their
own public transport policy statements;
(ii) Awareness-raising among
transport planners and operators and the general
public;
(d) Advances in telecommunications
(for example, taxi communications network: voice
and data exchange);
(e) Active mass media promotion
of barrier-free concerns;
(f) Promotion by politicians;
(g) Private sector support for
barrier-free public transportation.
User perspectives
While many people with disabilities
manage to use public transport services, they do so
only with great effort. The following statements are
illustrative of the experiences of this group concerning
their use of public transport systems:
"Everyday it is a painful
struggle with my crutches to get on and off our
badly crowded buses. In the monsoon, it is even
more treacherous. On some days, I should use a
wheelchair, not force myself with the crutches.
But then I wouldn't be able to get to school.
Three-wheelers are a luxury I can’t afford."
(Informant in South Asia).
"In our society, it is unacceptable
for us (disabled women) to be helped in public
places if the help involves physical contact with
male non-family members. This means that, the
way public transport is, most of us, much more
than is the case for non-disabled women, are imprisoned
at home. We are invisible and no one remembers
we have rights to a meaningful life." (Informant
in South Asia).
"I do not accept that I
am to stay at home, out of sight of society. That
is what many people tell us we should do. I hold
three jobs. I use public transport to travel all
over town, even at night, and to the rural areas
for my work. I also use air transport to travel
to foreign countries, to attend meetings with
other disabled people. My white cane alerts others.
I have learned to deal with harassment and the
ever present danger of open manholes and dangling
electrical wires." (Informant in South-East
Asia).
"Unlike blind people, we
cannot so easily undertake journeys. I hate imposing
on others, but even if I am carried on and off
trains or buses, there are no accessible toilets.
When I have to go out, I do not eat or drink for
12 hours before the journey nor all the time I’m
away from home. It’s awful, but I am starved
of fresh air and being out there with other people."
(Informant in East Asia).
"Often, we wait a long time
for the bus ~ some bus drivers even accelerate
instead of stopping when they see a disabled person
at the bus stop. Imagine how we feel!" (Informant
in the South Pacific).
C. Measures proposed by respondents
Specific measures (for public transport
access improvement) proposed by respondents to the
ESCAP questionnaire are listed below:
(a) Introduce regular, broad-based
consultations with diverse user groups, including
people with disabilities, to determine transport
access issues and facilities, as well as to improve
their involvement in plans and programmes, in coordination
with concerned government agencies and non-governmental
organizations (NGOs);
(b) Incorporate access concerns
in plans for construction of new infrastructure,
as well as expansion and renovation of existing
ones;
(c) Establish guidelines on facilitation
of access for people with disabilities, for adoption
by transport authorities and public transport operators;
(d) Introduce access feature audits
and monitoring of public transport projects;
(e) Enact a law on accessibility
of public transportation for people with disabilities
and frail older persons, including, inter alia,
requirements that new buses have low floors and
there is lift access in public transport systems
for disabled persons;
(f) Introduce mandatory requirements
(in the absence of accessibility legislation) to
improve access, for example, by measures to minimize
the gap between ground level and vehicle doorways,
through improvements of design and in driver behaviour,
as well as by purchasing new vehicles with access
features when replacing vehicles;
(g) Review and update access standards,
guidelines and practices;
(h) Develop a policy for traffic
accident prevention;
(i) Encourage manufacturers of
buses and trains to make provision for wheelchair
users and other disability groups.
Questionnaire respondents emphasized
the desirability of national access standards and
sound application of legislation in support of equal
opportunities. They also identified key actors whose
understanding of access issues is crucial to access
improvements in public transport systems. The diversity
of those actors underlines the importance of effective
coordination and cooperation among several agencies
and NGOs, for access improvements to be achieved.
III. ISSUES
FOR CONSIDERATION AND ACTION[14]
The decisions of the Committee with
regard to the promotion of user-friendly public transport
for people with disabilities will be brought to the
attention of the ESCAP region’s first regional
meeting on accessible transportation, which the Government
of the Philippines plans to host in July 1998.
The Committee is invited to extend
its support to that meeting, whose outcome will serve
as the ESCAP region’s input to the Eighth International
Conference on Mobility and Disabled Persons, to be
held at Perth, Australia, in September 1998.
With this in mind, the following
issues are proposed for the consideration of the Committee.
A. Political commitment to overcome
invisibility and exclusion
The issue of the invisibility and
exclusion of people with disabilities from public
transport systems highlights broader political issues
of inequity in planning priorities and resource allocation,
as well as an absence of explicit commitment to promote
user safety and convenience (see chapter II). For
society as a whole, action in support of user-friendly
public transport systems for disabled persons has
significant implications for the achievement of universal
access benefits for everyone (see Introduction and
chapter I).
The Committee may address the issue
of the invisibility of large numbers of transport-disadvantaged
persons through the following measures to generate
the essential conditions for overcoming transport
disadvantage:
(a) Introduce into future-oriented
policies explicit recognition of the existence of
transport-disadvantaged persons;
(b) Initiate immediate action towards
fully accessible mainstream public transport systems,
bearing in mind that, regardless of the starting
point in any society, progress can be made towards
enabling disabled people to participate in mainstream
society, whose benefits (greater safety and convenience)
extend to all passengers;
(c) Mobilize, in addition to financial
and other resources, political commitment to the
achievement of user-friendly public transport systems
that are inclusive of people with disabilities and
anticipatory of demographic and other development
trends in the ESCAP region;
(d) Include planning of user-friendly
public transport systems as an important component
of a pro-poor development strategy, supported by
the requisite budgetary resources, upgrading transport
personnel skills and implementation mechanisms.
B. Long-term, integrated transport
planning
Current approaches to transport planning
tend to be within a five-year time-frame. Furthermore,
there is no integration with overall land-use planning;
nor are the different modes of transport closely interlinked.
The Committee may propose the adoption of the following
actions to address these issues:
(a) To recognize the need for a
long-term perspective (of at least 20 years) in
transport planning, taking into consideration the
long lead time for improvements to be implemented;
(b) To undertake long-term transport
planning in coordination with land-use planning
to minimize, to the extent possible, spatial incoherence
of built-up areas within and around urban centres,
which is a key factor in increasing the cost of
public transport service provision;
(c) To take into consideration,
in transport planning, the entire transport chain
with feeder and other connecting services, and not
just a small number of stations for lift installation
or one transport mode in isolation of overall connectivity,
which will have minimal impact on diminishing the
mobility deficit of people with disabilities and
other transport-disadvantaged persons;
(d) To assign priority to public
transport systems in high population density areas
over and above private motorized vehicles;
(e) To phase in new technology,
especially for buses, in the expansion, renovation
and upgrading of public transport systems;
(f) To introduce strong coordination
and consultation mechanisms for the development
of integrated transport policy, especially where
several transport agencies exist;
(g) To support the implementation
of the secretariat’s umbrella project on comprehensive
and integrated approach to policy development in
the field of infrastructure, traffic and transport
(enumerated within the regional action programme
for implementation of the New Delhi Action Plan
on Infrastructure Development in Asia and the Pacific,
project profile 9), with the inclusion of planning
for user-friendly public transport systems for people
with disabilities.
C. Local initiatives and solutions
In most ESCAP developing countries,
there is little or no local authority involvement
in the transport planning exercise. As a result, local
authorities in those countries are not actively engaged
in introducing accessible public transport systems.
Concomitant with the non-involvement of local authorities
is the absence of mechanisms for the participation
of diverse user groups in transport planning and local
authority action.
The Committee may consider endorsing
the following actions:
(a) To encourage local authority
action for accessible transport;
(b) To ensure the participation
of diverse user groups, including people with disabilities,
in the decision-making process, before the approval
of plans;
(c) To encourage the generation
of local solutions through, inter alia, supporting
information exchange on new approaches, technology
and technical options for reference and adaptation
of lessons learned elsewhere.
D. Development assistance
Funding and technical advisory services
for infrastructure development in ESCAP developing
countries do not include technical assistance in the
promotion of user-friendly public transport systems
and services. To address this issue, the Committee
may wish to urge all donor and development agencies
which assist in infrastructure development in the
region to carry out the following actions:
(a) To develop for their own staff
a programme of awareness raising and training concerning
the issues of transport disadvantage and access promotion;
(b) To provide technical assistance
in and funding for the planning and construction of
universally accessible and user-friendly public transport
systems.
FOOTNOTES
- Urban Transport News, 30 July 1997, p.
123. [back]
- See CITYNET, Urban Transport and Mass Transit:
Proceedings of the Regional Policy Seminar on Urban
Transport and Mass Transit, New Delhi, 14-17 October
1996, May 1997; ESCAP, Infrastructure Development
as Key to Economic Growth and Regional Economic
Cooperation (ST/ESCAP/1364); ESCAP, Review
of Developments in Transport, Communications and
Tourism in the ESCAP Region, 1995 (ST/ESCAP/1620);
C.G.B. Mitchell and Philip R. Oxley, Mobility
and Transport for Elderly and Disabled People: Ideas
into Action: Proceedings of the 7th International
Conference, Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom,
16-19 July, vols. 1 and 2, and vol. 3 by Philip
Oxley (Bedford, Cranfield University Press, 1995);
Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia and
the Pacific (SUSTRAN), news flashes; and Peter Vintila,
Transport for People with Disabilities, Volume
I: Transport Needs in a Changing Environment; Volume
II: Existing Services and Future Options, Institute
for Science and Technology Policy, Murdoch University,
Australia, 1996. [back]
- ESCAP, State of Urbanization in Asia and the
Pacific 1993 (ST/ESCAP/1300), chap. II, p. 4.
[back]
- Ibid., chap. II, p. 35. [back]
- United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (HABITAT),
An Urbanizing World: Global Report on Human Settlements,
1996 (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1996),
p. 14. [back]
- Ibid., p. 12 [back]
- ESCAP, State of Urbanization..., chap.
II, pp. 53-54 [back]
- James K. Isaac, Public Transport International
1996/1, p. 50. [back]
- Ibid., p. 51.[back]
- ESCAP, State of Urbanization..., chap.
II, p. 50. [back]
- Vintila, op. cit., p. 162 [back]
- Ibid., p. 238. [back]
- Ibid., p. 242. [back]
- This section is based on: (a) the outcome of the
ESCAP project on the promotion of non-handicapping
environments for disabled and elderly persons in
the Asian and Pacific region; (b) responses to the
ESCAP survey on access to public transportation;
and (c) information contained in technical publications.
[back]
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