Accessible low floor buses in Hong Kong, rail
access in Tokyo, and tactile guide ways in China were among the accessibility approaches
discussed at a Jan. 11 seminar hosted by APTA on transportation features in the
Asia-Pacific region for persons with disabilities and seniors. The event was the third in
a series of programs at APTA’s headquarters in Washington on the theme of trends and
practices in accessible transportation in Latin America, Asia, and elsewhere.
The event was sponsored by Access Exchange International, a nonprofit agency based in
San Francisco that promotes accessible transportation in countries around the world, in
collaboration with the International Centre for Accessible Transportation in Montreal.
Presenters included AEI Executive Director Tom Rickert; Dr. Kit Mitchell, retired from
the British Transportation Research Laboratory; Ling Suen of ICAT; Miriam Miyoko litoyo, a
paratransit operator in Tokyo; James McLary of South-east Transit Management; and Lalita
Senof Texas Southern University. Each has recent experience in the Asia-Pacific region,
including Japan, China, Malaysia, Thailand, India, and Singapore.
APTA President William W. Millar welcomed seminar participants, who included Public and
private sector stake-holders from several countries. In response to suggestions by
participants Millar offered to provide greater opportunities to disseminate low-tech
access techniques at APTA conferences and technical workshops.
Hong Kong is probably the leading city in the Asia-Pacific region in the actual
deployment of accessible transportation, according to a report given at the seminar, with
more than 1,000 ramped low floor double-decker buses; state-of-the-art access features on
new rail lines; a fleet of more than 70 paratransit vehicles; and well-developed access
features at its new intercontinental airport. Other Chinese cities report access features
including a total of some 500 kilo-meters of tactile guideways installed along key
pedestrian paths and at transit stops and stations.
More than 100 Chinese delegates from 17 provinces participated in November in a
five-day regional training seminar in Shenzhen on making public transportation accessible
by persons with disabilities, sponsored by the Chinese government and the United Nations
Economic and Social Commission for the Asia-Pacific Region. Tom Rickert of AEI and Ling
Suen of ICAT participated in the seminar as western resource persons.
Other Accessible Practices
Other reports at the Washington program noted that Bangkok's new Sky Train is
accessible at key stations; a new fleet of lift-equipped taxis has been acquired by
privately operated City Cab of Singapore; the Korean cities of Seoul and Pusan have a long
record of subway access through the use of stair lifts; and access features are now being
considered for an extension of the subway system in Calcutta, India. A series of
"first-ever" workshops on transportation access was held in October in Kuala
Lumpur and Penang, Malaysia, and in Bangkok, Thailand.
In addition, Australia is moving toward adoption of its National Accessible Transport
Standards, and Australian cities are working toward fully accessible transit systems.
Seminar participants learned that Japan leads Asia in the adoption of national
accessibility standards, including a national Barrier-Free Transportation Law that passed
in May 2000 and went into effect that November, mandating accessibility features for new
transit vehicles and new or remodeled transit facilities. Some Japanese cities have
already gone beyond the requirements of the new legislation, including Osaka, which plans
to make all 119 of its subway stations accessible by 2002. Low floor accessible
street-cars made their debut in Hiroshima this past year.
In terms of innovative engineering, Japan was cited for its use of escalators that
convert escalator treads into wheel-chair lifts, or provide "pop-up" wheel-chair
ramps on platform surfaces to facilitate wheelchair transfers to subway trains above
platform level.
For further information on accessible
transportation trends in Asia, some of which are relevant to APTA member systems, con-tact
Tom Rickert, executive director, at Access Exchange International, 112 San Pablo Ave., San
Francisco, Calif. 94127; telephone (415) 661-6355,or by e-mail, at globatride-sfg@att.net.
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