Workshop on
Trends Jan. 13 in Washington
Important steps toward accessible
transit services have been reported in several regions of Latin America, including the
enactment of national legislation in Argentina and Costa Rica requiring phased-in access
to municipal bus services. In addition, initial steps have been taken in several major
cities in Mexico and South America to provide subway, bus, or trolleybus access for
disabled passengers.
Argentina's National Law No. 24.314 mandates the
deployment of accessible low floor, ramp- or lift-equipped buses. In response, Buenos
Aires has currently deployed an initial 900 buses as part of a program that will
ultimately replace its entire fleet of 10,000 vehicles.
Costa Rica's Public Law 7600 additionally mandates the
phasing in of a taxi fleet with 10 percent of units accessible. Enforcement of this
legislation begins this coming year as bus operator franchises come up for renegotiation
with Costa Rica's Ministry of Public Works and Transportation.
These reports are based on personal observations by Tom
Rickert, executive director of Access Exchange International, a San Francisco-based
nonprofit agency with the mission of promoting accessible transportation for persons with
disabilities in less-wealthy countries. During this past year, Rickert has led transit
access workshops in Mexico City, Costa Rica, Buenos Aires, and Rio de Janeiro. He also
participated in the first all-Latin America workshop on transit access standards, held in
October in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Other initiatives in Latin America include:
- Access features for mobility impaired or blind passengers
are in operation or planned at 14 metro stations in Mexico City, 12 metro stations in
Santiago, and 25 or more stations in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, and Buenos Aires.
- In Mexico City, 24 accessible buses and trolleybuses are
deployed on three major lines, with plans for future service expansion.
- In Sao Paulo, Brazil, paratransit services have been
initiated with a 102-vehicle fleet of lift-equipped vans managed by Sao Paulo Transporte.
- Perhaps the most well known accessible services in Latin
America are in Curitiba, Brazil, whose double-articulated buses on nine
"Ligeirinho" ("swift bus") lines are accessible to all passengers via
high platforms at every stop, served by bridges attached to bus entrances that are lowered
to span the gap between bus and platform. Platforms are accessed from the street via
accessible ramps or, alternatively, by stairs along with elevators for wheelchair users.
Buses need an exclusive right-of-way to station themselves parallel to the platform stops.
- In Quito, Ecuador, a new seven-mile trolley coach line has
ramped platform access at its 22 stops, using an approach similar to that of Curitiba.
On the one hand, Latin America's emerging accessible
services face daunting challenges beyond the obvious cost and operational issues.
For example, with more than 100 private bus operators in
Buenos Aires, phasing in 10,000 low-floor buses in a manner that invites use by persons
with disabilities is a difficult task, especially during initial years of deployment when
a relatively low percentage of buses are accessible.
"Inclinators," which can carry wheelchair users
adjacent to subway pedestrian stairways, are in use or planned for retrofitting older
underground stations in several cities, but can be slow and present challenges in both
maintenance and operation. These problems are mitigated at new stations, where vertical
elevators can be included in the original construction.
A larger issue is the ongoing need to coordinate access to
the infrastructure with access to transit stops and stations. For example, curb ramps in
Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and San Jose, Costa Rica, tend to have steeper sides than those
in North America, construction quality varies, and many cities must cope with narrow and
often obstructed or broken sidewalks. In addition, accessible services are seldom found
outside major cities, leaving the majority of persons with disabilities in Latin America
without transportation.
On the other hand, a number of best practices in Latin
America may yet provide helpful models for American and Canadian transit operators while
serving as models for the spread of transit access in Central and South America:
- Curitiba's "Ligeirinho" services and Quito's
trolleybuses exemplify principles of universal design. All passengers board from circular
steel and glass "tube stations" designed to protect passengers in pre-paid
areas. Access is the same for both passengers with disabilities and others.
- In Rio de Janeiro, hundreds of extra-wide curb ramps in
central and tourist sections of the city enhance mobility for all pedestrians in a more
inviting manner than do those typically found in the United States: another example of
universal design being promoted by architects and disability leaders in Brazil.
- In Buenos Aires, user-friendly features on low floor buses
include sets of horizontal rails positioned to allow some standees to lean back, take some
of their weight off their feet, and enjoy a more stable ride.
Trends in accessible transportation and universal design
in Latin America will be reviewed at a Jan. 13 workshop at the APTA offices in Washington,
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sponsored by Access Exchange International, the workshop will
discuss trends, applicability of best practices to North American transit systems, access
challenges in some of Latin America's large transit systems, and ways in which American
and Canadian agencies can assist the development of accessible transportation for disabled
persons and seniors in Latin America.
Following a welcome by APTA President William W. Millar,
presenters will include Rosangela Berman-Bieler, founder of Rio's Center for Independent
Living; Eduardo Alvarez of Uruguay, who heads up the Technical Committee on Accessibility
Standards of the Panamerican Standards Commission; Charles Wright, an economist with the
Inter-American Development Bank, with a background in Brazilian transportation planning;
and Tom Rickert of AEI, who headed up the San Francisco Municipal Railway's accessible
services before stepping down to found AEI in 1990.
Access Exchange International is a nonprofit agency with
the sole mission of promoting access to transportation in regions where access features
are often lacking, typically in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In past years, AEI has
used U.S. government grants to work on both paratransit and fixed route access planning in
Moscow, Russia, and Johannesburg, South Africa. Rickert, who once lived in Costa Rica and
speaks Spanish, is especially interested in Latin America; he has led workshops on six
occasions in Mexican cities, and is scheduled to return to Mexico City for meetings in
February.
AEI has prepared a guide, "Mobility for All:
Accessible Transportation Around the World," which is available in English and
Spanish versions. A Japanese version, now in preparation, will further AEI's plans to
expand its outreach to Asian cities in the coming year.
AEI seeks volunteer consultants, especially those fluent
in Spanish, as well as funds and other resources to further its work. For further
information, to order a copy of "Mobility for All," or to register for the Jan.
13 workshop, contact Rickert at Access Exchange International, 112 San Pablo Ave., San
Francisco, Calif. 94127; telephone (415) 661-6355; fax (415) 661-1543; or by e-mail at globalride-sf@worldnet.att.net.
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