Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Handicapped Persons

Norman Ashford, William G. Bell, Tom A. Rich, Norman Ashford, William G. Bell, Tom A. Rich

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000366532
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Transportation & Navigation
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Originally published in 1982 and contributed to by a range of international authors and experts in the field of transport accessibility, this volume discusses the position of urban and rural transport problems of the elderly and disabled in the UK, USA, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Sweden. Based on research, policy analysis and documental field experience the volume also discusses advances made in relevant technology, major changes in public policy and innovative proposals for system development or change.

Chapter 1

International Overviews

The first six papers which are presented in this chapter, provide an overview to the more detailed areas covered in subsequent chapters. In truth, the international scene described is a limited one, that of developed western countries. It is to be hoped that future deliberations may be widened to include the problems and experiences of less developed nations.

In detail, the transport problems facing the elderly and handicapped differ in each country due to physical, social and legal differences. However many of the underlying causes are essentially similar. In many countries, the rapid car oriented post-World War II suburban development presents mobility difficulties as the suburban resident grows older. In developed societies, the proportion of older person everywhere is increasing. Decentralization and the decline of neighbourhood communities and services is a common problem brought about by a more universal mobility. Depopulation of the rural areas, and a consequential decline in rural services continues as farming continues to mechanize and provide less need for rural employment. Inner urban areas change in character as in-migration of the poorer elements of society takes place; such changes are not confined to the United States, but are perhaps most severely manifested there.

The solutions differ. In some parts of Sweden for example, transport as a social service is firmly rooted as part of the public transit service. Special services, run with a variety of sources of governmental support, are common in the U.S. The history of voluntarism, has reappeared in the form of transport provision in the United Kingdom. Belgium for some time has provided surrogates to travel, to ease the problems of those who are housebound. The United Kingdom promotes the use of the motor car for the disabled by the provision of a mobility allowance, while France has developed strong legislation, similar to that of the U.S. to eliminate the problems of moving through transport interfaces in a wheelchair. In Canada and the U.S., active consumerism is facing changes through the political process.

The following papers reflect both the similarities and differences of the various problems and approaches toward national solutions.

“Social Service” Transport: Transport for Elderly and Handicapped Persons^†

A. Hitchcock

Transport and Road Research Laboratory, Crowthorne, Berks.

The report consists of a reproduction of the original discussion piece by four authors, led by Alain Bieber, IRT Paris, and of which the present reporter was one. It follows on with a summary of the discussion of the national experts present under the chairmanship of Professor J. B. Polak, University of Gröningen.^*

The final summary concludes:

International comparisons of transport experience in regard to the elderly and handicapped are of special interest for three reasons: differences in approach as between countries, lack of knowledge concerning needs, and the policy implications involved in the search solutions.

1. Identifying Needs

1.1 Determining what groups are concerned

Relevant statistical samples are by no means easy to construct since elderly and handicapped individuals are difficult to identify and official classifications prove inadequate. Elderly people differ greatly, since “handicap” is a notion hard to pinpoint objectively. There are undoubtedly links between the handicap and the marginal social conditions of the sufferer and how he comes to terms with his handicap. The available statistics, mainly based on specific needs, are not comparable. Furthermore, since they are mostly compiled on the basis of official classifications, they prove unsuited for high-lighting specific transport needs. A number of minor handicaps may well not be recorded, yet be a considerable impediment to travelling. In identifying needs, the officially recognised legal status can thus conflict with actual mobility requirements.

*The report of this ECMT Round Table held in Paris March 1980 has already been published.

†©British Crown copyright 1982.

There are no well tried ways of identifying persons whose capacity to move is reduced. Further research of a more quantitative kind seems to be needed, so that the widely differing situations of handicapped and elderly people can be grasped. Only by adequately segmenting the impaired mobility group in terms of needs would it seem possible to adopt efficient measures and avoid concentrating on conspicuous but marginal requirements.

1.2 Identifying needs

The question of mobility should be analysed as part of a study of the lifestyle desired, since there can be no question of imposing a mode of life on the elderly or handicapped through transport measures.

Since travel behvaiour is not conditioned solely by physical handicaps, transport cannot make such difference once a socially withdrawn lifestyle has set in; transport’s only role is to prevent this from happening.

Examining the condition of identifying groups whose mobility is impaired and their needs shows that in trying to devise effective solutions, care must be taken to avoid:

• - spectacular, unduly medical approaches and actions designed to impress the public
• - quantitative approaches, especially of the aggregative type, based on establishing mobility standards.

2. The Search for Solutions

This largely depends on how such a concept as the place in society of groups whose movements are impaired and what kind of help they should receive has evolved over time. There has been a gradual movement from charity to assistance, and then from assistance to the right to financial aid and a job, and ultimately, to integration in community life.

2.1 Use of specialised services

• - User attitudes: many users have mixed feelings about the special service feeling that it makes the social ghetto in which they tend to be confined even worse, and will only use such facilities when no other means of transport are available
• - Running costs of specialised services: to assess these properly, they must be compared with the costs of relocating and all other types of expenditure incurred for the elderly and handicapped. They are however undoubtedly high, which suggests that:
• - they should be compared with the costs of taxis, which can often substitute for special services
• - efforts could be made to reduce the costs by opening the services to other users, developing volunteer schemes, and introducing more effective coordination between the various transport systems
• - the organisation of special services: the present pattern, in which many private and semi-public institutions are involved, does enable specific needs to be met very closely; but it leads to over-saturation of the demand, to solutions which are not sufficiently open to the outside world, to the creation of what are tantamount to private preserves, and to the absence of any well-coordinated overall service.

Analysis therefore tends to challenge the strategy of assigning a pre-eminent social transport role to specialised services, which should be designed only to supplement conventional modes: public transport, private cars, taxis etc.

2.2 Use of existing transport facilities

1. The suitability of different modes of transport
   • - Conventional public transport: this can have only a limited role for severely handicapped users, and during rush hours
   • - Taxis: often capable of providing a service quite matching that of special forms of transport, but usually at a lower cost. They are also perfectly compatible with personalised aid systems, which have a considerable future, and can validly meet the requirements of temporarily handicapped users
   • - Private cars: so long as people have the capacity (strictly and regularly checked) to drive, they should be encouraged to do so, both technically and financially
   • - Walking: those whose mobility is impaired are particularly inclined to make short trips on foot, which is undoubtedly an essential complement to vehicle transport; walking should therefore be encouraged and facilitated
2. Adjustments to various modes of transport
   • - Conventional public transport: policies of total accessibility here should certainly be discarded in favour of efficient inexpensive minor adjustments. Such modifications are relevant both to equipment design (vehicles easier to step on and off, appropriate design of arm rests, more space between some of the seats, signalling systems for the sightless and hard of hearing, etc.) and organisational planning (layout of stops, influencing of driving behaviour, provision of escorts etc.)
   • - Taxis: since it would probably be very hard to have taxis produced to specially adapted new designs, it would be wiser to concentrate on less radical changes, such as sliding or swivel seats for the front passenger. It would also be helpful to organise an awareness campaign for taxi drivers regarding the problem of elderly and handicapped users, and provide incentives for accepting them as patrons
   • - Private cars: systems of financial aid should be developed for the most disadvantaged to promote adjustment of their vehicles to their specific needs. The elderly and handicapped should also be helped, especially by extending personal grants to fulfil the economic and financial conditions for running a car
   • - Walking: research in depth is needed regarding the walking process, the improvement of pedestrian amenities when planning transport schemes, traffic layouts and devices for controlling traffic lights. There is also a need to improve the often inadequate design of houses and apartment buildings.
   • - Other measures:
     Wheelchairs: it would be useful to promote the design of a standardized wheelchair usable on other transport vehicles
     Dissemination of information to users: the elderly and handicapped and their families often do not realise what facilities are available; awareness campaigns and information centres are here required.
     Training for transport personnel: by standardizing the information given to drivers of public vehicles, taxis and operators, about helping the handicapped or elderly user, transport personnel must be effectively trained to make travel easier for these disadvantaged social categories. Similar activites should be developed for physicians, so that they can better determine modes of transport meeting for their patients¹ needs.

Belgian Policy on Mobility of Elderly and Handicapped Persons

Julien Harboort

First Advisor, Belgian Senate, Brussels

1. A Minibus Service for the Handicapped

The paper entitled “Belgian problems of the mobility of elderly and handicapped persons” published in Mobility for the Elderly and Handicapped, (Proceedings of the International Conference on Transport for the Elderly and Handicapped, Cambridge, April 1978) gave an appreciation of the steps taken by the Brussels Regional Transport Company (STIB), which has organised a special minibus service for transporting the handicapped. This is a demand actuated service, characterized principally by door-to-door service which responds best to the movement needs of travellers who are handicapped as well as those with reduced mobility and the blind. The service is guaranteed from Monday to Friday from 0630 until 2030. The one way fare is 33BF per person, paid on entering the vehicle.

The beneficiaries of the service are:

• a) The blind with a disability level of at least 90%
• b) The severely handicapped having lost the complete and definitive use of two upper or lower limbs.

On first use of the service, the request must be made eight days in advance in order to allow a representative of STIB to examine with the applicant all the elements which would permit the transport under the best conditions e.g. exact point of boarding, difficulties in movement etc.

In 1980, 41950 people were carried and during the last four months of 1980, 8 minibuses were used daily. In 1980, the buses were in service for 252 days and the average number of passengers carried each day was 166. Salary expenses for personnel amounted to 16 million BF for the whole of 1980. If all other operational costs are added to these salary costs, a figure in excess of 26.5 million BF is reached, or 632 BF per traveller. Revenues were only 1.4 million BF, giving a financial average of only 5.2 per cent in 1980. From all this, might one not conclude that a taxi service is preferable for all those capable of using such a service?

2. Facilities Provided by the Belgian Railways (SNCB)

The SNCB provides the handicapped the following facilities:

1. Preferential fares:

1. a. Those with the complete loss of usage of two arms or legs can obtain a special pass from the business offices of SNCB which enables them to travel with a companion with a single ticket...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Title Page
• Original Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction to the Series
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1 INTERNATIONAL OVERVIEWS
• Chapter 2 METHODOLOGY AND CONCEPTS
• Chapter 3 EXPERIENCES IN THE FIELD
• Chapter 4 OPERATIONAL RESPONSE AND EVALUATION
• Chapter 5 TECHNOLOGY, SOFTWARE AND TECHNOLOGY SHARING
• Chapter 6 COORDINATION