Journey by visually impaired public transport users: Barriers and consequences

Accessibility to public transport is increasingly recognized as having a significant impact on the livelihood of people who are visually impaired. There is a wealth of knowledge on the issues that exist in the environment but budgetary constraints mean not every issue can be addressed. As such, many barriers to transport access still exist in the urban environment and public transport systems, which often leads to social exclusion; despite advancements that have been made to better cater for the needs of disabled people. This paper attempts to identify and prioritize the key issues that require addressing from the perspective of visually impaired public transport users that would bring the greatest mobility benefits in their journeys from origin to destination. A series of semi-structured interviews were conducted to identify these key issues. A total of 17 visually impaired participants were involved in this study, including 6 with total blindness and 11 with partial vision, in varying degrees. The main barriers were due to bus driver’s unawareness of disabled people’s needs, obstructions on footpaths, poor information, poor bus infrastructure, poor bus services, and barriers from construction. The consequences of being unable to travel independently caused many of the participants to feel frustrated, isolated, stressed, and resentment. The results revealed that improving bus driver training, more strategically placed pedestrian crossings, and more availability of real-time information would bring the greatest mobility benefits.

• Record URL:
  https://atrf.info/papers/2017/index.aspx
• Authors:
  • Park, J
  • BAMFORD, J
  • Byun, H
  • Chowdhury, S
• Conference:
  • Australasian Transport Research Forum (ATRF), 39th, 2017, Auckland, New Zealand
• Publication Date: 2017-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 6p
• Monograph Title: 39th Australasian Transport Research Forum (ATRF 2017), Auckland, 27-29 November 2017

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Costs; Passengers; Persons with disabilities; Public transit; Vision disorders; Vision tests
• ATRI Terms: Cost; Disabled person; Passenger; Public transport; Vision impairment; Visual acuity
• Subject Areas: Finance; Passenger Transportation; Public Transportation; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01700800
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: ARRB
• Files: ITRD, ATRI
• Created Date: Apr 1 2019 10:45AM