Lalita Sen Texas Southern University

Nations without legislation Must develop and adopt laws Nations with legislation Must reconcile their legislation with UNCRPD if they have ratified it. Develop a plan for implementation. Initiate/ expand public projects such as accessible public transportation services, access to public buildings etc. Monitor and enforce laws.

General Obstacles Limited understanding of what is total accessibility: access to/ from residence/ buildings; accessible washrooms/ bathrooms; safe & accessible pedestrian walkways ; ingress/ egress to all transport modes (both public and private). Travelers with disabilities synonymous with wheelchair users. Little conclusive research on the socio-economic benefits of accessibility. Initial cost of achieving accessibility is viewed as unaffordable especially for developing countries despite ratifying the UNCRPD.

Financial Obstacles Competition among national priorities especially true for developing countries. Accessibility has had lower priority for many cash strapped national/ regional / local government agencies. For some governments only new vehicles are accessible, as retrofitting costs are prohibitive or impossible.

Obstacles for program implementation (using policies adopted Lack of organizational infrastructure to implement mandate for accessibility (innovation, research, implementation strategy). Limited/no collaboration and coordination between levels of government, and agencies. Lack of monitoring of progress at local levels especially after passage of legislation(s).

Create a national oversight board to represent interest regions/ target population, and to interpret / amend laws. Create a national forum/ platform for exchange of research, innovation, and evaluation of progress. Allocate budget for research and to implement laws.

Develop a detailed implementation strategy at national, regional and local levels with penalty for non compliance. Establish a hearing board for addressing non compliance by public and private transportation carriers and agencies. Establish local volunteer advisory boards of professionals and users to monitor progress.

North America Coordination and cooperation from national to local levels utilizing funds provided for implementation of accessible services by all modes, and design accessible infra structure (ramps, curb cuts etc). Involvement of oversight bodies (access board, CTA), state agencies, and local volunteer advisory bodies. Vigilant disability groups/ individual volunteers to undertake access audit. Users willing to use the judicial system to challenge non compliance.

Europe EU Funds allocated to address accessible transport issues to ensure compatible levels of service in member nations. Educating new EU members to challenges and need for accessible system to be compatible with Western Europe. Adjusting laws for compatibility within EU nations. Adjusting services to meet local service demand.

Other Parts of the World Special events are used as catalysts to improve accessible public transportation for major national public event: Olympics, Sport Events etc. Income from tourism has resulted in accessible toilets, ramps for boarding/ disembarking from airlines, accessible public buildings, historic sites, hotels etc. Visible public projects such as accessible metro rail system, BRT systems in major cities.

This should be formalized perhaps at the regional level. They should be educated about “accessibility” and who are the disabled users ( hearing impaired, vision impaired etc). Role should include monitoring and evaluation against established goals for each local area/ region. Channel of communication between the responsible authority and the stakeholders should be established and publicized. Methods of redress should also be known including penalty against the authority responsible for implementation.

Laws should be adopted to fit governance framework, need, modes, and current state of accessibility. Need to adopt an implementation strategy, with successes visible to the public. More than laws, need for monitoring and evaluation is critical to success at local levels.

No implementation of a visible project after the passage of legislation. If implementation of project(s) is delayed. If a visible project is not successful or has flaws (e.g. BRT without dedicated right of way or with unsafe access).

Lack of enforcement of adopted rules Seats designated for women Seats designated for seniors Regressive results Special rail coaches for the disabled

Integrated Metro Rail/ BRT Project in New Delhi (plan to implement BRT in other major Indian cities). Metro Rail in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Pedestrian overpass in Bangkok, Kolkata Accessible world heritage sites such as Red Fort, Delhi, & Taj Mahal (in progress). Ramps in Jaipur Palace

Gaps exists even in North America especially in accessible pedestrian way. Progress in the middle and lower income countries vary due to perceived cost and benefits of accessibility, influencing each nation’s willingness to invest in increasing levels of accessibility. Current state is very uneven even within nations. It may take at least a decade for even the mega cities in developing nations to achieve a reasonable level of accessibility to allow the disabled to move freely.