Next stop: a transport system accessible for all

Once known for its matchstick industry, the small Swedish city of Jönköping has another claim to fame. It is one of the most accessible cities in Europe for people with disabilities. The winner of the 2021 Access City Award, Jönköping was recognised for its inclusive and universal bottom-up approach. Working closely with disability organisations, city officials rolled out a wide range of initiatives to make buildings, products and environments accessible to as many people as possible.

City-wide improvements include tactile maps and signage, audio descriptions, tactile paving, easy to read facilities, accessible pavements and barrier-free wheelchair access. From the concert hall to the matchstick museum (one of only three in the world), Jönköping’s attractions, shops, public buildings and infrastructure meet the long list of accessibility criteria.

Indeed, Jönköping is one of many examples of European cities that are friendly to people with disabilities. And with one in five Europeans living with some form of disability, city actions are proving indispensable in order to cater to a growing need for accessibility.

Making it easier to move around

To rise to the challenge of universal accessibility, cities can benefit from innovative technologies that promote a barrier-free and inclusive society. Solutions may involve the use of augmented reality, wearables and artificial intelligence. These are just some of the smart tech solutions that scientists are co-designing together with disabled persons in line with the EU’s Urban Mobility Framework.

Transportation researchers in the Netherlands recently made an important discovery by surveying disabled commuters. They learned that the single most popular item in demand amongst users with different types of disability would be a simple, smart information tool. Imagine a special version of Alexa for travel – an interactive accessible journey planner that would greatly improve people’s mobility and willingness to travel.

The researchers, who are working closely with a Europe-wide network of disabled citizens and are supported by the TRIPS project, are drawing on this finding to develop and test mobility solution models.

According to Kristina Andersen, Assistant Professor at the Future Everyday cluster of the Department of Industrial Design at Eindhoven University of Technology, a smart planner is needed to provide accurate information on the accessibility of transport. It could include, for example, the availability of seats on the next bus or whether certain accessibility infrastructure is “out of order”. The smart planner would provide this information in multiple ways – sign language, audio, lip-reading – as well as be integrated with smart glasses. It would also be free to use and not require registration.

‘Poor access to public transport means people are stopped from accessing job opportunities, education, social and leisure activities and other services,’ explained Andersen.

By focusing on the experience and needs of disabled people, we address a wide variety of barriers such as age, health, or language in current urban transport systems.

To showcase how such co-designed mobility solutions can provide inclusive urban transport for all, TRIPS is rolling out case studies in seven pilot cities: Brussels, Bologna, Cagliari, Lisbon, Sofia, Stockholm and Zagreb.

By inviting those with disabilities to highlight the problems they face in using public transport and empowering them to co-design solutions through brainstorming with experts, Andersen and her team hope to address the most serious risk facing people with disabilities: that of social exclusion.

‘By focusing on the experience and needs of disabled people, we can address a wide variety of barriers such as age, health or language in current urban transport systems,’ said Andersen.

All of this information is not just helping with new innovative services, but also sheds light on what’s needed when designing future transport systems.

Leveraging digital technologies

The user perspective is important when designing and testing mobility solutions for persons with disabilities.

In this context, researchers from the MOBI Mobility, Logistics and Automotive Technology Research Centre at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) are conducting a pilot study in Antwerp. They are testing a new method to assist visually impaired people at pedestrian crossings by sending audio and vibrating messages to their smartphones, so they can safely cross the road.

‘In most cities, only a select few traffic lights have pedestrian signs with audible signals,’ said Assistant Professor Imre Keseru, who is the lead researcher on the INDIMO project. ‘Often, these get installed on demand and cause complaints from local residents due to the noise produced. They are not always reliable and can malfunction. Therefore, more often than not, blind people have to trust in their own hearing to make sure the pedestrian light is definitely switched to green.’

Keseru also noted that until recently, digital mobility solutions were mainly developed to address the needs of average users, leading to the exclusion of specific groups with very specific needs.

Additionally, ‘while significant achievements have been made mainly in terms of improving the physical accessibility of transport, digital accessibility and inclusion have not been fully addressed,’ said Keseru.

INDIMO researchers are tackling this issue, working with policymakers, tech developers, transportation operators and persons with disabilities. They have created a toolbox featuring universal design principles that include accessibility standards for transport services, plus cybersecurity and privacy guidelines to encourage more accessible and inclusive digital mobility solutions for all.

While significant achievements have been made, mainly in terms of improving the physical accessibility of transport, digital accessibility and inclusion have not been fully addressed.

While the first version of this toolbox is being tested in Antwerp with the intelligent traffic light system, four additional pilot projects (in Spain, Italy, Germany and Israel) are exploring innovative solutions such as on-demand ride sharing in tandem with multimodal route planning.

What all research projects have in common is a call for better digital services to aid disabled users’ mobility and overall quality of life. They also highlight the need for better digital education and tools to enhance social inclusion for those at risk.

Online holiday booking site for travellers with a disability

Planning a holiday or business-related travel is usually more challenging for those with disabilities, who may worry about whether their accommodation will have access ramps for wheelchairs or information in braille, for example.

A unique online booking system for accessible accommodation may help solve this problem. Developed by a Swedish father whose son suffers from a muscle disease and needs a wheelchair when travelling, Handiscover aims to simplify the search for special accommodation. Simply put, it’s a community-based holiday accommodation-booking website with a unique classification system that allows users to search based on their level of mobility.

‘We take into account issues like the number of stairs, distance to the parking space, the width of doors,’ said Sebastien Archambeaud. ‘This information makes it easier to choose where to stay.’

Building on Handiscover, he has also launched a secondary website to assist hotels, retail shops and other businesses to better understand accessibility and disability through education workshops.

70% of disabilities aren’t visible. We tend to associate disability with a wheelchair, but don’t forget the visually and hearing impaired.

‘With half of the 65+ age group having some form of disability, and 70% of all disabilities not visible, it’s important not to associate disability with a wheelchair,’ noted Archambeaud. ‘Let’s not forget the visually and hearing impaired.’

By placing technology at the heart of building and revamping our cities and transportation systems, digital technology and innovation now have the potential to make life easier for people with disabilities.

The research in this article was funded by the EU. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.

Europe’s most accessible city for disabled persons

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Have you ever seen a digital locker in a rural village? These days, you can access a lot of services just by connecting to the internet. Everything seems just a click away, especially if you live in a city or urban areas. There is great disparity, however, between urban areas (that is, cities) and rural areas (smaller villages). Within INDIMO, Poste Italiane (PI) and Fondazione Istituto Trasporti e Logistica (ITL) are working to bring more services related with digital mobility in Monghidoro, a small rural village in the metropolitan area of Bologna (Italy).

Take e-commerce as an example. Rural areas often suffer from not being very well-connected, so smaller villages do not enjoy the same level of service available elsewhere and at the same time, smaller villages often attract people with lower income (e.g. foreigners) and have a greater portion of elderly people living there, because many young people tend to move where more opportunities are available.

A digital locker in Monghidoro

To help overcome these challenges, we are working together with the Municipality of Monghidoro to install a digital locker. The digital locker will allow users to perform a number of operations in a much more convenient way, for example sending or receiving parcels, collecting signed correspondence, paying for their bills, recharging their SIM cards and prepaid proprietary cards Postepay) and manage the locker cell for personal purposes. Among the advantages that can be mentioned, users will reduce travel times for the withdrawal of objects optimizing the work-life balance, and speed up communications (e.g. the recipient of a package can access information relating to its shipment in real time).

Within INDIMO, we are introducing the digital locker to the entire population of Monghidoro (about 3700 residing people) and specifically to most vulnerable users such as elderly people and foreigners. In order to do so, we have first talked to them to understand their needs. In August-September 2020 we have carried out 15 interviews with stakeholders, elderly people and foreigners to investigate their thoughts and ideas on this type of service.

People living in rural areas often complain about the service level, not adequate internet connection and, also, the digital divide. This is especially true for elderly people, who are often not the focus of digital initiatives. Many elderly are not digitally skilled and they have different opinions on the locker. Some think that it could be hard for them to use, while others are quite thrilled about it and think that the digital locker can bring a positive change by introducing something new to town.

Remove the barriers

“I think that this a curious object [for an elderly person] and it could be like a game for people of my age. We will have to find some feat of memory to use it. New things put you to the test!” said one of the representative of the elderly community. – Signor Claudio (fictional name)

For sure, there will be support needed to introduce elderly people to the digital locker. Many respondents to our interviews have expressed an initial unfamiliarity with technology but also felt that, if this could help them saving time, it would be very good.

“Many people think that because I’m retired I have nothing to do all day. But it is not at all like that, I have many things to do!” – Signora Marinella (fictional name)

A lot of elderly people, in fact, are quite active and have many errands to complete. Elderly people make a good portion of the population of Monghidoro (29% are over 65 years old): despite not being familiar with technology, they have been introduced to apps to do some small things (e.g. videochats).

Foreigners, on the other hand, will probably appreciate the digital locker for the opportunity of having their own privacy, as they are already very well used to technology. Not all foreign people are the same, depending on their background and culture they can be very well-integrated with the community. Sometimes, however, they have problems understanding the language and the digital locker could provide a good alternative in case they do not feel comfortable going to crowded places.

The value of the digital locker lays in the fact that it will allow users to have an additional option to perform their errands and satisfy needs in terms of multi-channel, proximity and speed, thus favoring the development of demand and supply of innovative (digital) services. The locker also responds to the new need for social distancing and the process of change underway in daily habits, representing a concrete example of time saving services. Lastly, the locker favors a better environmental sustainability of e-commerce thanks to concentration of shipments in a single point with consequent optimization of logistics and reduction of CO2 emissions. Indirectly, it will also stimulate green  education for the correct disposal of packaging thanks to the separate waste collection system within the municipal disposal areas.

The pilot action of INDIMO in Monghidoro is wider than the digital locker itself. In fact, our aim is to involve the community and the stakeholders (Metropolitan City of Bologna, Emilia-Romagna region) to discuss some of the issues that rural areas are facing, trying to redesign assets for “small” smart-cities. This has been done thanks to the Community of Practice and much more will be done in the years ahead.

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Within the INDIMO project the Antwerp pilot is developing inclusive smart traffic lights. We’re all very familiar with the red-green pedestrian traffic lights that help us safely cross a street. But what if they could be more smarter and fit vulnerable users’ needs? Governments and cities try their best to adapt to this basic need for a safe crossing by for example, adding acoustic sounds for inattentive or visually limited people. Current advances in digital technology allow us to bring this seemingly simple infrastructure to a next level: connected, responsive and able to anticipate.

In the Antwerp project, we examine exactly this opportunity: how can a smart traffic light improve the safety of a crossing? Is it desirable? How can a crossing become more accessible for those that tend to avoid them? Can we design a digital solution that allows a traffic light to anticipate to a person’s specific need, while at the same time ensuring good traffic circulation? A smart traffic light should be able to adapt the traffic light’s phases to the personal needs and desires for each target group. In order to do this, the traffic light should be able to identify a person’s need, for example by categorizing them into different segments. Depending on their needs, the traffic light can provide them with more time to cross the intersection, give them additional feedback such as an acoustic signal and/or give them extra information about for instances the conditions of the intersection. This allows the smart traffic light to personalize the crossing based on the specific need of the pedestrian.

Let’s do some field-work: end users needs emerged during the interviews

At the start of the project, we detected 3 target groups that currently struggle to cross an intersection: elderly, people with reduced vision and people with reduced mobility. In close alignment with the city of Antwerp, our goal is to develop a smart traffic light that can address the needs of these groups.

In order to better understand the needs of all groups, we talked to several people belonging to these target groups as well as organisations that represent them or defend their interest. Via in-depth interviews we wanted to understand their modus operandi right now: how do they cross an intersection? What tools and digital applications do they use when they are moving around in the city? Which problems occur when crossing or engaging in mobility? What are their needs and what are their wishes towards a potential solution?

The insights are still being written today, but it is already clear that it takes more than a good traffic light to get on the road: the state of the road itself and provided infrastructure are one of the main issues people suffer with and quite quickly leads to avoidance behaviour. It should not only be surprising to us, but also to policy makers that (pedestrian) mobility can often not be viewed as an isolated topic. Nonetheless, getting more time to cross at an intersection is a welcomed feature, combine this with priority for pedestrians (over bikers and cars) and such a functionality in a smart traffic light could increase (perceived) safety for a large group.

On-demand green-light

Another important issue occurring in all groups was related to on-demand green. This on-demand request for green light was deemed troublesome, since some our respondents annotated that they were unaware of it or unable to reach it. Third insight is that pedestrian mobility in our target groups is weather dependent: cold and rain can lead to postponing a trip.

As we speak, the Antwerp pilot team is collecting all insights to decide on a concept that can address these needs and whether every target group has a similar need. One of the main challenges for our future solution will be to decide how we can register an individual’s need and communicate that to the smart traffic light. In order to better scope the ideal solution addressing their needs, we proposed them different technologies: an application, an artefact (e.g., a badge or a keychain), cameras. Mobile applications were preferred by some but could pose some serious barriers, keychains could increase stigma, while cameras could present us with privacy issues.

Quote 1 “Our solution should be able to register a request and communicate that to the smart traffic light so that we can instruct that light to act differently from its normal sequence.” – Thomas De Meester, application prototyping engineer at imec.

Over the course of this project, we have, and will further, deep-dive together with different stakeholders in so called Community of Practices, to discuss the outcomes, best practices, barriers, solution and next steps. The community serves as our pilot’s sounding board by contributing their expertise in mobility, accessibility and knowledge of the target groups.

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