Transportation

Nearly 30 years after the ADA, the nation’s transit agencies report successes and shortfalls

Scott Crawford hasn’t driven a car in 20 years. A retired clinical neuropsychologist, Crawford relocated from Miami to his hometown of Jackson, Miss., in 2006, seven years after developing primary ...
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Google highlights accessible locations with Maps feature

Google has announced a new, welcome, and no doubt long-asked-for feature to its Maps app: wheelchair accessibility info. Businesses and points of interest featuring accessible entrances, bathrooms, and other features ...
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Project Sidewalk creates big data for pedestrian accessibility

Project Sidewalk, gathers data on inaccessible sidewalks via Google Street View to create new applications around accessibility for local governments and communities.  ...
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Protected Bike Lanes that Work for Everyone

Protected bike lanes and intersections are important for bike and pedestrian safety, but what about people who have physical challenges or visual impairments? ...
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App Makes Public Transit Easier for Riders with Disabilities

INIT Innovations in Transportation, which has developed software for use with buses, light rail, and trains since 1999, designed ASSISTIVEtravel, passenger information, and journey planning app ...
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San Francisco’s busiest street is now car-free

San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced Wednesday that over two miles of Market Street — which she calls the "everyday backbone of the City" — is now car-free to help ...
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Is that subway art? No, it’s the MTA’s new accessibility experiment.

The MTA is testing more than a dozen new ways to help disabled commuters at Brooklyn’s busy Jay St/MetroTech subway station, and the agency hopes riders will give them input on what ...
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Columbus, Ohio Is Piloting A Mobile App That Helps People With Cognitive Disabilities Use Public Transit

On a brisk autumn day in mid-November, Jose waits for the Columbus city bus with his caregiver, Joshua Cook, associate director of ARC Industries, a service organization for people with disabilities ...
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Transportation Department Looks To Increase Airline Accessibility

Airlines would be required to improve accessibility for travelers with disabilities on more of their planes under a new federal proposal ...
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We Can Do Better On Winter Weather Accessibility

Exploring disability practices, policy, politics, and culture ...
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Buffalo officials plan for a future where cars drive themselves

Some day in the not-so-distant future, transit experts predict, Buffalo commuters will whiz to work in driverless cars that steer and park themselves ...
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The Physics (and Economics, and Politics) of Wheelchairs on Planes

Flying can be stressful, painful, or simply impossible for wheelchair users. Critics say it doesn’t have to be that way ...
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If you’re disabled, accessing transit can be like solving a puzzle with a lot of missing pieces

It used to take Michele Lee three hours to get to downtown Chicago from her suburban home. The trip required a mix of buses and trains, and missing one connection ...
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Editorial: It’s been a bumpy ride for scooters here

Scooters might be a hip fad, but they have also cluttered sidewalks and raised issues about ADA compliance ...
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Disabled people want disability design—not disability dongles

At first glance, a high-tech stair climbing wheelchair might seem like a cool innovation. But for Liz Jackson, it's another example of what she refers to as "disability dongle." ...
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Google Maps adds voice guidance for visually impaired

Google Maps launched a new feature on World Sight Day that provides detailed voice guidance for people with visual impairments.  ...
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MTA unveils new ‘accessibility laboratory’ in Brooklyn testing commuter ideas for disabled riders

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A transit hub in Brooklyn is being used by the MTA as a so-called "test kitchen" to see which ideas work best for disabled riders ...
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Blind Man Develops Smart Cane That Uses Google Maps and Sensors to Identify One’s Surroundings

This electronic walking stick is revolutionizing the way that blind people can navigate the world. As a means of protecting people from low-hanging objects and obstacles above chest level, the WeWalk smart ...
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As cities embrace new modes of transit, gaps in accessibility remain

How we get from one place to another can have a big impact on our lives. Conjure up the feeling of sitting in a hot car, stuck in gridlock, and compare it ...
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Local startup pathVu wants to make the nation’s sidewalks accessible to all. Here’s how.

When it comes to urban mobility, ambitious projects like bike lanes, bridges and busways tend to get most of the attention. As a result, perhaps the most important and fundamental ...
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Asked for input on driverless vehicles, Buffalo group is less than thrilled

UB shows off its driverless shuttle bus Olli during a forum on driverless vehicles at UB South Campus. Students and staff have been testing the driverless bus on the North ...
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Wheelchair Securement Gaining Popularity with Occupational Therapists

The relationship between Occupational Therapy (OT) and the wheelchair securement practice has been gaining ground as more and more OT’s are increasing their skill-set to include training mobility passengers and ...
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People With Disabilities Want To Help Make Over The Travel Industry

Traveling by subway system or bus can be unreliable—and sometimes inaccessible—to people with disabilities ...
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New York City Is Still a Disaster for the Disabled

It’s difficult to remember pain when you’re not feeling it, and harder still to imagine living with physical limits you don’t actually have. But all it takes is a brief ...
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Lyft & Aptiv’s Self-Driving Cars For People With Visual Impairments Are Enhancing Mobility

In an effort to make Lyft's ride-sharing services more widely accessible, the brand recently teamed up with Aptiv and the National Federation of the Blind on a new project. The ...
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The tech empowering disabled people in cities

Cities are difficult to navigate at the best of times, but for people with disabilities they can be like an obstacle course and a maze wrapped into one ...
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To make a more accessible city, turn to the sidewalk

Universities, advocacy organizations and startups are all exploring how to bring "big data to accessibility" in order to transform mobility for disabled communities ...
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VW Inclusive Mobility aims to make sure tech takes care of everyone

AVs have the chance to make mobility far more accessible to many more groups ...
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Bike Summit Panel Forecasts ‘Disruptive Change’ For Streets

Street designs will need to undergo more “holistic” change in order to accommodate growing needs for both curb and travel space for ride-hailing service vehicles, transit buses, bicycles, scooters, and ...
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Ask An Expert: Here’s what it’s like to get around Seattle for some people who use a wheelchair

Earlier this year, as the Washington state Legislature considered a bill that would allow Seattle to use traffic cameras to enforce bus-only lanes and crosswalks ...
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Tesla unveils car design without a steering wheel, coming within 2 years, says Elon Musk

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the automaker will deliver a car without a steering wheel within 2 years – an important change in Tesla’s self-driving strategy ...
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Geospatial Tech & Universal Design: Creating Access for All

In this article, we’ll look at a sample of case studies that demonstrate how geospatial technology and universal design work together to make the world more accessible to everyone ...
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Toyota improves universal design taxicab for quicker wheelchair access

Toyota Motor Corp. has announced that it will improve its "JPN Taxi" universal design taxicab to enable wheelchair users to get into the vehicle more quickly -- cutting the current ...
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The District’s streets are dangerous, and unjust, by design

On March 13 and 14 road safety advocates and leaders gathered to discuss the District's progress on Vision Zero, its commitment to eliminating road deaths and serious injuries by 2024 ...
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Monday’s Google Doodle Celebrates The Work Of Seiichi Miyake

Today's Google Doodle honors inventor Seiichi Miyake, who developed the tactile pavement that helps visually impaired people navigate street crossings and transit stations ...
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Digital technologies can help people with mobility-related disabilities

Researcher Victoria Fast looks at how spatial data can improve routing for people with disabilities ...
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How to Design a Better City for Deaf People

Lighting, sound-deflecting surfaces, big spaces—all of these elements can influence a deaf person’s ability to communicate. DeafSpace design considers it all ...
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Linking Research to Practice to Advance Accessible Transit

Historically, there’s often been a disconnect between the research that universities do related to transit and the actual policies and practices introduced by transit agencies. The research might be promising, but the ...
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Flying While Blind

I am not only an experienced traveler; I am an experienced blind person ...
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Wheelchair-accessible Uber service comes to D.C. and five other cities

Uber has entered into a contract with MV Transportation, a para-transit firm, to provide service for customers with disabilities. MV will supply drivers and vehicles, while trips will be arranged ...
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Rethinking transportation would greatly improve the health of Americans

Long commutes and sedentary lifestyles are damaging to personal and public health, but while there is no one-size-fits-all approach to creating a healthier United States, our transportation network itself can ...
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A Smart City Is an Accessible City

A new breed of accessibility apps can make life easier for people with disabilities. They can also make it harder ...
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Universal Basic Mobility Is Coming. And It’s Long Overdue

People need easy access to work and to essential services to live decent, independent lives. Cities need Universal Basic Mobility. It’s a human right ...
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How Inclusive Design Can Lead to Better Innovations for Everybody

Curb cuts first hit the streets in 1945 to help make it easier for people in wheelchairs to get around in downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan. Since then, they’ve found dozens of other potential ...
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In the U.S., Walkability Is a Premium Good

America's walkable neighborhoods are both wealthier and more highly educated. This report takes a close look at the effects of walkable places on the wealth and equity of metros ...
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Disability Access

Mayors around regional New South Wales are getting a glimpse of what it's like living with a disability while asking residents to point out where their towns are falling short ...
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Would You Take the ‘Walk to Get Your Groceries’ Challenge?

Strong Towns wants to change the way Americans see the places they live—such as what a walk to the store reveals about infrastructure ...
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For Disabled Subway Riders, the Biggest Challenge Can Be Getting to the Train

“We all need to get to work,” said Ms. Amari, a supervisor at the Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled. The subway has pledged to add enough elevators by ...
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For blind Metro riders, it’s about more than minding the gap

Like the thousands of others riding Metro during a typical afternoon rush hour, she will contend with crowds of people swirling around like bumper cars and try to squeeze her ...
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Inclusive Transit: Advancing Equity Through Improved Access & Opportunity

Access to high-quality public transportation can make cities more inclusive by increasing mobility and opportunity, particularly for people with low incomes and people of color ...
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person walking in a hallway with others siting the background
Recreation: A younger gentleman walking with an older man in the park
Public Buildings: aerial view of city buildings
Streets: people crossing an intersection
Housing: exterior view of a suburban house
Transportation: close up of dangling handles on a bus