As cities around the world move into an era of Smart city planning and implementation, one of the key challenges is meeting the needs of an increasingly aging population.
Read MoreSmart City Development and the Needs of the Elderly
Category: Transportation
Railways Adopt Apps To Improve Accessibility For Wheelchair Users
Railway operators in and outside Tokyo are turning to smartphone apps to make their services more accessible and convenient for passengers that use wheelchairs. Under one new system, an app allows station staff to internally share the information of where passengers board trains and at what time they will arrive at their destinations, so that they can help them get…
Read MoreCity of Philadelphia Announces SmartCityPHL Augmented Reality Challenge to Support Public Transit Accessibility
PHILADELPHIA—The City of Philadelphia today announced SmartCityPHL’s new challenge, SEPTA for All: Augmenting Transit with Augmented Reality. The challenge invites innovators to submit ideas that would use augmented reality technology to make public transit more welcoming, comfortable, and accessible to people with disabilities. Applications are due August 2, 2021. “The pandemic amplified how critical public transit is to Philadelphians,” said…
Read MoreHow Well Are We Ensuring Contactless Fare Payment Is Accessible and Equitable for Everyone?
How Well Are We Ensuring Contactless Fare Payment Is Accessible and Equitable for Everyone? Considering equity and accessibility issues from the beginning will help ensure all travellers have barrier-free access to these new systems.
Read MoreAs Cities Embrace New Modes Of Transit, Gaps In Accessibility Remain
(Pittsburgh) — 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 to taking a short bike ride to work or to meet a friend. It may not seem like a big deal, but the difference between the…
Read MoreTying Safety and Accessibility in a 21st Century Mobility Strategy
The concept of mobility encompasses far more than cars, buses, trains, taxis, bicycles and e-scooters. In their carefully researched book, Smart Cities, Smart Future (Wiley, 2018), authors Mike Barlow and Cornelia Lévy-Bencheton argue persuasively that accessibility is a primary element in successful mobility strategies
Read MoreTo Make A More Accessible City, Turn To The Sidewalk
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. For Dustin Jones to navigate a new neighborhood in New York City, it takes some research. Jones, a disability rights advocate, uses a wheelchair, and he’s learned…
Read MoreSmart Transport Hub Matilda Can Increase Public Transportation For Disabled
“The concept of a smart bus stop would address this and also help in inviting the community to start using public transport. We can use this technology to enable our disabled and elderly community, invite and give them the means to engage with autonomous vehicles in a more friendly and more accepting manner,” said Palmer. “Matilda is designed for people with a hearing handicap, visual impediment, or cognitive impairment. They can now be better facilitated to use public transportation independently.”
Read MorePutting Accessibility at the Heart of City Life
Public authorities, transport operators, civil society organisations and other public and private sector stakeholder in Greater Lyon have been successfully improving accessibility addressing it as a cross-cutting issue and investing substantially in creating a barrier-free and inclusive environment.
Read MoreAccessible Maps for India’s Disability Community
Researchers with the Global Disability Innovation Hub, co-led by UCL (University College London) in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-Delhi), are developing wheelchair-accessible maps of Delhi, India. Described as Street Rehab, the collaborative project has been conceptualized with innovative sensing platforms. This is how it works. UCL has arrived at low-cost sensors that can identify features of…
Read MoreBefore Cities Become Smart, They Must Become Accessible
In the summer of 2018, start-up companies Lime and Bird flooded the streets of my hometown of Dallas with their electric scooters, which were followed by Razor scooters in the fall. Lime brands itself as “Smart Mobility for the Modern World,” and its Web site says that the company “is founded on the simple idea that all communities deserve access…
Read MoreTaxis Are Flying The Flag For Inclusivity In Mobility
Location shouldn’t be a barrier and neither should a disability. Disability groups have been lobbying for better accessibility on transport for many years. How many times have you got on a train to find there was a lack of space for wheelchair users, or that there wasn’t a toilet on board? For many people this can be extremely limiting.
Read MoreAccessible Public Transportation and Housing, a Need for People with Disabilities in Major Cities
Accessible Public Transportation and Housing, a Need for People with Disabilities in Major Cities This article is part of a series of stories on disability inclusion. – Even though over six billion people—nearly one billion of whom will have disabilities— are expected to live in urban centres by 2050, many of the world’s major urban cities have a long…
Read MoreAccessibility and Inclusivity: Two Vital Elements of Mobility
How many times in the past year have you heard someone say that the future of mobility is shared, electric, autonomous and connected? While this utopian view sounds like something we should strive for, we are missing two critical aspects of mobility, says Carol Schweiger, President of Schweiger Consulting and Chairperson of the New England Intelligent Transportation Society: accessibility and inclusivity. It…
Read MoreRide-Hailing’s Long Road to Accessibility
If you want to complain about your commute with Valerie Piro, chances are she’ll one-up your horror story. “Recently, there was an issue on an express bus with getting me off the bus and this loud alarm started blaring for, oh, a solid five minutes while the driver got me off,” said Piro, who’s working on her Ph.D in medieval…
Read MoreZach Anner ’s Quest For The Rainbow Bagel Shed’s Light On Accessibility
Zach Anner ’s quest to get a rainbow bagel in Brooklyn sheds light on New York City’s accessibility issues.
Read MoreThe Inclusive Transport Strategy: Achieving Equal Access For Disabled People
Ministerial foreword A society that works for all Transport is at the heart of how we live our lives. It helps us get to work, stay in touch with friends and family, contribute to society and access vital services like healthcare and education. Easy access to transport is central to building a stronger, fairer economy. While many take for granted…
Read MoreUsing Apps and Data to Help the Disabled Navigate Cities
Technology can help people with disabilities get around cities – but it must provide reliable information tailored for varying needs BARCELONA – Entrepreneur Josep Esteba became so frustrated trying to get around his native Spain in a wheelchair for more than 20 years that he embarked on a mission to map cities for disabled people all over the world. “Many…
Read MorePokémon Might Become the New Smart City Urban Accessibility Master
Pokémon Might Become the New Smart City Urban Accessibility Master Not just a child’s game anymore. For the estimated 53 million U.S. adults living with disabilities, moving around and within a city may feel like an obstacle course. Hilly terrain and elevated pathways can prove daunting for people with disabilities (PWDs). There’s also the problem of cracked sidewalks and poorly designed…
Read MoreUsing New Mobility Models To Increase Access – Transportation For America
New mobility services have enormous potential to change the transportation landscape and increase access for all residents. But, only a few projects are actually focused on that. As new mobility models continue to have an impact on our transportation system and shift how our cities are designed and operate, cities and transit agencies are launching new pilot projects to test…
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