transed 17-20 of september 2012 in new delhi, india how accessible was the swedish public transport...

TRANSED 17-20 of September 2012 in New Delhi, India

How accessible was the Swedish

public transport system in 2010?

Helena Svensson, Ph D in public transportVectura Consulting, Sweden

Lund University, Sweden


Background

– Already in 1979 in Swedish public transport law

– Decisions in the year 2000

Fully accessible in 2010

What is included when we talk about the public

transport system?


What is included when we talk about the public transport

system?


The purpose of this study was to review

how accessible the public transport system

in Sweden was in the year 2010, from the

perspective of the transport providers and

not from people using the system.


Measuring accessibility of public transport

Inventories/assessments by trained persons

- Predefined factors for checking accessibility- Time consuming (e.g. bus stops, stations)

Ask travellers using e.g. questionnaires

- Who and when, what functional limitations- Subjective view from relevant people, usability- Time consuming

Ask transport providers

- Fairly quick and easy- Trustful data, accessibility


Method used

– Data collected from the Regional Public Transport Authorities in Sweden* to report on the status in their region.

– All 24 PT authorities in Sweden were included.

– A questionnaire was sent out in advance.

– Data was mainly collected through telephone interviews.

– Partial drop-outs on some questions, due to difficulties reporting the correct data.

– Data was collected about: the internal organisation, training/awareness, vehicles, bus stops/stations, information, other services and co-operation with key stakeholders.


Results – what the authorities reported

0

5

10

15

20

No answer

No

Yes

Aut

horit

es

23 of 24 authorities answered that their drivers have taken an awareness course (all drivers in many cases).


Results – buses

02468

1012141618

City buses Regional busesAut

hori

ties

100% of the buses

Among other authorities, parts of their vehicle (50%) are adopted.


Results – Rail cars

Some authorities reported that a majority of the rail cars were accessible regarding levelled entrances, wheelchair seats and automatic announcement.

A couple of the authorities reported that all their rail cars were accessible by including the above mentioned features.


Results – stops, stations and information

20 PT authorities have been involved in improving their bus stops.

Between 5 and 100% of the bus stops were accessible. More bus stops have been improved in cities compared

to outside cities. 14 PT authorities have design guidelines for their bus

stops. Difficult to collect data about stations; improvements which

have been implemented are, e.g. tactile surfaces, ticketing machines and removed barriers.

A majority of the PT authorities (19) have worked towards more accessible information.


Results – other factors

0

5

10

15

20

No answer

No

Yes

Aut

horit

ies


Discussion – Method for data collection

– Deficiencies with this method

- Difficulties to obtain the required data

- All areas are not the authorities’ responsibility

– Is this the true picture, or the providers opinion

Accessibility is an objective concept, based on rules and regulations.

Usability is the subjective view from individuals and can not be measured with this method.


Discussion – Results– To obtain a fully accessible public transport system

takes time.

– Not only time, but money, political will at all levels, knowledgeable people and interest from all relevant stakeholders.

– Some parts of the system are easier to make accessible than others, but we must take “the whole travel chain” into account.

– Public transport also include many dynamic factors, which can vary from time to time. These are difficult to measure but as important as other factors for the accessibility of the entire system.


Dynamic factors


Conclusions and lessons learned

– Measuring methods used will affect the results and the measured level of accessibility will probably differ depending on which method is used.

– Yes it is more accessible in Sweden now, but we did not reach the goal with a fully accessible public transport system in 2010.

We must continue with our efforts!


Thank you for the attention!

[email protected]

transed 17-20 of september 2012 in new delhi, india how accessible was the swedish public transport...

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