TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Mobility

A Wheelchair User’s Guide To The Hilliest City In America: San Francisco

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San Francisco, the City by the Bay, is one of California’s most ethnically and culturally diverse cities. With popular attractions such as the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island, it is also one of the state’s most visited by tourists.

For tourists, San Francisco is a great choice due to its generally positive accessibility. Wheelchair users can ride trains, city buses and most street cars without having to leave the comfort of their chair. It is also possible to access the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island and sightseeing ferries in a wheelchair. San Francisco boasts a cultural sense of inclusion for all persons, regardless of physical ability, and this is carried throughout with the accommodations available at most hotels, museums, restaurants and other public places. Read More.

A $30,000 motorized wheelchair is broken by Air Canada. Here’s what happened next.

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By Maayan Ziv | Toronto Life

In September, Maayan Ziv got off a flight from Toronto to Tel Aviv to find her wheelchair completely destroyed. Here, she explains why—and how—we need to improve travel for people with disabilities. Read her story.

On-Demand Wheelchair Rentals Launch in Seattle and San Jose

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Bird-branded electric wheelchair superimposed over Seattle skyline.
Image courtesy Bird.

There’s a new, more accessible way to move around Seattle and San Jose, thanks to the expansion of a new program by Bird and Scootaround.

Bird’s exclusive On-Demand Accessible Mobility program enables disabled people to find, reserve and pay for a selection of accessible vehicles using a custom rider interface available only in the Bird app.

Bird riders in Seattle and San Jose benefit from exclusive discounts and have unique access to a variety of accessible vehicles including the WHILL Model Ci2, a popular power wheelchair. Bird says “these vehicles offer greater independence to those with mobility issues by helping them navigate hills and long distances in a city.”

Bird’s On-Demand Accessible Mobility program, which first launched in New York City in 2021, has expanded to more markets including San Francisco, San Diego and Yonkers. More cities, including Chicago, will soon be added to the list as the company expands its exclusive partnership with Scootaround to serve at least 15 markets in 2022.

To read more about Bird’s new wheelchair rental offering, see the Bird website.

Tampa International Airport Testing Self-Driving Wheelchairs

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Line of power wheelchairs at Tampa International Airport.

Innovative power wheelchair manufacturer Whill has a new customer: the Tampa International Airport. TPA is the latest airport to trial its AI-powered mobility devices to help passengers with reduced mobility navigate throughout the terminal building.

The pilot program, which ran from mid-November through December 10th, came at an important time as maintaining the necessary staffing levels for wheelchair assistants has been challenging during the pandemic. The powered wheelchairs offered passengers greater independence than they might otherwise have received through traditional airport wheelchair assistance services.

To read more about this innovative solution, read the article from The Points Guy.

Revolve Air Wheelchair Promises to Be A Game Changer

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Two of the most often-reported frustrations about air travel with a disability are delays in receiving wheelchair assistance and damage to personal wheelchairs.

Italian designer and inventor Andrea Mocellin hopes to remove those pain points with his latest invention, a new wheelchair called Revolve Air. What sets the Revolve Air apart from other manual wheelchairs is its small size and portability – the chair’s folding wheels allow it to collapse into a small form factor that can be stowed in an airplane’s overhead bin.

The chair has the same 24-inch wheels as most manual wheelchairs, meaning that it can still propelled easily by the user, but the innovative design allows the chair to be condensed down into a size that is 60% more space-saving than other folding wheelchairs on the market.

Revolve Air was the winner of the Audience Award at TravelAbility’s LaunchPad held on April 1, 2021. To learn more about the Revolve Air wheelchair, see this article from NewzHook.