TravelAbility Insider

The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Transportation

Google Goes Accessible with Routes for Wheelchair Users. Plus: More Options

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birds eye view of planes and houses

The tool: Google maps that integrate wheelchair accessible public transit routes into its directions feature.

The reviews: Cautiously optimistic, according to a New Mobility review.

The buzz: Few travel industry folks we spoke with even knew about the Google tool, which could become a helpful solution, particularly for city wheelers.

Who its best for right now: According the New Mobility review, “Users in six cities – New York, Boston, Tokyo, London, Mexico City, and Sydney – can search for directions between locations, choose public transit as the method of travel and then select “wheelchair accessible” from the route-options menu. As with all public transit searches in Maps, a selection of routes will appear, but now only routes with accessible stations and modes of transit will be included.” 
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Another option: Project Sidewalk, a crowdsourced navigation tool that gamifies collecting data has been developed at the University of Washington Makeability Lab, was successfully tested in Washington, D.C. and according to their Twitter feed, has launched in Seattle with massive success. A recent tweet via @projesidwalk: “Project Sidewalk is now officially live in Seattle! In our first week, we collected over 10,000 sidewalk accessibility labels. Help us get to 20,000! You can participate from all seven continents–all you need is an Internet connection & a laptop!

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Our vote: Project Sidewalk, which looks like it’s off to a promising start.

Editor’s note: Don’t confuse Project Sidewalk with another (controversial) initiative from Alphabet called Sidewalk Labs, which will collect data on commuter routes in Portland. (This piece in Geekwire makes no mention of tracking wheelchair users or routes.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Senator Duckworth’s Wheelchair Advocacy Will Not Be Crushed

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Senator Duckworth in a wheelchair at a. Democratic event

Change can and does happen, even in Washington, D.C.—at least if you are the invincible Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois). As a direct result of legislation introduced by Senator Duckworth in 2018, the Department of Transportation (DOT) revised the Air Travel Consumer Report, requiring airlines to disclose the number of damaged wheelchairs and scooters monthly. That number hadn’t been previously available (wheelchairs had been reported as ‘luggage’ in the past). Senator Duckworth is a longtime advocate for people with disabilities (see earlier posts)

We applaud you, Senator Duckworth, for helping to measure what matters with our all-new “Duckworth Damage Report,’ below.


chart of totals airline chair damage for 3 mostThe fine print: U.S. airlines with at least 0.5 percent of total domestic scheduled-service passenger revenues must report the damage to any chair or mobility scoot transported in its aircraft cargo departments. This report covers December 2018, January & February 2019. Year to Date numbers reflects the change in reporting required by 14 CFR 234 and consolidated data from branded codeshares. Source: Department of Transportation Statistics Bureau

 

Start-Up Hopes to Become the ‘Accessible’ Uber

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a chat that shows an assisted, wheelchair accessible and par transit shared ride

With a $1.2 million grant from the Michigan Mobility Challenge, two entrepreneurs created Muve. What does the accessible ride-sharing company have planned for the future? According to their site, they “aggregate accessible seats, from individuals with sedans & accessible vehicles, private transport providers including taxi, contractors, non-profits, as well as para-transit authorities into one experience.”  READ MORE

New Motor Homes Are Wheelchair and Accessible Friendly

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a new version of winnebago that is wheelchair accessible
For those who use a wheelchair or have mobility issues, it may be difficult to get around, especially away from home. But this week, Winnebago is releasing its idea to help those get on the road by announcing the production of three new motorhomes that are wheelchair and accessible friendly, according to KIMT News in Rochester, Minnesota. Photo courtesy Winnebago
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