On Jan 17, 2024, at 5:49 PM, Marc Brenman <mbrenman001@comcast.net> wrote:
Hi Benito, I think the causality of the problems go well beyond "a lack of awareness of the concept of inclusive accessibility and the real life implications to end users." There's a lot of neglect of the needs of people with disabilities, a lot of not caring, and a lack of enforcement of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disability Act, and the Architectural Barriers Act. Emphasis by transportation planners is put on the needs, wants, and desires of a very small group of largely white male nondisabled bicycle riders to build bike lanes instead of simple fixes like curb cuts.Your listed deliverables are a good idea, but must also include enforcement of existing accessibility laws, regulations and guidelines; and the participation and input of people with disabilities. The issues also include more than "physical mobility," but also the impacts of cognitive disabilities. The built environment helps create disabilities. An interesting example is round about, which many transportation planners love, but which provide fresh obstacles for vision-impaired pedestrians. Another example is the inaccessibility of almost all TNC cars, such as Lyft and Uber. A third example is the accessibility problems on airliners. Air transportation is often neglected by transportation planneers. There are many other examples. A great deal of work has been done over decades in regard to the transportation needs of people with disabilities. You might want to familiarize yourself with this body of work. Let me know if I can be of help.Sincerely,Marc Brenman[Former Senior Policy Advisor for Civil Rights, US Dept of Transportation]You received this because you are subscribed to the mailing list maintained by the TRB Health committee (AME70). To unsubscribe, learn more about the list or visit the archives see https://mailman.chrispy.net/postorius/lists/trbhealth.mailman.chrispy.net/On 01/17/2024 10:46 AM EST Benito Pérez <benito.perez@t4america.org> wrote:You received this because you are subscribed to the mailing list maintained by the TRB Health committee (AME70). To unsubscribe, learn more about the list or visit the archives see https://mailman.chrispy.net/postorius/lists/trbhealth.mailman.chrispy.net/Good morning all,Hope this email finds you well and great to see you last week at TRB. Just wanted to recap what I mentioned in your committee meeting (thanks for fitting me in Ipek!). Love to have any help you and your network can provide to advance this project.All people in a community rely on the transportation network to get from point A to point B in the interest of living, working, and playing. However, the system historically has not been designed to benefit all users equally. More specifically, there are design and planning considerations that have not been wholly considered, resulting in adverse consequences to the physical mobility plus the interactive and safe use of streetscapes for people with disabilities. Those design and planning considerations have proliferated over the years for various reasons and context, but boil down to a lack of awareness of the concept of inclusive accessibility and the real life implications to end users (understanding “to walk in their shoes”).
Deliverables
Resource guide exploring streetscape accessibility from mobility, vision, hearing, cognitive ability, and language barrier perspectives. Exploring from conceptualization, community engagement, design, construction, and maintenance of the streetscape for accessibility.
Federal advocacy push for a transit ready communities legislative idea, aimed to push for standards development, discretionary and formula funding to facilitate accessible streetscapes, and support land use and zoning innovation.
Development of accessible streetscape guidelines for incorporation into NACTO’s Urban Street Design Guide and other related enforceable guidelines.
So my hope in this announcement is seeking volunteers and support for the development of this project, specific asks include:
- Peer reviewer of an end user survey (PDF and surveyMonkey), due to go out this spring (tentative mid March 2024 for 60 days)
- So appreciate help with peer review to be completed by the end of February 2024
- Assistance in distributing the end user survey across the country/internationally
- Peer review of the literature / best practices catalog
- Peer reviewer of the resource guide, later in 2024
---Feel free to reach out to me or direct any volunteers my way. Thanks!Benito--
To connect with committee visit: https://trbhealth.org
To connect with committee visit: https://trbhealth.org
To connect with committee visit: https://trbhealth.org