Insights from the TRIPS project’s September workshop

We know by now that the numbers are impressive: around 10-15% of the population are considered having a disability and inaccessible transport systems effectively limit their equal access to important services, job opportunities, education, overall lifestyle choices and capacity for independent living.

The TRIPS project therefore aims at developing public urban transport systems that are more accessible by using a co-design approach that empowers disabled users to actively take part in the innovation of transport solutions. The end result should be an urban inclusive digital mobility solution designed by disabled users with the support of methodology experts, assistive technology suppliers, transport operators and municipalities.

In September 2020, AAATE’s Special Interest Group on Standards in collaboration with the TRIPS project consortium, organised an online workshop in which speakers and panellists from the disability community, the transport sector, accessibility and assistive technology experts discussed ongoing efforts and future perspectives in making public urban transport accessible.

The topics ranged from the need for an ecosystem that incorporates both AT and accessibility as well as usability and human-centred design to the challenges posed by the integration of devices, user interfaces and data, as well as the interoperability of software and information systems, and the issue of specifically designed AT versus accessible mainstream technologies. Clearly this workshop was not the end of the discussion but rather a starting point and the invitation to dig deeper and explore how we can fit the pieces together so that one day public transport may be easy, accessible and frictionless for all users, with and without disabilities.

For more details and background, please have a look at the workshop report where we summarise in 9 pages the main arguments of our speakers and panellists, interwoven with telling stories from their personal and professional experiences.

You can download the executive summary of the report as Word Document:

You can download the report as Word Document:

You can have a look online at the pdf version of the report:

Learn more about the TRIPS project: https://trips-project.eu/