Three webinars – 5 May, 10 May and 23 June – to look at accessible transport with public transport providers, policy makers and travelers with disabilities. A call for action to make accessibility a core objective of upcoming infrastructure investments, in particular in public urban transport. A sharing of co-design solutions currently trialed in seven European cities. 

The ambition of the TRIPS project is to make public transport more accessible for persons with disabilities, elderly voyagers and really everyone. Over the past two years, we have deployed a co-design approach to support people, disabled by inaccessible environments, to take the leading role in designing accessible and useable transport systems. This has led to concrete co-designed mobility solutions being currently trialed in seven European cities: Bologna, Brussels, Cagliari, Lisbon, Sofia, Stockholm and Zagreb.

Building on the experience in the TRIPS project and current trends in the public transport sector as well as the policy environment around mobility in Europe, the TRIPS project consortium proposes three webinars to share insights and spark further discussions: 

• 5 May: Creating a Physical & Digital Barrier-Free Public Transport
  • Programme & Registration
• 10 May: The relevance of accessible transport post-Covid
  • Programme & Registration
• 23 June: Best practice and pilots for accessible transport solutions 

Our first webinar looks at how civil society can work together with public entities to improve their services, including its accessibility to end-users. This webinar also intends to support members of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) and the wider transport sector in understanding the different best practices that can be applied to improve their network accessibility.

The second webinar wants to explore what the Covid pandemic changed for travelers with disabilities in using public transport, in particular in the light of the hybrid model of work and learning that emerged in many countries due to travel restrictions and home confinement. This however may not be taken as excuse to put into question the need of ensuring the accessibility of public transport. Because the lack of accessible transport takes away the choice and the possibility for independent living. Hence, we want to know if barriers increased or decreased, if they remain the same, or if new barriers emerged. Also, what is currently being done to address those barriers and what policy initiatives are the best leverage to make urban public transport more accessible? 

The third webinar will close the cycle with presenting current best practices by public transport providers and experiences by cities from the TRIPS project. The session will offer solutions for removing barriers and making sustainable transport more accessible with a co-design methodology in public transport planning, design and investment…

So, join us for vivid discussions on how to make public urban transport accessible – in the short to medium-term and beyond. The programme with the names of the speakers and the link to the registration will follow soon. 

In the meantime, have a look at https://trips-project.eu/ for more information about the TRIPS project.