Motorized Wheel Chair

A German entrepreneur, Paul Krauthausen has designed an accessibility map showing wheelchair-accessible locations worldwide.  The site is call WheelMap. Org.  Volunteers have contributed to this wheelchair mapping site, mapping over 73,000 places, chiefly in Europe at the current time in order to help the 185 million people who are in search for wheelchair accessible locations around the globe.  The WheelMap.Org site will no doubt grow overtime to reflect the needs for such a website as this indispensable tool.  It just goes t o show that anyone can do anything.  Identify a need and then fulfill it.  Personally, I think this is a great idea and it’s about time.  This wheelchair news story first appeared in www.dw-world.de.

Every day, countless people use Google Maps or other online mapping services to figure out how to walk or drive from one place to another. But for the 185 million people in wheelchairs around the globe, stairs and other uneven surfaces are constant obstacles in their daily lives.

One year ago this month, 31-year-old social entrepreneur Raul Krauthausen launched an online tool that maps wheelchair-accessible locations in different cities around the globe. He’s one of 1.6 million wheelchair users in Germany. Over the past year, 2,000 contributors have mapped over 73,000 places – mostly in Europe – including bars, cafes, government offices, and train stations on WheelMap.org.

“Two years ago a friend of mine was sitting with me in a café and told me that he hates this café where we meet every day and he wants to go to another place,” Krauthausen explained.

“But as a wheelchair drive …you always have the problem that you don’t know which café is wheelchair accessible.”
The site makes use of “open data,” information that is stored in a particular file format so that it’s easy for programmers to create new visualizations or variations on it.

Developers point out that commercial online mapping tools like Google Street View often don’t take into consideration how wheelchair users use public transportation. But, with open data tools like OpenStreetMap, they can create the online tools that cities or companies have neglected.

In recent years, there has been a greater movement pushing cities like London, Manchester, Madrid and Turin to make their transit scheduling available as open data. Wehrmeyer had to collect this information on Berlin by hand.

“In addition to timetables, public transport companies should also provide real-time updates as to where the elevators or escalators have recently broken down – because people with disabilities depend on these services,” he added.

Krauthausen has developed into the site which now draws around 100 new entries every day. The site is dependent on wheelchair users who contribute their own knowledge of places under four color-coded categories.

Wheelmap has become almost indispensible for many of its users, especially in older European cities like Berlin that are not always designed to accommodate them.”

Author: Cinnamon Nippard, Photos: dw-world.de

The following news item appeared in the Toronto Star newspaper yesterday.  It is interesting to what length politicians will go to test out accessibility for wheelchair users.  He performed this experiment with Pater Athanasopoulos of the Canadian Paraplegic Association of Ontario.  It was a good experiment which pointed out some of the difficulties for wheel chair users, whether they use non power or motorized wheelchairs.  I am sure that this is much the same in other large metropolises with subway systems.

Smitherman tests TTC’s accessibility

“Mayoral candidate George Smitherman gets a sense for what it’s like to try to get around in the TTC’s Royal York station in a wheelchair, alongside Peter Athanasopoulos, of the Canadian Paraplegic Association Ontario.

New dad George Smitherman is now familiar with the challenges of navigating a baby stroller on the TTC. But on Wednesday the mayoral candidate took a different set of wheels to the subway, climbing into a wheelchair to stress the need for more accessibility, which he says should be a higher priority.

“People who have mobility issues deserve to be able to use 100 per cent of Toronto’s transit system,” said Smitherman, who practiced wheelies on the Kipling platform in preparation for navigating the gap onto the train.

Smitherman wheeled himself through the subway system from Kipling to Jane, accompanied by Peter Athanasopoulos of the Canadian Paraplegic Association, which held its Chair Leaders event yesterday.

CPA got about 50 politicians using a wheelchair for the day to increase their awareness of the barriers faced by people with spinal cord injuries and other physical disabilities.

“To map your itinerary from one place to another, you really have to be creative in figuring out where the wheelchair accessible stops are and where the wheelchair accessible buses are,” said Athanasopoulos, who regularly takes the subway from Eglinton to Union.

He says the TTC’s accessibility has improved, though some stations remain inaccessible. and the platform-train gap remains a hazard given how quickly riders must board and exit.
Years ago his chair hit the side of the train and he was thrown forward onto the subway while his chair was left on the platform. It’s made him nervous about using it without people nearby to assist him.

With an aging society, the need for accessibility is even greater, said Smitherman.

The province’s new accessibility legislation is an improvement on previous standards, “But I don’t feel they’re aggressive enough,” he said. “We have the opportunity in Toronto to be a leader.”
Twenty-nine of the TTC’s 69 subway and SRT stations are equipped with elevators, accessible gates and fareboxes, according to the TTC website.”

Accessibility is an important issue for wheelchair users everywhere. How does your city stack up? Let us know and we will publish your findings. Just leave a comment. If there is room for improvement in your city, get involved and make your politicians aware of any accessibility issues you know.

Article from The Toronto Star