The Desperate Need To Create Accessible Travel For The Disabled

There is a need for some serious revamping of what we call accessible travel in this country. Anyone facing a disability is going to require a little more effort on behalf of those around them to get from point A to point B. It is painfully clear that the laws on accessible travel require the appropriate access but there really isn’t much to require that the accessibility is maintained to any functional standard.

There are many special needs bathrooms that are literally too small to allow a wheelchair to be manipulated 360 degrees to allow for full access to the toilet, door, and the sink. Airports, train stations, and bus depots have created excessive difficulties when it comes to maintaining reasonable access ramps and doorways that are reasonable to navigate. All of these are impediments to fully enjoyable travel for the disabled.

Handicapped accessible cruise ships have been cited for not having the ability to allow wheelchair bound guests to open the doors. In fact, many of the doors are so heavy that those who are assisting the disabled have difficulty getting the wheelchair through the door. The location of access ramps, elevators, and assistance buttons are generally inconvenient enough that it can’t really be considered accessible.

Moreover, the able bodied employees of the travel industry often do not think in terms of relative safety as it applies to the disabled. Leaving someone sitting in a wheelchair, tucked nicely and discreetly out of the way, can attract unscrupulous individuals who like to prey on those less able than them.

If employees of the airports, train stations, and cab companies were all required to spend just a few days in a wheelchair navigating the area without assistance there might be some valuable insight gained. We need to stop hiding elevators at the far corners of the buildings and start recognizing that the disabled have regular needs as well.

Traveling by car, plane, bus, or train should be an experience that is safe, courteous, and perhaps even right on the edge of pleasant. Yet due to underdevelopment of staff personnel and the poorly planned design of many of today’s accessible travel facilities there is little hope for independent travel. The gains of independence that have been made are only wiped away by society’s desire not to be asked to go out of their way to make sure that the disabled retain their independence.

Additional training could make it painfully obvious that the elevators are poorly accessible for those in wheelchairs and that the so called accessibility that is mandated by law is just not adequate for those who want to travel despite their disability. Management of travel facilities can play a huge role in creating the safe and user friendly environment that is required not only by law, but by the state of consciousness.

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