Competence in transportation: Mobility training for everyone

Whether it’s riding the bus or the train – self-determined participation in public transportation involves some difficulties for many people with disabilities. Among many other things, this is due to broken elevators and a lack of accessibility at stations. That’s why it is crucial that people get informed and educated to get from Point A to Point B as autonomously as possible.

Before many people with physical disabilities can actually get to the subway station, they often have to first face an unusual barrier: broken elevators, which are especially common in major cities. When wheelchair users are confronted with a broken elevator, they typically have to reschedule their entire pre-planned itinerary and generally put up with big detours. This results in delays, late arrivals and missed appointments.

To hopefully prevent this from happening in the future, the Berlin Association Sozialhelden e.V. has now launched a new project after initiating the pilot project BrokenLifts.org, which was limited to Berlin. The new project "Elevate" is designed to lay the foundations for a comprehensive nationwide information service on broken elevators. The idea is to show travelers ahead of time whether an elevator they plan to use is working or not. This would drastically improve the everyday mobility of people using wheelchairs, walking aids, strollers or heavy luggage when they plan to use public transportation.

That being said, non-working elevators are not the only challenge people face in public transportation. Travelers also have a hard time dealing with a lack of accessibility of stops or respective vehicles. As an option, so-called mobility training can teach people with varying types of disabilities to manage various obstacles as safely as possible. Public transport operators in major cities frequently offer these types of training courses for different target audiences and their respective needs and requirements.

For example, the Hamburg Public Transport Association (Hamburger Verkehrsbund, HVV) has been collaborating with the Hamburg State Working Group on the Rights of People with Disabilities (Hamburger Landesarbeitsgemeinschaft für behinderte Menschen, LAG) for many years and offers group and individual training sessions pertaining to this subject. For example, people using wheelchairs can learn how to draw attention at the bus stop or how and where they can safely position themselves on the bus during the ride. Various training sessions also address people with impairments in orientation, perception and/or communication skills. They get tips on how to effectively approach the driver and other passengers to ask for their assistance in boarding the bus for example.

In many cities, elderly people with walking aids or walkers can also draw on this type of training. The Munich Public Transport Association (Münchner Verkehrsgesellschaft, MVG) offers special courses for senior citizens, teaching aspects ranging from using available emergency call systems to purchasing the right ticket all the way to safe and joint-friendly boarding and leaving the bus. The HVV and Cologne’s Public Transport Association (Kölner Verkehrsbetriebe, KVB) also offer training courses that are tailored to the specific needs and questions of senior citizens.

Mobility in transportation also plays an important role for people with learning disabilities (so-called "intellectual disabilities"). Yet in this case, special training programs are often not available or they are being discontinued after a brief period. The Bochum-Gelsenkirchen Streetcars Corporation (Bochum-Gelsenkirchener Straßenbahnen AG, abbr. BOGESTRA), makes the "Schritt für Schritt" (English: Step by Step) program available for this target audience.

"These courses are currently taking place in collaboration with two workshops in Bochum. We have been educating between two and four groups of twelve persons each for the past six years," explains Gunnar Cronberger, who conducts the customer training classes for BOGESTRA. Participants train how to make their way on foot, learn the safe and stress-free use of bus and train services, what to do in case of emergency and the autonomous planning of unfamiliar trips.

"Whenever possible, we work based on the moderator principle. This means that participants are encouraged to come up with their own solutions and are actively involved in the process," adds Cronberger. "For the past four years, we have also trained groups in supporting their fellow passengers with disabilities in case of problems." The highlight and conclusion of the training program is a rally through the BOGESTRA service area.

Whether it’s riding the bus or the train – when it comes to mobility, safety is a key factor for ensuring self-determined participation in public transport. Not only does this include planning reliability in terms of working elevators but also confidence in overcoming potential barriers caused by lack of accessibility. To make this a reality, service-oriented projects like "Elevate" can help just as much as mobility training programs for people with varying types of disabilities.