MTC Commissioners uphold disability advocates’ calls for accessible wayfinding
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission is kicking off a major project to develop a unified mapping and wayfinding system for the Bay Area over the next several years. Pilots of the new wayfinding system could be in place as early as 2024. This will help transit users navigate a system that is currently confusing with 27 different agencies.
However, disability activists are speaking up and identifying that important components of wayfinding, including tactile and audio cues, are missing from the project scope.
At the Operations Committee of the MTC on July 8 [agenda] [letter], Christine Fitzgerald of the Silicon Valley Independent Living Center, who uses a wheelchair and is partially sight-impaired, spoke about using tactile cues like vinyl strips on the floor of a station to make sure that she is heading in the right direction. Daveed Mandell, on the Transportation Committee of the American Council for the Blind, spoke about accessibility for people with disabilities as a civil right. Mandell noted that to provide accessibility, the project needs to convey information in nonvisual forms for blind people, citing examples including:
Audible cues through smartphone digital mapping applications giving directions for navigation within subway stations and for locating bus stops
Audible cues such as accessible pedestrian signals and recorded bus stop announcements
Tactile cues in the built environment such as the high-contrast tactile tiles on BART platforms to warn that the edge of the platform is near.
Mandell and Fitzgerald’s comments were supported by Randi Kinman, chair of MTC’s Policy Advisory Council Chair, advisory council members Rich Hedges, and the author of this blog. Kinman spoke about the importance of bringing items like these to the Policy Advisory Council Equity and Access Subcommittee earlier, before requests for proposals are issued, to make sure that important projects aren’t missing major requirements.
Commissioners indicated their support for the needs of the disability advocates, while voting for the contract to be approved. Commissioner Spering said, "we can't lose sight of what the speakers raised and those items need to be pursued." Commissioner Giacopini, who uses a wheelchair, said "we need to make sure these concerns are addressed." Chair Dutra-Vernaci asked MTC staff to speak to the issues raised by the disability advocates.
MTC’s Chief Information Officer Nick Roethel responded and said that there would be a stakeholder group participating in the process of the project that will gather feedback from people with disabilities to refine the project. The stakeholder process will uplift these needs for auditory and tactile cues, as well as a variety of other needs for seniors and people with disabilities, for example straightforward and direct language for those who have cognitive or other developmental disabilities.
As the project moves forward, disability advocates say they will continue to participate to ensure that the project includes auditory and tactile cues, and overall meets the needs of people with disabilities.
This example demonstrates how important it is to have people with lived experience on decision-making and advisory bodies, as well as the importance of consulting the advisory bodies before designs are completed.
The disability community has long advocated for regional standards for accessible wayfinding to create a more rider-friendly public transportation. If a person with disabilities uses AC Transit one day and BART on a different day - even if they don’t use multiple agencies in a single trip - inconsistent wayfinding poses a burden for people who depend on transit to get to where they need to go.