Finland-Helsinki: Mapping accessible pathways

Challenge

What are new, scalable (agile and highly automated, potentially crowdsourced) methods to collect detailed accessibility information relevant for

1. Vulnerable user groups and
2. Logistics on precise paths to travel with e.g. wheelchair or rolling cage?

Additional considerations:

Adherence to accessibility regulations (e.g. information required to be collected and provided by transport hubs), categorisation of issues with fixed infrastructure and other temporary obstacles.

Ability to collect relevant extra information (usability, weather-related conditions etc of certain segments of infrastructure).

Context

Current accessibility information is very limited in detail (e.g. a bus stop’s accessibility might be described as ‘yes’ or ‘no’). Actual data required for designing fully accessible door-to-door routes, for example, is missing (e.g. curbs, slopes, door accessibility etc.). Scarce information is typically collected during the design and building phase rather than reflecting the condition of existing premises. On the other hand, EU regulations will require mobility hubs to provide accessibility information (starting from elevators and ramps). Collecting and keeping these types of information up to date in scale is challenging. More automated methods than a person going around writing down and updating status information are therefore needed. There are no common standards for the collection of accessibility data.

The expected outcome

There should be effective methods for collecting sufficient detailed data to provide navigation and routing services for people with various accessibility challenges. For example, ensuring wheelchair accessibility on the entire route (e.g. from bus to a station and outside a hub) can be covered.

Three main KPIs:

• Scalability
• Cost-efficiency
• Ease of use

The solution should be efficient or simple enough to be deployed widely and to be used regularly: costs per area mapping should be minimised, keeping in mind that the information needs to be updated on a regular basis. It should not require extensive training to be deployed/done/operated.

Published on 5 March, 2024.