Information as the First Attribute of Accessibility: A Method for Assessing the Information Provided by Urban Rail Systems to Tourists with Reduced Mobility

Abstract

It is estimated that more than one billion people worldwide have some form of disability, and that number is expected to rise as the population ages. A lack of accessible transport can represent a challenge to commuting citizens and it can also inhibit tourists with reduced mobility. Online information about accessibility is the first point of contact that tourists have with their destination and it should therefore be considered an attribute of accessibility. In that context, this paper aims to: (a) propose a method for classifying the information about accessibility provided by the official websites of public transport systems; and (b) present and discuss the results of the application of the method to the official websites of 212 urban rail systems around the world. The results suggest that, despite it being the first indication of destination accessibility, many cities do not provide or provide unclear or insufficient information for tourists with reduced mobility on their official websites. Moreover, few official websites provide information on accessibility around stations or in the case of transfers. This novel method proved to be suitable for classifying the websites, as well as identifying aspects of the information provision that can be improved.

A Bibliometric Analysis of the Trends and Characteristics of Railway Research

“…The light blue cluster has only six keywords and investigates the sustainability index [2,84], accessibility of urban transport [85], and the lack of urban train accessibility in different cities [86][87][88].…”