Introduction

1. According to estimates by the World Health Organization, it can be expected that between 5 and 10 per cent of the population is likely to be disabled in one form or another at any one time. It can be thus estimated that there are between 150 and 300 million people with disabilities living in the ESCAP region.

2. At the country level, disability prevalence ranges from 18 per cent of the general population in a developed country to 0.2 per cent in the case of a developing country. This anomalous variation in disability prevalence between developed and developing countries must be viewed in the knowledge that existing disability statistics in many developing countries are believed to be extremely conservative. Also, such statistics do not reflect the widespread invisibility and lack of recognition of people with disabilities in many developing countries. Those ESCAP developing countries which have conducted sample surveys report disability prevalence rates ranging usually from 1.9 to 4.9 per cent, and more recently, as high as 8.1 per cent.

3. Widespread and deep-seated attitudinal barriers to disabled people's participation in society are commonly reflected in the physical barriers in the built environment, which includes public transport infrastructure. Those barriers obstruct their freedom of movement. The lack of accessible public transport is a severe constraint on the participation of people with disabilities in the fields of education, skills enhancement and other mainstream development programmes, and civic forums. This factor limits the productive contributions of people with disabilities to the development process.

4. European cities which have introduced access features into their public transport systems have done so not only to meet the needs of disabled and older persons, but because they realize that systems which are user-friendly for these groups are preferred by everyone and therefore more widely used. In Europe, the public transport system includes tramways, light rail, conventional rail, as well as bus and trolleybus services. The wide coverage of European public transport systems has facilitated the development and introduction of initiatives such as the low-floor bus which enables people with disabilities and older persons, as well as passengers with heavy loads, trolley bags, prams and pushchairs, to get on and off vehicles easily. The developed countries and areas of the ESCAP region have tended to adopt the European model in addressing this issue.

5. In sharp contrast to the European experience is the North American experience. Most North American cities were developed to accommodate cars, with dispersed settlement patterns that required private car ownership. Consequently, public transport service tends to be sparse. The exceptions are large cities such as San Francisco, New York and Washington, where there is a dense network of routes. However, the older subway systems made no provision for access by infirm and older persons and people with disabilities.

6. The expense of retrofitting a subway system is instructive for ESCAP developing countries. For example, it cost US$ 2 million to install just one elevator in a New York city subway station. Where the transport needs of people with disabilities are met through paratransit services, this is usually on a dial-up basis and using special vans or taxis for the exclusive use of disabled persons (see appendix E). In one instance, 90 per cent of the cost of paratransit travel for disabled customers is subsidized through public sources.⁽¹⁾ The expense factor (both of retrofitting and of providing segregated, paratransit services), combined with the already evident ageing of Asian and Pacific societies, underlines the need to build accessibility into all new public transport systems.

7. In the ESCAP region, which is characterized by rapid urbanization and expansion of public transport services, it is critical that countries quickly benefit from the lessons of the developed countries, especially those in Europe.

I. MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM OF INACCESSIBLE

8. This section highlights trends which have implications in the context of efforts to promote user-friendly public transport systems for people with disabilities. In the preparation of this section, recent documentation⁽²⁾ has provided valuable insight.

A. Invisibility of people with disabilities

9. A common argument used against the introduction of access for disabled persons to public transportation is that there are too few of them to warrant attention.

10. On the question of the validity and reliability of disability data, much depends on the purpose for which the data are collected and the definitions of disability used to include (or exclude) certain groups.

11. Other dependent variables include the degree of acceptance within a society of the citizenship entitlements of people with disabilities to participate in and benefit from all mainstream development programmes. This particular variable affects not only the readiness (or reluctance) of statistical personnel to undertake work on disability data, but also the willingness (or fear) concerning the reporting of disability. Finally, the quality of disability data is influenced by the methodologies employed for data collection, analysis and presentation, as well as the skills of disability data enumerators and other statistical personnel.

12. Thus, it is widely believed that existing disability statistics in many ESCAP developing countries are extremely conservative estimates. The invisibility of people with disabilities as a group has misled many transport planners and operators into concluding that they are too few in number to be of consequence.

B. Emergence of ageing societies

13. Between 1960 and 1990, the ESCAP region witnessed the largest increase in life expectancy of any region in the world. By the year 2030, the region will be home to more than half of the world's old people. United Nations statistics indicate a strong and positive association between ageing and disability. Given the rapid ageing of Asian and Pacific societies, it is noteworthy that the likelihood of being disabled dramatically increases as one enters the sixties age group. However, disability statistics in the region tend not to have captured this phenomenon.

C. Definition of transport-disadvantaged persons

14. Transport-disadvantaged persons include the following:

1. People who already use public transport systems, albeit with difficulty, among whom are people who:
   1. Require mobility devices (for example, walkers, crutches, calipers) to move about;
   2. Require sensory devices (for example, white canes, low vision devices and hearing aids) to function in mainstream society;
   3. Need assistance in communicating (for example, sign language interpretation and/or other support in communication), moving to and using public transport systems;
   4. Need information, especially on schedules, service routes, fares and safety aspects, to be presented in user-friendly formats (for example, visual format (colour-coded, in large print), braille or aural format), and in ways that the information can easily be located, including by people who:

      (a). Have cognitive difficulties;

      (b). Are from out of town;

      (c). Are unaccompanied child passengers;

   5. Are temporarily disabled as a result of accident or disease and have the same need for assistive devices, user-friendly information and passenger assistance as those with long-term disabilities;
   6. Have difficulty negotiating steps, climbing stairs and walking long distances, among whom are people who may not self-identify as disabled persons or be considered as such by others, but who, nevertheless:

      (a). May have health problems (for example, respiratory, cardio-vascular, back or joint problems);

      (b). Are generally frail and slow because of old age;

      (c). Carry heavy loads;

      (d). Escort small children and/or senior citizens;

      (e). Are pregnant.

2. Potential public transport users whose need for access to public transport is not met because of the absence of access features in public transport systems.

15. In ESCAP developing countries, people who are transport-disadvantaged such as those listed above constitute a group with the largest, hidden, unsatisfied demand for user-friendly public transport systems.

16. Historical travel patterns of people with disabilities cannot be used to determine transport planning for the next century. With further progress expected in the remaining years of this decade, it may be expected that, in the twenty-first century, there will be more opportunities in Asian and Pacific societies for the full participation and equality of people with disabilities.

17. Increasingly, people with disabilities in the region will want to be mobile. Many will want to be independently mobile. Senior citizens of tomorrow will be far less tolerant of transport disadvantage than today's disabled persons.

18. For transport planning purposes, it matters little whether a user of public transport holds a certificate of disability (which in many cases is still based on the narrowest of medical criteria) or is a person who would also benefit from disabled user-friendly public transport, just like the person who has a certificate of disability. To address the needs of all transport-disadvantaged persons, it is essential that systems are designed which welcome and facilitate their use.

D. Urban transition

19. As of 1990, over 70 per cent of the world's rural population lived in the ESCAP region. At the same time, 32 per cent of the region's population lived in urban areas. The Asian region is at a point in the urban transition process which is beginning to see a substantial increase in the number of people living in urban places.⁽³⁾ By 2020, the level of urbanization in the ESCAP region is expected to reach 55 per cent.⁽⁴⁾ This does not mean that 55 per cent will be living in cities. Rather, it means that a significant proportion will be living in market towns and administrative centres.⁽⁵⁾ However, rapid urbanization notwithstanding, the rural population continues to grow.

20. The projected level of urbanization indicates that a steadily declining proportion of the region's population will be making a living from agriculture, forestry, livestock farming and fishery. Instead, it is likely that, although increasing numbers of rural dwellers may live in settlements designated by censuses as "rural", they will in fact derive incomes in urban areas.⁽⁶⁾

E. Present situation of public transport systems

21. Transport systems in the region are characterized by their diversity. For the poor, non-motorized forms of transport are the backbone of their transport system, to move both people and goods. In the rural sector, animal-drawn carts and paddle-boats are still widely used. Rickshaws (for example, in Bangladesh and India) and becaks (for example, in Indonesia) are popular transport modes in urban areas.

22. Inter-island transportation by vessels carrying cargo and passengers is the common transport mode for island developing countries and areas in the ESCAP region. However, as fishing vessels may be used (for example, the dhondi in the Maldives), the service may be neither convenient nor regular.

23. Over the past two to three decades, the region has experienced an explosive transformation in transport modes. Non-motorized transport and pedestrians have given way to motorized vehicles, especially cars. There is growing concern over traffic congestion of a severity which paralyses several cities in ESCAP developing countries. Air and noise pollution from motorized vehicles affects the quality of life in many Asian and Pacific cities, with especially harsh consequences for the health of children and those who make a living in areas subjected to high levels of exhaust emissions. The implications of poor public transport services for reduced levels of psychological well-being, physical health and participation in society are compelling grounds for serious policy review as the region prepares to enter the twenty-first century.

24. In the region, the past few decades have witnessed an extraordinary increase in passenger movement and traffic, especially within and between cities, and between the rural areas and urban centres. For individual commuters, the growth of urban centres means longer travel time.

25. Public transport systems (especially buses, trains and boats) in much of the ESCAP developing region are predominantly used by lower income groups. With few exceptions, services are overcrowded and irregular. A major problem for passengers is the large gap between ground level and the doorways of public transport vehicles.

26. The problems that commonly beset public transport systems in low- and middle-income countries in the ESCAP region include user-insensitive planning, inadequate investment, poor management, inadequate revenue (due partly to revenue leakage), poor maintenance and deterioration of services.⁽⁷⁾ At the same time, user demand continues to grow simply because most low-income users have no alternative.

F. Significance of public transport systems

27. Public transport systems will have an even greater role in ensuring the articulation of activities undertaken by people living in the rural areas, including the periphery of urban centres, with the economic opportunities within those centres. Together with the development of amenities, such systems will also have a crucial role in decentralizing economic activities and population away from the present pattern of concentration in cities, thus helping to relieve the projected excessive strain on those cities.

28. It is noteworthy that there is an enormous potential growth market for public transportation in Asia and the Pacific.⁽⁸⁾ Buses account for 90 per cent of public transport movement in the world.⁽⁹⁾ In the ESCAP region, daily bus passengers constitute a significant proportion of the total population using public transport.⁽¹⁰⁾ Moreover, buses have a low investment and fare cost advantage over other modes of public transportation. A recent ESCAP survey of the integration of non-motorized transport in the urban transport system of Dhaka revealed that the cost of passenger kilometre movement by bus is a quarter of that by auto-rickshaw and under half that by rickshaw.

29. The projected growth presents an opportunity for new design options, for example, low-floor or wheel-chair lift buses. Furthermore, plans may be developed for gradual replacement of buses over their estimated average service life of 12-15 years in most cases (see appendices A and B).

30. In comparison, railway rolling stock lasts at least 30 years, while a subway system lasts for at least 100 years. It is, therefore, easier to redesign a bus than a rail system, although the technical solutions to make railway systems accessible are available and already in use in some countries of the region (see appendices C and D).

31. With new design options, growth potential and possibilities of funding gradual conversion with modest system-wide fare increases and tightening of revenue leakage,⁽¹¹⁾ the case against enhancing the accessibility of fixed route services on cost grounds is no longer valid.⁽¹²⁾

32. Private motorized vehicle use (motorcycles and cars) is a dominant symbol of upward social mobility. The challenge is to improve public transport systems in the region's developing countries to a level of reliable service, which, while affordable by the majority, is not associated with low status in society. The wide use of public transport services in Hong Kong China, Japan and Singapore exemplify successful responses to that challenge, which bear consideration.

33. Funding assistance in infrastructure development, which ignores the incorporation of access features in public transport systems, rests on questionable premises, that is, that the human costs borne by low-income and low-status groups in their daily struggle with user-unfriendly systems do not matter and that only those who are physically fit are entitled to use public transport systems since existing designs do not address user diversity and equality of access.

34. The above trends call for urgent reexamination of conventional approaches to the development of public transport systems in the ESCAP region. As far as transport planning is concerned, there is a need to reconsider the current five-year time-frame in favour of a 20-year integrated, strategic perspective. It is in this forward-looking context that a people-focused emphasis needs to be incorporated into transport planning.

II. CURRENT POLICIES AND MEASURES TO IMPROVE

ACCESS TO PUBLIC TRANSPORT

35. This note draws on responses to an ESCAP questionnaire survey conducted among members and associate members. Its purpose was to ascertain the existence of current policies and measures on access to public transportation and the views of respondents, including officials, and organizations of disabled persons concerning access to public transportation.

36. The following highlights are based on 62 questionnaire responses received from agencies and organizations in 27 member and associate members.

A. Policy

37. Most responses indicate an absence of any policy statement that explicitly recognizes the importance of accessible public transport for diverse user groups. Exceptions include Australia, China, Hong Kong China, India, Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines, all of which have clear policy positions on the issue.

38. In certain cases, policy statements are a first step, with as yet limited introduction of access features into the public transport systems. Wheelchair access in airports and train stations (see appendices C, D and E) is one area where innovative steps have been taken.

39. Australia has developed draft disability standards for accessible public transport with guidelines, whose implementation is under consideration by the Federal Government. China's Design Code for the Accessibility of People with Disabilities to Urban Roads and Buildings covers, inter alia, buildings for public transport, audible signals and parking space. The Hong Kong China Review of Rehabilitation Programme Plan contains a chapter titled "Access and transport for people with disabilities". The Islamic Republic of Iran's Design Criteria for Handicapped Planning and Architecture contains a reference to the need for public transportation vehicles to be equipped with mechanical lifts to make them accessible to disabled persons. Currently, a new policy document for the Islamic Republic of Iran is being approved. Japan's seven-year government action plan for persons with disabilities contains strategies for mobility and transportation. At the prefectural level, ordinances exist for a barrier-free environment which covers public transport. The Philippines has the Accessibility Law and Implementing Rules and Regulations.

B. Existing measures

40. Overall, user-friendly access for people with disabilities in public transport systems is at a nascent stage of development in most developing countries of the ESCAP region. Some national coordination committees on disability have subcommittees or advisory bodies devoted to access issues. Their members are representatives from ministries and councils responsible for transport, housing, environment, urban development and road safety.

41. In some countries, certain locations, for example, bus stops and train stations, are barrier-free while buses and trains are not. In another instance, both trains and train stations are barrier-free. Such instances have occurred where governments have introduced certain measures for disabled persons in the absence of explicit policy.

42. In developing countries of the region characterized by overcrowding of public transport systems, the most common measures are the designation of special seats, fare counters and rest facilities, and the provision of concessionary fares (for a disabled passenger and a helper) or free travel. However, these measures per se have not reduced the difficulties that disabled people face in using bus and train services.

43. In some cases, in the planning of mass transit railway systems, it was decided not to provide access for disabled people. The concerns cited included safety and the high passenger volume expected. In one case, a study conducted on actual conditions concluded that the system could cater to people with disabilities without affecting either safety or the effectiveness of the system. Following this study, areas for improvement have been identified and new facilities tested prior to expansion of improvements.

44. Where both lift and low-floor buses have been introduced, low-floor buses are more popular among users. Their attractiveness derives from their strategic design and development intent to enhance the appeal of bus travel as a transport mode, not just to facilitate access for people with mobility impairments.⁽¹³⁾

45. Local government in one country subsidizes the installation of lifts in train stations, as well as the purchase (50 per cent of the total cost) of lift and low-floor buses. A new "non-step" bus produced in that country was introduced in April 1997 by five cities into their public transport systems. Another city in the same country has a "non-step" metro. In yet another city, every subway station has lifts connecting platforms and ground surface level.

46. Where there is progress on access provision in public transport infrastructure (new construction and renovation) it is associated with the following:

1. Enactment of legislation protecting the rights of disabled persons and, particularly, access requirements mandated under such legislation;
2. The foresight of senior civil servants, especially in:
   1. Promoting government consultations with disabled people in transport-related decision-making and supporting their dialogue with transport operators;
   2. Establishing strong government mechanisms for inter-agency coordination;
   3. Initiating specialized transport studies on user needs and continuous reviews;
   4. Participating actively in international information exchange to seek, for incountry application, relevant research findings;
3. Action by people with disabilities and civic groups, including:
   1. The development of their own public transport policy statements;
   2. Awareness-raising among transport planners and operators and the general public;
4. Advances in telecommunications (for example, taxi communications network: voice and data exchange);
5. Active mass media promotion of barrier-free concerns;
6. Promotion by politicians;
7. Private sector support for barrier-free public transportation.

C. Measures proposed by respondents

47. Specific measures (for public transport access improvement) proposed by respondents to the ESCAP questionnaire are listed below:

1. Introduce regular, broad-based consultations with diverse user groups, including people with disabilities, to determine transport access issues and facilities, as well as to improve their involvement in plans and programmes, in coordination with concerned government agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs);
2. Incorporate access concerns in plans for construction of new infrastructure, as well as expansion and renovation of existing ones;
3. Establish guidelines on facilitation of access for people with disabilities, for adoption by transport authorities and public transport operators;
4. Introduce access feature audits and monitoring of public transport projects;
5. Enact a law on accessibility of public transportation for people with disabilities and frail older persons, including, inter alia, requirements that new buses have low floors and there is lift access in public transport systems for disabled persons;
6. Introduce mandatory requirements (in the absence of accessibility legislation) to improve access, for example, by measures to minimize the gap between ground level and vehicle doorways, through improvements of design and in driver behaviour, as well as by purchasing new vehicles with access features when replacing vehicles;
7. Review and update access standards, guidelines and practices;
8. Develop a policy for traffic accident prevention;
9. Encourage manufacturers of buses and trains to make provision for wheelchair users and other disability groups.

48. Questionnaire respondents emphasized the desirability of national access standards and sound application of legislation in support of equal opportunities. They also identified key actors whose understanding of access issues is crucial to access improvements in public transport systems. The diversity of those actors underlines the importance of effective coordination and cooperation among several agencies and NGOs, for access improvements to be achieved.

49. Suggested features for improvement are contained in the annex.

III. ISSUES FOR CONSIDERATION AND ACTION⁽¹⁴⁾

50. The decisions of the Committee with regard to the promotion of user-friendly public transport for people with disabilities will be brought to the attention of the ESCAP region's first regional meeting on accessible transportation, which the Government of the Philippines plans to host in July 1998.

51. The Committee is invited to extend its support to that meeting, whose outcome will serve as the ESCAP region's input to the Eighth International Conference on Mobility and Disabled Persons, to be held at Perth, Australia, in September 1998.

52. With this in mind, the following issues are proposed for the consideration of the Committee.

A. Political commitment to overcome invisibility and exclusion

53. The issue of the invisibility and exclusion of people with disabilities from public transport systems highlights broader political issues of inequity in planning priorities and resource allocation, as well as an absence of explicit commitment to promote user safety and convenience (see chapter II). For society as a whole, action in support of user-friendly public transport systems for disabled persons has significant implications for the achievement of universal access benefits for everyone (see Introduction and chapter I).

54. The Committee may address the issue of the invisibility of large numbers of transport-disadvantaged persons through the following measures to generate the essential conditions for overcoming transport disadvantage:

1. Introduce into future-oriented policies explicit recognition of the existence of transport-disadvantaged persons;
2. Initiate immediate action towards fully accessible mainstream public transport systems, bearing in mind that, regardless of the starting point in any society, progress can be made towards enabling disabled people to participate in mainstream society, whose benefits (greater safety and convenience) extend to all passengers;
3. Mobilize, in addition to financial and other resources, political commitment to the achievement of user-friendly public transport systems that are inclusive of people with disabilities and anticipatory of demographic and other development trends in the ESCAP region;
4. Include planning of user-friendly public transport systems as an important component of a pro-poor development strategy, supported by the requisite budgetary resources, upgrading transport personnel skills and implementation mechanisms.

B. Long-term, integrated transport planning

55. Current approaches to transport planning tend to be within a five-year time-frame. Furthermore, there is no integration with overall land-use planning; nor are the different modes of transport closely interlinked. The Committee may propose the adoption of the following actions to address these issues:

1. To recognize the need for a long-term perspective (of at least 20 years) in transport planning, taking into consideration the long lead time for improvements to be implemented;
2. To undertake long-term transport planning in coordination with land-use planning to minimize, to the extent possible, spatial incoherence of built-up areas within and around urban centres, which is a key factor in increasing the cost of public transport service provision;
3. To take into consideration, in transport planning, the entire transport chain with feeder and other connecting services, and not just a small number of stations for lift installation or one transport mode in isolation of overall connectivity, which will have minimal impact on diminishing the mobility deficit of people with disabilities and other transport-disadvantaged persons;
4. To assign priority to public transport systems in high population density areas over and above private motorized vehicles;
5. To phase in new technology, especially for buses, in the expansion, renovation and upgrading of public transport systems;
6. To introduce strong coordination and consultation mechanisms for the development of integrated transport policy, especially
7. To support the implementation of the secretariat's umbrella project on comprehensive and integrated approach to policy development in the field of infrastructure, traffic and transport (enumerated within the regional action programme for implementation of the New Delhi Action Plan on Infrastructure Development in Asia and the Pacific, project profile 9), with the inclusion of planning for user-friendly public transport systems for people with disabilities.

C. Local initiatives and solutions

56. In most ESCAP developing countries, there is little or no local authority involvement in the transport planning exercise. As a result, local authorities in those countries are not actively engaged in introducing accessible public transport systems. Concomitant with the non-involvement of local authorities is the absence of mechanisms for the participation of diverse user groups in transport planning and local authority action.

57. The Committee may consider endorsing the following actions:

1. To encourage local authority action for accessible transport;
2. To ensure the participation of diverse user groups, including people with disabilities, in the decision-making process, before the approval of plans;
3. To encourage the generation of local solutions through, inter alia, supporting information exchange on new approaches, technology and technical options for reference and adaptation of lessons learned elsewhere.

D. Development assistance

58. Funding and technical advisory services for infrastructure development in ESCAP developing countries do not include technical assistance in the promotion of user-friendly public transport systems and services. To address this issue, the Committee may wish to urge all donor and development agencies which assist in infrastructure development in the region to carry out the following actions:

1. To develop for their own staff a programme of awareness raising and training concerning the issues of transport disadvantage and access promotion;
2. To provide technical assistance in and funding for the planning and construction of universally accessible and user-friendly public transport systems (see annex).

Annex

TECHNICAL FEATURES

This annex contains information on technical features which will assist in making public transport systems more user-friendly. We are particularly grateful to Mr. Jiro Sagara of the Hyogo Assistive Technology Research and Design Institute, Hyogo, Japan, Mr. Katsushi Sato, Project Expert on Accessible Environments, ESCAP, and Mr. Akira Sugiyama of the Urban Welfare Planning Division, Municipal Government of Yokohama, Japan, for permission to reproduce their photographs.

1. Information and training

Enlarge characters on and upgrade graphic design clarity of service information display boards;

Install electronic information boards in new train cars;

Ensure system-wide consistency in the location of information at strategic places;

Introduce broadcasting on vehicles and lifts and braille information at stops;

Train public transport personnel in passenger assistance, especially for people with disabilities, older persons, adults with small children and passengers struggling with heavy loads;

Train passengers with special needs on the use of public transport services;

Conduct awareness campaigns among public transport users on the need for assistance and consideration to be extended to people with mobility impairments, senior citizens, pregnant women and small children, especially with regard to seats;

Disseminate information on local access innovation, for example, fitting of ramps to rickshaws and pick-up trucks providing local area transport service.

2. For approaches around, to, from and within stops/stations, piers/jetties and airports, install

Tactile pathways and audible traffic signals;

Colour contrast features to highlight changes in ground level and minimize accident risk;

Non-slip flooring material;

Ramp (with handrails, as appropriate), especially for footbridges and subways, and lifts for wheelchair access;

Kerb cuts at bus stops, taxi stands and tram stops to facilitate wheeled access;

Doorways that are accessible to wheelchairs, prams and trolley bags in toilets, vehicles and waiting rooms;

Wider platforms for wheeled access;

Lower public telephones, vending machine selection panels, counters, basins, drinking facilities and lift panels;

Anti-skid gangways, and grooved landing ramps (for wheelchair users of boat services);

Aisle chairs (airport boarding/disembarkation).

3. On buses, trams, trains, ferries, install

Improved handrail arrangements for better grip, especially for short passengers, at doorways and inside the vehicles;

Call bells for disabled persons.

4. Encourage indigenous research and development, in order to provide

Viable technology options for improving the accessibility of local public transport modes incorporating design:

• For ambulant people with sensory impairments, as well as those with mobility impairments, and wheelchair users
• Which is affordable by the poorer ESCAP developing countries

foot notes

1.Urban Transport News, 30 July 1997, p. 123.

2. See CITYNET, Urban Transport and Mass Transit: Proceedings of the Regional Policy Seminar on Urban Transport and Mass Transit, New Delhi, 14-17 October 1996, May 1997; ESCAP, Infrastructure Development as Key to Economic Growth and Regional Economic Cooperation (ST/ESCAP/1364); ESCAP, Review of Developments in Transport, Communications and Tourism in the ESCAP Region, 1995 (ST/ESCAP/1620); C.G.B. Mitchell and Philip R. Oxley, Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Disabled People: Ideas into Action: Proceedings of the 7th International Conference, Reading, Berkshire, United Kingdom, 16-19 July, vols. 1 and 2, and vol. 3 by Philip Oxley (Bedford, Cranfield University Press, 1995); Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia and the Pacific (SUSTRAN), news flashes; and Peter Vintila, Transport for People with Disabilities, Volume I: Transport Needs in a Changing Environment; Volume II: Existing Services and Future Options, Institute for Science and Technology Policy, Murdoch University, Australia, 1996.

3. ESCAP, State of Urbanization in Asia and the Pacific 1993 (ST/ESCAP/1300), chap. II, p. 4.

4. Ibid., chap. II, p. 35.

5. United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (HABITAT), An Urbanizing World: Global Report on Human Settlements, 1996 (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1996), p. 14.

6. Ibid., p. 12.

7. ESCAP, State of Urbanization..., chap. II, p. 53-54.

8. James K. Isaac, Public Transport International 1996/1, p. 50.

9. Ibid., p. 51.

10. ESCAP, State of Urbanization..., chap. II, p. 50.

11. Vintila, op. cit., p. 162.

12. Ibid., p. 238.

13. Ibid., p. 242.

14. This section is based on: (a) the outcome of the ESCAP project on the promotion of non-handicapping environments for disabled and elderly persons in the Asian and Pacific region; (b) responses to the ESCAP survey on access to public transportation; and (c) information contained in technical publications.

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ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
Major issues in transport and communications: Promotion of user-friendly public transport systems for people with disabilities
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E/ESCAP/CTC(3)/5
16 October 1997