Wheelchair Ingress/Egress Activities in Large Accessible Transit Vehicles
By Sison, Sheryll; Frost, Karen; Bertocci, Gina; RESNA Annual Conference - 2008,Publication Date: 2008
Study reviewed video recordings of wheelchair-seated passenger ingress and egress activities in large accessible transit vehicles (LATV) from the point of view of usability and safety. A total of 30 video recordings made during a 4 month period were analyzed. The most frequent wheelchair type was a power wheelchair, used in 73 percent of activities observed, while 20 percent of events involved manual wheelchairs, and 7 percent involved scooters. Most events, 87 percent, occurred during daytime under fair weather conditions, while 13 percent occurred during nighttime. During all ingress events, the LATV kneeled. The ramp was extended to sidewalk level in 67 percent of boardings, and to street level in the remaining 33 percent. Wheelchair orientation used to ascend the ramp was forward facing in 70 percent of events. Surface terrain adjacent to the ramp was smooth concrete for 60 percent of boardings, followed by pavement in 27 percent, grass/dirt in 7 percent, and uneven concrete in 7 percent of boardings. There were 6 ingress and 4 egress events that involved difficulty or resulted in an incident. Factors appearing to contribute to these occurrences included ramp angle of incline and ascending the ramp using a rear facing wheelchair orientation. Assistance from another individual was required in 8 of 10 difficult events and incidents. Study limitations and implications for future research are discussed.
Published by:
Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA) (Web Site: http://www.resna.org )
This publication is included in the library of the National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC), accession number O18072
