General News
Easier subway for wheelchairs source
By Huang Shaojie
A new set of directives designed to make the city more accessible for the elderly and disabled is set to come into effect from April 1.
Subway stations are set to install ticket counters at a height that will make them easily accessible for commuters in wheelchairs, and other special facilities, according to the new directives.
This will be Beijing's first document of its kind. It requires the installment of at least one counter for the disabled not above 80 cm in height in every new subway station.
Future renovation plans will include bringing old facilities up to the new standard.
Other specifications include toilet facilities and turnstiles that are easily accessible to those confined to a wheelchair. And there will also be public telephones that those who use a wheelchair will be able to reach.
There will also be special wheelchair areas in subway compartments, complete with safety belts and intercoms.
Beijing leads the country in accessibility for those with disabilities. But the capital is far behind cities in wealthier countries, according to Yang Lixiong, a professor at the China Disability Institute at Renmin University.
"There aren't enough facilities for those who need them, and the facilities we do have tend to be badly maintained," he said.
"Many paths for the blind, for example, are dangerous, with all kinds of things on them, from parked vehicles to garbage piles," Yang added.
Beijing has over 21,000 paths for wheelchairs, 1,541 km of special paths for the blind, and 4785 service counters for the disabled, according to the Beijing Disabled Persons' Federation.
The most recent census puts the number of people in Beijing with a physical impairment at 355,000. And 67,000 in the capital have some degree of visual impairment.
Professor Yang thinks Beijing can do more for its disabled residents.
"Lowering the height of service counters is helpful, but look at the turnstiles and all the stairs. People in wheelchairs are still having a hard time getting in the subway," he said.
Escalators in many subway stations only go upward, and this has generated many complaints.
But the Beijing Subway Company installed wheelchair lifts at all stations prior to the 2008 Olympics and Paralympics, according to an employee at the company's publicity department, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Now there is at least one exit at each station that has a lift available for wheelchair users, he told the Global Times.
To use one of the lifts, the passenger must push a button at the top of the stairs, sending a signal to the subway staff, who will then come over and assist him or her.
"It's not about money or technology, but about how people perceive the problem of disability," said Yang.
"We used to think disabled people belonged in their homes. They don't. They are part of us," he continued.
"They deserve as normal a life as we can make it. And in order for them to get that kind of a life, they need to be able to walk out of home and go places," Yang concluded.
Additional Information
Country: China
Website: http://www.globaltimes.cn/www/english/metro-beijing/update/top-news/2010-03/517220_2.html
Email: N/A
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Source: Email from: MORI, Soya
When: 09/4/2010
