Accessibility
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
specifies a number of requirements that transit systems need to meet to ease use
by people who have different types of disability. Many of the provisions deal
with signage and tactile surfaces, all of which can be handled relatively
easily. However, the most difficult measure for a heritage trolley system to
meet is easing access to cars for the mobility impaired. Classic streetcars
always required climbing one or more—often steep—steps to enter the car, and
then frequently had another step from the vestibule to the main passenger
compartment of the car. No such cars were easily accessible for people in
wheelchairs or people who otherwise find climbing stairs difficult.
As ADA requires all new heritage
systems—even those using unmodified, vintage cars—to make the cars accessible,
choosing an accessibility solution is an important planning step.
Typically heritage trolley systems have used
one of three basic approaches, each of which has its advantages and
disadvantages, to meet accessibility requirements:
On car lifts
New Orleans and Little Rock have equipped
each of heir heritage cars with wheelchair lifts, two per car, with one on each
side. In New Orleans, where the cars have an internal step from the front
platform to the passenger compartment, the lifts are mounted inside the
passenger compartment. Special doors, disguised to look like part of the car’s
side from the exterior, are placed next to the lifts. Advantages of this
approach include the fact that no special equipment needs to be installed on
station platforms and that if a unit on one car malfunctions, the following car
can pick up the disabled passenger. The disadvantages include the fact that the
lifts are very intrusive in the interior of the car reducing significantly the
seating capacity and changing the internal ambience of the car. As well, cycle
times for wheelchair lifts can be relatively long, meaning that their use can
disrupt operating schedules, particularly on a line with frequent service.
In the new replica cars being built for
Little Rock by Gomaco, the lift has been incorporated into the front door
opening in a manner that is not obtrusive. As the cars have no internal step
from the platform to the passenger compartment, passengers using these lifts
will have direct access to the entire car. How these innovative lifts perform in
service remains to be seen. Some seats inside the car fold out of the way to
provide space for wheelchairs.
In 2002, the Lowell National Historic Park added on car
lifts to their Gomaco cars using a completely hidden installation beneath the
platform. To see a photographic description of this approach click
here.
Platform elevators
Another means of providing accessibility is
to have elevators on station platforms to lift the passengers to the level of
the car floor, then to bridge the gap to the car by means of a folding plate
mounted on either the lift or carried on the car. The advantage of this approach
is that it does not require giving up interior space or changing the interior
appearance other than equipping some seats to fold out of the way. The
disadvantage is that the lifts require platforms large enough to accommodate
them; they are subject to the effects of weather and vandalism; and cycle time
can be slow enough to throw a car off schedule.
High blocks and ramps
The third accessibility approach is to place
ramps leading to short raised platforms (often called “high blocks”) at car
stops. Passengers waiting to board cars can go up the ramp before the car
arrives, at which time a bridge plate can be used to reach the car, as with
platform elevators. The advantages of this solution is that again no change is
required to car interiors; there is no mechanical system to malfunction; and the
time required for a passenger to board or alight is the lowest of the three
approaches. The primary disadvantage is that the space required on station
platforms is relatively large and that the ramps and high blocks are visually
intrusive. This approach is used in San Francisco and is being constructed in
Tampa.
In the case of either the platform lift or
the high blocks and ramps, access is provided to the car’s front platform or
vestibule. If another step is required to enter the passenger compartment, then
a conforming means needs to be found to allow the passenger to pass this
barrier. In Memphis, the solution employed is to narrow ramps into the step
spaced so that wheel chairs can pass through them, then to place a small ramp in
front of these ramps to bridge the remaining height differential.
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