Access to small vehicles in developing countries.

Considerable numbers of small public transport vehicles providing fixed-route services in urban and rural areas in developing and transition countries are designed and operated in an inaccessible manner. The result is that millions of persons with disabilities in parts of Africa, Asia, and Latin America are denied access to work, education, health care and other activities. Due to the lower cost of ownership, small capacity vehicles tend to drive out more regulated larger buses in cities throughout the developing world, thus further decreasing the potential for safe and accessible public transport. Yet many access features serving disabled passengers using vans, mini-buses, and other small vehicles are low cost and could easily be implemented. Vans, as well as some small buses which have lower floors than larger conventional sized buses, could lend themselves to lower-cost access by passengers using wheelchairs. This paper reports on the results of a study of “micros” in the Mexico City metropolitan area, focusing on positive steps which have already been taken as well as areas where additional work is recommended to address concerns raised by disability advocates concerning the design and operation of public transport vehicles in one of the world’s largest cities.