Accessibility and Public Transportation: A Child-oriented Approach for a Just City
Public transportation for adults and children differs in many ways. How do differences arise when it comes to accessibility in public transportation?
The Workshop on Children in Public Transportation, which we hold as the City Detective Initiative, was held on December 26 with the participation of city planners, child development experts, non-governmental organizations, transportation planners, parents, local administrations, associations and children. The topics of the workshop, which took place in four separate sessions, were determined as Public Transportation and Discovery, Public Transportation and Accessibility, Public Transportation and Security, and Public Transportation and Ecology.
We would like to share the outputs of the Public Transport and Accessibility desk, moderated by İdil Seda Ak.
How do we make transportation more accessible?
During the workshop, we asked participants following questions: “What comes to your mind when talking about children and accessibility in public transport?” “Can you share with us an experience you have witnessed and experienced yourself when you think of public transportation and children?”
Our aim was to understand their perception of “child-oriented public transportation” engaging with their own personal experience.
Children and accessibility in public transport
Most of the participants answered the first question by stating what they deemed incomplete or weak for children in the field of public transport planning. Almost all of them pointed out that children are not visible in public transportation.
Lack-of knowledge and education on children’s rights, ignorance of children’s needs through all levels of design (including spatial design and information points), expensiveness of transportation fees, physical and psychological abuse and violence came forefront as the crucial problems that children face to face in public transportation.
All participants stressed the importance of local and central governmental bodies’ collaborations in all levels to solve these multi-layered problems.
Our participants said that solving these problems is not only possible with local government mechanisms such as the municipality, but also the central government (Republic of Turkey Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services, Ministry of Environment and Urbanization) should play an active role.
In all these interventions, it was mentioned that the best interests and developmental level of the child (interest, need, curiosity) should be considered. However, it was stated that physical intervention alone is not enough for these problems, and this issue has a social dimension. It was said that many social problems such as the inability of low-income groups to have access to public transportation, the pressure faced by disabled children and families during public transportation, and even the situation of being expelled from public transportation, should be resolved.
It was stated that because of all these problems, fewer children are seen in public transportation and the children are sentenced to the using school bus by their parents. It was said that the perception between a child who goes the school alone and the child who goes the school by bus is quite different, and the child using the school bus describes the city as roads and buildings, while the child providing individual transportation describes the city, even the cat on the street.
“It is not right to see the criminal only as a driver.”
In addition, it was mentioned that the “Motor Vehicle Priority Approach” should be abandoned in planning and the public should be directed to public transport. As a result of this understanding, it was discussed that the number of children injured and lost their lives in most of the traffic accidents was too high and that the guilty of these accidents was not only the driver but also the actors in this transportation planning.
With all these problems and suggestions mentioned by adults, our child participant said, “Every child is afraid when getting on public transport because it is not safe places. Everyone should be conscious.” supported with her word.
In addition, WRI Road Safety and Accessibility Report, BvFL (Bernard van Leer Foundation) City 95 Project, Gündem Children’s Association’s Right to Life Violations Report, and a study by Bursa Nilüfer City Council explaining the difficulties of children in the village in reaching school are also recommended by the participants.
Experience in public transportation
Participants answered this question by explaining their own experiences, what they felt during this experience, and what should be done to solve the problems they experienced.
According to the experiences of the participants, it was stated that children were tolerated in public transportation until a certain age, but they faced pressure in public transportation especially after they entered high school age. Most of the participants said that they were also faced with the pressure of the elders to “give a seat” and therefore they felt in a difficult situation. It was noteworthy that this pressure of adults continues from the past to the present, regardless of the current health status of the children and/or the weight of the bag they carry. It was also shared the opinion that this pressure to “give a seat” caused the change of transportation means and that this issue is an important issue that will affect the choice of transportation.
“During public transportation, the child faces a violation of rights, but does not know what to do because she/he does not know that this is a violation of rights.”
In addition to the pressure to “give a seat”, other violations of rights experienced by children were also cited as a problem. However, it was stated that most of his children did not know that this was a violation of rights and therefore did not know what to do and did not inform anyone about this situation. It was added that in some cases where this situation occurred, other adults who witnessed the situation intervened and tried to protect children’s rights.
“There are bus drivers who don’t stop when they see students at the bus stop because student ticket money is cheaper.”
In addition, it was reported that the difficulties experienced in legal follow-up of regulations for children and disabled people in public transportation led to individual decision making and this caused the concepts such as equality and fair transportation to be interrupted. An example of this was the bus driver who did not stop because she/he saw students at the bus stop because the student ticket money was cheaper, and the bus drivers who did not stop when they saw a disabled person at the stop.
It was mentioned that all these problems are not really big or unsolvable and that solutions can be developed with different stakeholders. The necessity of creative solutions, initiatives and education that provide safer transportation of young people, children and disabled people was mentioned. In addition, it was stated that studies should be carried out on a regional scale, and that the solutions may vary depending on many components such as population, settlement type and demographic structure.
In addition to these regulations, it was stated that the things that do not have legal equivalents are not binding in our country, so all these regulations are bound by the law and should be frequently audited by the legislators.
According to the participants, some arrangements should be made to eliminate these problems and to have a child-oriented public transportation and these are listed as follows.
“Urban design and organization processes should be carried out in a participatory way.”
“Urban planning and public transportation planning should be rearranged with the fact that there are class conflicts.”
“A child-friendly map on the public transportation system should be made.”
“Candidates who will work in public transportation (not yet graduated or employed) should be informed.”
“Studies in public transportation should be secured by law.”
“In spatial arrangements where children can choose active transportation (pedestrian, bicycle), transportation steps (road, pavement, etc.) should be arranged in the context of safety and accessibility.”
“Preschool children should be informed about their rights in public transport.”
As a result,
The workshop which took place around two main questions, “What comes to mind when talking about children and accessibility in public transportation?” and “Can you share with us an experience you have witnessed and experienced yourself when you think of public transportation and children?” and which was held with many different participants such as city planners, child development experts, non-governmental organizations and transportation planners, was completed with a two-hour session.
