A GIS-based Route Mapping Tool for Disabled Access in Urban Environments

Abstract

Access and mobility are important dimensions of quality of life. For wheelchair users, everyday trips are often fraught with problems with many barriers, imperceptible to the able-bodied, hindering or totally restricting mobility. The MAGUS project developed and tested a decision-making tool that offers information that will assist route planning based upon the situated knowledge of wheelchair users. The study employed social science techniques to investigate and quantify urban barriers, and GIS and computer technologies to translate these into an operational route assessment and modelling package, using dynamic segmentation and network analysis techniques. This tool was applied and tested in Northampton, UK and provides a decision support and mapping tool for planners, and a guidance device to help wheelchair users.