My final project is on physical accessibility in Denmark and the Netherlands. I chose this topic after I took a tumble and had to deal with a wobbly knee during this trip. I was back on a bike within a few days but it really got me interested in what life is like for a disabled or physically limited pedestrian or bicyclist. Poor reflexes and balance, such as I experienced after my injury, are quite common as people aged, even if they are more in shape due to bicycling. If a city cannot accommodate this people sufficiently then it should probably be addressed.
My research thus far was based largely on my personal observations and experiences, so it focuses on accommodations for various degrees of physical disability similar to what I experienced. In keeping my eyes glued to the floor (a necessity when you have poor balance and the cobblestone sidewalks are super uneven) I also noticed a lot of navigation for the blind and small additions to the sidewalk, street, and crosswalks aimed at supporting people who are blind or have limited vision. These two also seem to account for most of the built in accommodations to public spaces and streets so it makes sense that they are a focus of my research.
Honestly, for infrastructure supporting those with disabilities, the US generally seems superior. In the US, things have to be ADA compliant, so there aren’t really any stores that can only be entered by a step up and such which are very common in the Netherlands. There are however at least two interesting things we can take back to the US.
First is the framing of bicycle paths providing accessibility for motorized scooters, wheel chairs and more. Any space a bike could go, a wheelchair could too and, at least in the Netherlands, these spaces are comfortable, centrally located, and a focal part of the landscape unlike back in the US where ADA compliant additions often feel last minute, tucked away, and like they were made to barely meet standards. This argument or using bike paths for accessibility is one I have not heard back home but it is a fascinating concept and another argument for increasing bike infrastructure in the US as well as something to keep in mind while making bike infrastructure.
Second, while a blind person would struggle to navigate on a bike, it was interesting to see how they might navigate in a society built for bikes versus one built for cars like you’d see back home. I saw a lot more interesting navigation for the blind in Denmark and in general throughout the urban spaces than I would usually see back home. It feels like there was a greater expectation to be a blind pedestrian here, perhaps because there is just a greater expectation that people are pedestrians. While I struggled with local concepts of trust, it would certainly be safer when cars go a maximum of 30 km/hr and you have a option to avoid car roads in favor of shared spaces for pedestrians or bikes. So there is another argument for increasing shared spaces in the US to also aid in freedom of mobility for those who are blind or with impaired vision.
Still, especially for blind individuals, the need for clear rules, such as those in Copenhagen, may mean that copying the Netherlands exactly could be a poor choice. Instead, creating a new system that fits within the US culture and accommodates individuals with disabilities would be important.