Access for Individuals with Disabilities

RELATED TOPICS: Countermeasures and Safety Effectiveness, Design and Engineering Guidance, Equity

Transportation networks should be designed to support people of all ages and abilities, including pedestrians who use wheelchairs, individuals with vision loss or cognitive disabilities, and older adults with limited mobility, vision, or hearing. The United States Access Board provides guidelines to help make streets and sidewalks within the public right-of-way accessible, addressing elements such as sidewalk slopes, ramps, crosswalks, traffic signal timing, and the inclusion of Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS). FHWA requirements under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 include oversight of State and local entities and recipients of Federal funds that are responsible for roadways and pedestrian facilities.

For pedestrians with disabilities, details in design matter, as poor infrastructure can create barriers to travel. Design and infrastructure should serve mobility needs of all pedestrians. Crossing Solutions at Roundabouts and Channelized Turn Lanes: A Guidebook offers a range of geometric and operational considerations to support safe wayfinding and independence for blind pedestrians at these locations. Some of the guidance can be applied to other intersection types as well, such as Diverging Diamond Interchanges or other alternative intersection types. Additionally, Chapter 5 of the Guidebook on Pedestrian Crossings of Public Transit Rail Services offers recommendations for safety at pedestrian-rail crossings.

Resources

The United States Access Board provides guidelines and standards for accessibility in the public rights-of-way and on shared use paths. Notable Changes in PROWAG Final Rule highlights changes from previous versions with links to their specific sections within the final rule.

ADA Transition Plans and Inventories helps State DOTs, planners, and policymakers, prioritize needed updates to infrastructure barriers.

Tactile Wayfinding in Transportation Settings for Travelers Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired seeks to help establish consistency in tactile walking surface indicators (TWSIs) and their guidelines for use in multimodal environments. Reports on different types of TWSIs and their detectability, discriminability, and usability within guidance systems and under various conditions and across a range of transportation settings.

Subcommittee of the Public Rights of Way Accessibility Committee provides guidance on alterations in the public right of way.

The Accessible Pedestrian Signals: A Guide to Best Practices provides comprehensive information and guidance on installation of APS, how pedestrians use them, and other recommended features.

Accessible Shared Streets: Notable Practices and Considerations for Accommodating Pedestrians with Vision Disabilities describes shared streets, relevant United States guidance, and a toolbox of strategies and case studies to improve accessibility of pedestrians with low or no vision.

Easterseals Project Action provides training and technical assistance on accessible transportation issues.

More Resources >

Examples

Accessible Pedestrian Signals Prioritization Tool provides a scoring system to enable prioritization of APS installations.

Questions and Answers About ADA/Section 504 help FHWA and its State and local transportation department partners better understand roles and responsibilities to provide accessible transportation facilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504).

City of Pleasant Hill, Iowa, ADA Transition Plan addresses ADA policies and rules to help the City transition to compliance.

Winthrop Shared Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts accommodates pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists.