📋 Tender Overview
Today, December 3, the International Day for People with Disabilities is celebrated, and it is significant that two years ago at the beginning of December, the Mobility Equality and Accessibility Consultative Council (Council) was established, the purpose of which is to promote the cooperation of institutions and companies by improving accessibility in public transport. Today, the majority of Latvian society understands and supports the need to ensure the accessibility of all types of public transport for people with mobility restrictions, as stated by 93% of the respondents in the survey conducted by Norstat. In order to implement changes and make public transport accessible, the key word is the cooperation of all parties involved. It has been the main task of the Council - to lead a constructive dialogue between the parties involved, directing concrete improvements in public transport to ensure accessibility. Our work is meaningful and I am pleased that the absolute majority of society supports the need for change. Our work, improving the accessibility of public transport, contributes to the development of an inclusive society, explains the cooperation of Latvian People with Special Needs Gunta Anca, chairman of the board of the SUSTENTO organization, chairman of the Council and advisor to the Minister of Transport. In order to find out the opinion of the residents, a survey was conducted on accessibility at bus stations, railway stations and Riga airport. Both people with limited mobility (including temporary restrictions) and elderly people expressed their opinion. From the answers given, it can be concluded that improvements are needed in all the bus stations on which comments were made. For example, it is necessary to create a guide system (tactile or relief pavement) or ensure the automatic opening of bus station doors. The situation is similar with respect to railway stations - the respondents indicate that they need improvement. Wire systems are not established everywhere, entry into the railway station buildings is not at the same level, and not all stations have automatic door opening. Also, some respondents do not know about the available mobile lift service for persons with limited mobility. This shows that improvements are needed not only for the infrastructure, but also for informing the target audiences. On the other hand, the respondents rated accessibility at Riga airport higher, mostly positively evaluating entering or exiting the airport building and orientation at the airport. At the same time, the answers indicate areas where improvements are needed. I am very pleased with the already implemented improvements in train traffic, which give people with mobility restrictions the opportunity to be more mobile. I invite you to familiarize yourself with the prepared informative videos with a detailed description and use the already implemented improvements, explains Gunta Anca. The video about improvements in train traffic and the stories of people with mobility restrictions can be seen here: A survey on whether all types of public transport should be accessible to people with mobility restrictions was carried out by the market research company Norstat in October of this year, 1005 respondents participated in the survey. The UN theme for this years International Day of Persons with Disabilities is (How accessible transport is the foundation for an inclusive society). The Mobility Equality and Accessibility Consultative Council was established in 2023 in order to more effectively implement the priority set in the traffic sector - to ensure that traffic sector experts work in the Consultative Council, several NGOs - Latvian People with Special Needs Cooperation Organization SUSTENTO, Association of the Disabled and their Friends APEIRONS, Latvian Paralympic Committee, Latvian Multi-Family Association, Latvian Blind Society, Latvian Union of the Deaf, national expert of the European Commissions initiative AccessibleEU, the association Rupju ilits of the city of Riga, as well as representatives of institutions and organizations in the field of transport.
