Accessibility
Basics
Talking Headways Podcast: Sausage Making and the ADA
"It is fundamentally inappropriate to keep charging disabled people twice as much," our guest Ron Brooks says.
December 7, 2023
American Streets May Soon Get Their First Accessible Design Standards from the Feds
The ADA has been the law for 33 years. Why has it taken this long to write strong guidelines to implement it on U.S. streets?
September 6, 2023
Why American Cities Still Aren’t Accessible After 33 Years of the ADA
The Americans with Disabilities Act has made a positive impact on the built environment — but there's so much more left to be done.
July 26, 2023
Why Car Dependency Makes Healthcare Access Harder — Particularly for the Marginalized
More than 20 percent of car-free U.S. adults in car-dependent places are skipping medical appointments because they can't physically get to the doctor, a new study finds.
May 8, 2023
Opinion: Bloomington, Ind. Makes Smart Move to Mandate Seated Vehicles in its Micromobility Program
Bloomington, Indiana is pioneering a new approach to micromobility: by this summer, 25 percent of each operator’s micromobility fleet must consist of sit-down scooters or e-bikes.
April 28, 2023
When Waiting For the Bus In a Wheelchair Becomes an Act of Protest
Steven Hardy-Braz acknowledges that he wasn't "just" waiting for the bus in a hazardous environment on the day he was arrested for impeding traffic; he was also staging a protest. Here's what happened next.
April 10, 2023
What Parking Reform Means for People With Disabilities
Practically every day, there's a new headline about a new effort in a U.S. city to reform its autocentric parking policies — and practically every time Streetsblog covers it, we get an email that asks what people with disabilities will do in a world with no accessible parking at all.
March 22, 2023
What Planting Trees In the Street Could Look Like in Boston: Learning From Other Cities
As the effects of climate change begin to worsen, replacing heat-absorbing pavement with new trees can help make a difference toward expanding our urban canopy when space is limited.
November 25, 2022
Why Do People With Disabilities Have to Sue To Get Accessible Sidewalks?
Philadelphia is the latest U.S. city to agree to make its sidewalks accessible to people who use assistive devices — though the win would be more significant if people with mobility challenges weren't so often forced to sue to get basic access to the places where they live.
November 14, 2022
Boston Plans for More Sidewalk Plows, Expanded Sidewalk Snow-Clearing Program
The City of Boston will make last year’s sidewalk snow clearing pilot program into a permanent part of its winter operations, and plans to have more plow equipment out clearing curb ramps, crosswalks, and sidewalks this winter.
November 7, 2022
