A study on mobility improvement for intellectually disabled student commuters

- The public transport needs of students with intellectual disabilities is explored.
- A unique bus system for disabled student commuting in Curitiba is investigated.
- An interesting practice in Germany for a bus operator-led training program for commuting students is reviewed.
- A proof-of-concept training program was applied in Yokohama.
- Contributions of various entities are found to be necessary to implement mobility support in school commuting environments.

In Japan, the number of people with intellectual disabilities has been increasing and efforts are being made to improve their access to public facilities and transport. Although the Japanese government has published a guidebook on effective communication with people with intellectual disabilities and a list of accessibility-related recommendations for property developers, the fact is there has been insufficient research on problems with this population's mobility and the inadequate coordination among stakeholders. As a result, the treatment they receive is not always acceptable.In this study, we explore the public transport needs of people with intellectual disabilities and the need for children with such disabilities to commute to special needs schools. This presented an opportunity to look at providing them with training in the use of public transport. To that end, we examined two progressive initiatives from overseas-one in Curitiba, Brazil and the other in Nordhorn, Germany-to consider whether their ideas could be adapted for use in Japan.Curitiba uses a special needs school bussing system that prioritizes transport efficiency over convenience by making students change buses at a central transfer station. Our study showed that while a support system is needed to help students change buses, compared to the current situation in Japan, there may be the potential for reduced travel time. Also, we could expect a significant educational effect from students engaging in group behaviors related to interacting with a variety of people while changing buses within a prescribed time. Further, it showed that implementing such a system would require consensus building among the schools that would use it and the acquisition or construction of a central transfer terminal.Nordhorn employs a public transport operator-led training program to teach students how to commute to school on public buses. In this study, we conducted a proof-of-concept training program based on a field study of Nordhorn's practices. The results showed that an educational effect was derived from the participation of the bus company in the training-one that could not have been obtained through the participation of teachers and parents only. We also found that there were several issues to address regarding the program's implementation, such as the need for the roles of the school and bus company to be clearly defined.Overall, our findings suggested that to actually implement mobility support in school commuting environments in a way that will improve the mobility of intellectually disabled people requires not only the cooperation of schools, but also contributions from transport operators, road administrators, and traffic administrators. Because the contributions of these entities are essential, awareness-raising activities and a system for promoting common understanding among them are vital.