Overview
The MAPLE Project, was a project co-funded by the European Commission's DG for Employment and Social Affairs in 2003, as part of its activities for the European Year for People with Disabilities. MAPLE (improving Mobility and Accessibility for People with Learning disabilities in Europe) was a trans-national project to promote and enhance the mobility of people with intellectual disabilities, and people with mental health difficulties, by identifying, investigating and disseminating best practice in making public transport facilities more accessible to them.
The project aimed to raise awareness of the needs of people with learning disabilities when travelling, and to enhance their ability to travel by disseminating best practice in the fields of public transport staff training and the accessibility and comprehensibility of public transport information. This objective related directly to the European Year of People with Disabilities (EYPD) aim of raising awareness of disabled people's right to protection against discrimination, and plans for dissemination activities promoting the exchange of experience of good practice throughout Europe. The formal objectives of the MAPLE project were as follows:
- To raise awareness of the particular needs of, and problems faced by, people with learning disabilities and people with mental health problems
- To review current levels of provision for these two broad groups of people, in relation to public transport
- To disseminate knowledge and awareness of good practice throughout Europe.
The project aimed to achieve its objectives by identifying, investigating and disseminating measures that will improve the accessibility of public transport systems in Europe. It was known that a considerable amount of work had already been done to remove physical barriers in the physical environment, so improving the mobility of people with a physical or sensory impairment. It was believed by the consortium, however, that the problems faced by people with a cognitive impairment or mental health problems (which might include behavioural difficulties or depression, etc.) were much less well understood, and that strategies for assisting these people with their mobility were far less well documented. Although these conditions are largely 'invisible', they are often no less restricting in their effect of limiting an individual's mobility and participation in mainstream society.
A key part of the research was to target and uncover what public transport operators, authorities, charities and interest/advocacy groups had done so far with respect to making provisions for people with cognitive impairments in order to simplify their overall travel requirements.
Funding
Results
The main output of the project was a Good Practice guide, entitled “Improving Mobility and Access for People with Cognitive Impairments”. This fully illustrated brochure features examples of staff training initiatives, awareness campaigns and instances of transport providers making a particular effort to provide information and signage that is clear and unambiguous so that they can be understood by all travellers. It was hoped that this guide will inspire local authorities and transport providers throughout Europe to improve accessibility for people with learning disabilities and people who live with mental health problems, so that they might play a more active role in society.
Each MAPLE Partner was asked to carry out research in their own country, producing their own country report which identified relevant initatives and examples of good practice that exist in regard to accessibility of public transport systems for people with learning difficulties and people with mental health problems. All these reports from individiual partner cities were combined into a single report to identify relevant intiatives and examples of good practice.
Technical Implications
None
Policy implications
None