This article describes the "community responsive" public transportation for urban areas in Sweden. This consists of: a) traditional fixed route service. This service, utilizing standard 12 meter (40-foot) buses designed to Swedish law, supports the needs of mass transportation for people with little or no mobility limitations. To facilitate boarding and alighting these vehicles, under Swedish law, are relatively accessible, if some service-oriented measures are introduced. The measures include: i) the entrance step of the bus must not exceed 230 mm at one of the vehicle entrances; ii) the width of the bus front door must be at least 700 mm; iii) the handrails must be oval; iv) the figures and letters on the destination signs must be 250 mm high; v) seats specially intended for the disabled must be available at the front of the bus; and vi) equipment to announce bus stops must be available in the vehicle. b) Service routes, operated with smaller 6-8 meter (20-26 foot) low floor buses, to serve seriously disabled persons who cannot cope with public transportation involving large vehicles, long distances to and from the bus stop, and the stresses encountered during the trip. These people either do not presently use public transportation, or can only use it with great difficulty; this network is designed to bring the buses near the user; c) the special transportation system which is available for people who are so seriously handicapped that they require door-to-door transportation services.
Abstract