Assessment of transport interchanges for the needs of people with reduced mobility

Transport available to people with reduced mobility assures their full involvement in social and economic life. A fundamental way of improving the travelling conditions for people with reduced mobility is to adapt elements of the transportation system, including interchanges, to their needs. This article covers the niche subject of adapting interchanges to the needs of people with reduced mobility. It contains the results of research assessing selected interchanges in Krakow (Poland) for the needs of that user group. The four variants of interchanges were assessed with one of the Multiple Criteria Decision Aid (MCDA) methods - the Compensation-Conjunctive method, which allowed to obtain the final rankings of the interchanges. The adaptation of the Assessment Method of Public Transport Interchanges (AMPTI), expanded with aspects resulting from a review of literature and the authors' experience ensured a broad range of assessment criteria that comprehensively refer to the interchange planning. The unique nature of the research is the fact that opinions of people with reduced mobility were taken into account and the results proved that the most important aspects of interchanges are spatial compactness and solutions dedicated strictly for persons with reduced mobility. The other major aspects are quality of stop infrastructure and information.