Navigating through Uptown NYC in a Wheelchair [Joki]
Welcome to the life of Florence Chasin’s 91-year-old husband.
For many, it may come intuitively that living in an urban area eases the stress and energy of moving between locations. But how convenient would an urban neighborhood be for someone who can't walk or access basic public transportation? On July 22, 2007, Jennifer Bleyer from the New York Times wrote an alarming article about Florence Chasin's 91-year-old husband, who had become too frail that a strong gust of wind would threaten him to blow him over as he walked. This project serves to shed light on the spatial implications of navigating through New York City on a wheelchair, to ultimately ask the question, "What is the role of public policy with respect to how disabled elderlies, in particular, can navigate through one of the busiest, urbanized cities of the world?". Using multiple maps and illustrations, we hope to uncover the truth behind this question while attempting to vividly visualize and feel what a disabled elderly such as Mr. Chasin experiences in his daily life.
Simulating Reality: Methodology
Although the NYT article does not give the specific address of the Chasin family, we know that they live in Carnegie Hill, which Google Maps claims to be the area outlined in red. We can also presume that Florence's husband attends an adult care center, as they are non-medical long-term care facilities, which matches his needs. The green dots represent the locations of such facilities, as provided by NY.gov. To simulate the difficulties a disabled individual like Mr. Chasin experiences while traveling to one of these facilities, I have picked an arbitrary point within the red lines located relatively farther than most other addresses from the facilities. According to ArcGIS, it will take 15 minutes for a pedestrian to complete this particular 0.8-mile long trip. However, many navigation tools such as ArcGIS do not tell exactly how long an individual in a wheelchair would take to complete its inquired routes. This project will focus on 3 distinct concepts of "distance"; Physical distance, Temporal Distance, and Economic Distance, to unpack the spatial elements of traveling in a wheelchair through one of the most developed, fast-paced metropolitan cities of the world.
Three "Distances"
Physical Distance:
In its most literal sense, physical distance in this context refers to physical elements of a wheelchair-using individual's trip through New York City. For example, what does a busy street with lots of cars mean for a person like Mr. Chasin trying to cross an intersection? There is a high chance that he or she would experience more stress of crossing a road in a wheelchair than a pedestrian walking on two legs. What are the possible changes or instabilities in Mr. Chasin’s everyday paths that may discourage him from leaving his house? The photo on the top right shows a sidewalk-embedded ramp on every street of the city as required by the ADA (American Disabilities Act). In contrast, the bottom right shows a temporary path made for pedestrians, as construction sites have blocked entry to the conventional sidewalk. As constructions happen all-year round sporadically, this source of uncertainty is substantial.
How would the existence of trucks driving through the local area affect a disabled individual's will to get outside and travel in a wheelchair? How would the existence of subway stations located closely or distantly from care facilities help or hinder a disabled individual's movement through NYC? This map shows trucks run through most streets of Manhatten and facilities are not necessarily located close to subway station entrances. Already, we can see that it may be considerably difficult for a disabled individual in a wheelchair to move through such environments.
Temporal Distance:
How long would it actually take Mr. Chasin to complete this simulated route? According to a study by Hindawi that examined how people move in wheelchairs, most participants’ bouts (travels) lasted less than a minute and traveled 30 meters, which implies that 0.5 miles on a wheelchair may not be a standard distance of movement. Across 29,200 bouts in the study, the median bout lasted 21 seconds and traveled 8.6 m at 0.43 m/s (Source: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/rerp/2012/753165/). If we were to calculate how many minutes it would take for an individual traveling at this rate on a wheelchair for our simulated route, it comes out to about 31 minutes. Furthermore, what do the standard dimensions of a wheelchair tell us about how an individual using one may struggle to simply maneuver him or herself on the street? Although the ADA requires all sidewalks to allow room for wheelchairs, we must also look into specific situations in which such policies cannot cover for wheelchair traveling contingencies.
What are the implications of temporal distance when a disabled person is dependent on a specific transportation service, such as "Access-A-Ride", a service owned and operated by the MTA of New York City? In often cases, drivers do not show up on time or do not show up at all. Moreover, the service considers the drivers to be “on time” as long as they arrive within 30 minutes after the designated time (Source: http://pix11.com/2016/05/17/access-a-ride-routinely-fails-nycs-disabled-senior-residents-who-need-pick-up-audit/). Such problems in inefficiencies are not easily approachable or solvable by disabled individuals themselves.
Economic Distance
According to the dailynews.com, "The MTA’s network of paratransit vehicles delivers 20,000 rides a day for New Yorkers with disabilities. For the staggering cost of a half-billion dollars a year — an average of $68 per ride — passengers get a quality of service that wouldn’t be acceptable in the Third World (Source: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/excess-a-ride-accessible-taxis-article-1.3199349). Although this is not a direct price the elderly are required to pay, this is a substantial economic barrier prohibiting the elderly from reaching more optimal conditions of receiving adult care.