Reuben Henry-Fellows speaks to the minds behind a tool that enables street designers to easily identify how street features impact on the different needs of disabled people…
In the rush to improve efficiency, accessibility has historically been a secondary feature of public transport projects. Even London, a city consistently ranked as one of the most accessible in Europe, faces an increasing population while higher demand for services may render its infrastructure inadequate.
Currently, the disabled (a term that refers to a multitude of groups with vastly varying needs) and the elderly, whose needs can often overlap with the former, constitute the largest dependant groups in London. And while the self-reported disabled population of 13.2%, according to the 2021 census, is not subject to major fluctuation, the UK capital’s elderly population most certainly is.
A 2015 study conducted by King’s College London, titled An Age Friendly City –how far has London come, looked at the impact of an ageing population on London’s transport system. In addition to estimating that the over 65s will account for 23% of the UK population by 2035, the report suggests that 12% of people in England aged 60-69, and 31% of those over 70, will have mobility difficulties – with 46% of the former group already classified as disabled.
In his 2001 essay, Bodies, Disability and Spaces: The social model and disabling spatial organisations, published in issue five, volume 16 of Disability & Society, Peter Freund concluded: “Transport systems continue to favour those who are physically agile, can move quickly and have the cognitive skills necessary to navigate sometimes unpredictable transport provision.” Freund’s findings, combined with the UN assessment that, by 2050 one-third of the global population will live in cities, demands London places consider the evolving needs of its citizenry into future projects.
London calling
With a density twice that of London – and 30 times that of England, alongside its civic responsibilities contending with the competing interests of some of the world’s largest financial institutions, the City of London faces the challenges of tomorrow, today.
“We recognised that we’ve got conflicts arising from the needs of different street users,” says Graham Packham, a City of London common councillor and streets and walkways sub (planning and transportation) committee chairman. “So, we set up a research project because we wanted to make sure that when we design our streets or reengineer them, that they are accessible for people who are mobility impaired for various reasons.”
The research project, undertaken in collaboration with design agency Ross Atkins Associates and architectural designer Urban Movement, would result in the subsequent development of the City of London Street Accessibility Tool (CoLSAT), an innovation that enables street designers to identify how street features impact on the different needs of disabled people. The tool comes in three parts: two Excel spreadsheets and a PDF downloadable from the City of London website.
“As part of [the City of London’s] transport strategy, [they wanted] to make the city streets as accessible as possible,” explains Ross Atkins, founder of Ross Atkins Associates. “The City of London was keen to go beyond existing guidance because, while there is inclusive mobility and tactile paving guidance, it’s still possible to create major accessibility issues.”
“We don’t see CoLSAT as a replacement for other forms of engagement with disabled people, it’s a design tool” – Ross Atkins, founder, Ross Atkins Associates
Developed during the pandemic, the first version of CoLSAT was delivered in the summer of 2021, using the interviews and input of 34 people. Together, these people represented 12 different niche segments: five representing people with mobility impairments, four covering sensory impairments, three neurodivergent segments and with audio description and tactile models provided for those with sight loss.
Each interview tasked participants with reviewing a video walkthrough of routes representing different street types present throughout the City of London. The interviewees then worked through an index of street features and potential adjustments that could be made to ameliorate travel. Comments were collected, compiled and condensed into a points system rating every obstacle from 1-10. The resultant data was plugged into an Excel spreadsheet-based tool with macro enabled that automatically identifies existing streets or new designs that potentially causes accessibility issues. The tool evaluates data and stratifies it into three coloured bands to clarify issue severity.
“We’re presenting information to people where the spreadsheet is mechanistic,” explains Atkins. “When modelling a design, there’s 12 different need segments that light up red, yellow or green, [signifying] whether you’re making things better or worse for that segment of people. Hovering over these segments then provides users with direct quotes from [participants communicating the] context behind their issue with the current design.”
FAST FACT: CoLSAT won the ‘Transport Accessibility Award’ at last year’s CiTTi Awards. Source: CiTTi Magazine
While undoubtedly innovative, CoLSAT is not the first tool to formulate its design around the concerns of disabled groups. Quality impact assessments (QIAs), risk assessments and Tactile Paving Guidance 2007 long precede it. However, what marks CoLSAT as unique is its ability to combine the contrasting needs of different segments into a single, comprehensive solution.
“The tool’s key feature recognises that the needs of different groups of disabled people can be contradictory; that improving accessibility for one group may decrease accessibility for another,” explains Packham. “CoLSAT identifies the trade-offs that may be needed to ensure no one is excluded from using the City’s streets and provides the basis for engagement and discussion to maximise the benefits for all.”
The result is an assistive tool that, when utilised correctly, can assess and remove hazards from both potential and pre-existing construction projects.
Pathway to progress
Since its conception, CoLSAT has undergone several redesigns that sought to streamline its useability and hazard-spotting potential. In addition to further interviews with people, Atkins highlights the improved documentation, which makes the tool easier to understand and use.
“We’re also adding a new segment that wasn’t covered previously: people that use a bike as their primary mobility aid. I’ve also been doing some additional interviews with mobility scooter users. The more people you have in each segment, the more you are presenting the needs of that segment properly.”
CoLSAT is now used by all City of London planning officials. However, first use of the tool was with Transport for London (TfL) during the redevelopment of Bank Junction as key parts of TfL’s network run through and under the city. Located next to the Bank of England, Mansion House, the Royal Exchange, Bank Station and a myriad of building exit points and crossings, the seven-way junction was a labyrinthine for all travellers.
In 2016, following several fatal accidents at the junction, the City of London designated the area a bus, cycle and pedestrian zone between 7am-7pm, Monday to Friday. What was initially an experiment to drive down collisions proved so successful that City safety officials extended the measures indefinitely. However, Bank Junction still presented significant obstacles to those with mobility restrictions.
“Our transport strategy seeks to facilitate safe, clean, and efficient movement of people and vehicles serving the city alongside improving the quality and accessibility of our streets and public spaces” – Graham Packham, common councillor, City of London, and streets and walkway sub (planning and transportation) committee
CoLSAT, used to survey the area in 2021, corroborated the sentiment that access was lacking, immediately highlighting several critical lapses in design procedure that impeded or entirely prevented disabled access. “We’ve got a hierarchy of prioritisation, so we use the vision sharing model,” Packham says. “The number one priority is pedestrians, followed by cyclists, commercial vehicles and private vehicles, in that order.”
Using CoLSAT’s recommendations, city officials abandoned the junction’s 25mm curb upstands in favour of 60mm upstands, widened pavements, a streamlined layout, and additional tactile paving to fully delineate footwear and carriageway on traffic tables, increased spacing (where possible) between the security bollards and provided more seating. Further assessments have identified inadequate signage related to disruption and diversion, which, for pedestrians and cyclists, will be changed as the project enters its seventh phase in late 2024.
Since the Bank Junction scheme, CoLSAT has been used increasingly to identify weak points in existing infrastructure, with the St Paul’s directory scheme the next largest project to see CoLSAT rollout.
“[Here] we’ve put better and shorter crossings in wider pavements and we’ve raised the junction at side streets to provide smooth and level crossing points,” Packham reveals. “We’ve [also] increased the width of the cycle lanes to accommodate adapted bikes to enable a wider range of people who choose to cycle, and, at the same location, we’re implementing a new public square.”
Where antiquated designs led to accidents, the safety improvements imposed by CoLSAT’s recommendations largely go unnoticed by its intended recipients, which is how those behind it know the tool is working.
“With all the interviews with people, what we’re talking about is, ‘What do people expect from London streets generally?’” Atkins reveals. “That’s the lens through which people look at the Bank scheme when they experience it. Is it better than before? Is it better than the streets surrounding it? I don’t see accessibility as binary, it’s a process of continually improving places and making them easier to use.”
Affordable access
Despite the success of the projects CoLSAT has influenced, its use across the coveted square mile has not yet been replicated elsewhere. In an area that produces some £294bn in economic output, contributes nearly £100bn in taxes, exports more than £150bn and generates nearly £2bn in foreign direct investment for the UK economy, every inch of pavement is a lucrative commodity. “It’s a series of trade-offs,” Packham says. “If you make life easier for one group by widening pavements, given the limited real estate we can’t please everybody, so we’ve got to cater.”
The nature of the tool also necessitates that it operates exclusively in high density urban areas – perfect for City of London’s bustling streets but potentially hampering for more widespread application. “If you’ve got roads, pavements and crossing points [the tool is] helpful,” Atkins explains. “But if you’ve got grass verges, it’s not going to tell you what to do because that’s not something the tool was researched for. CoLSAT is complete for any urban local authority and less complete for a rural context, but still potentially quite helpful.”
FAST FACT: There are 16 million disabled people in the UK. Source: Scope
While the City of London has encouraged other boroughs to pick up the tool, advertising it through its website and Ross Atkins Associates conducting consultancy work identifying CoLSAT as a portal to improved access, it remains confined to tangible infrastructure, with nature’s unpredictable variation an as-yet unquantifiable obstacle. However, as the tool itself demonstrates, when used in conjunction with other readily available tools, CoLSAT can become the key to unlocking accessibility for all.
“We don’t see CoLSAT as a replacement for other forms of engagement with disabled people, it shouldn’t replace the QIAs or access groups, it’s a design tool,” stresses Atkins. “It’s supposed to improve the quality of the design before it gets to the access group, so that the access group can focus on the difficult questions specific to that design, rather than just putting up the same issues repeatedly, because those issues aren’t well addressed in guidance that designers are currently working to.”
This article was originally published in the May 2024 issue of CiTTi Magazine
Achievements and innovations in transport accessibility and inclusion will be celebrated at the third annual CiTTi Awards, which will be held on 26 November 2024 at De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in London. Nominations are now officially open! Please visit www.cittiawards.co.uk to learn more about this unmissable event for the UK’s transportation sector
