Hi
We are holding an afternoon seminar to disseminate research findings from our work to explore the impacts of 'retro-fitting' accessibility into the local highway network here in Leeds. The event will take place on the afternoon of Thursday 24th September at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Leeds Radisson Blu Hotel Leeds<http://www.radissonblu.co.uk/hotel-leeds>
The event is free to attend, but places are limited so please register your interest with Jess Woodall ([log in to unmask]).
Further details of the seminar are as follows:
Streets and highways are the arteries of urban transport networks, yet their accessibility for many disabled and older pedestrians, wheelchair users and mobility scooter users is still the source of major problems. This serves to constrain disabled and older people's independence, opportunities, health and wellbeing. But with thousands of miles of highways to maintain, local authorities are faced with difficult questions regarding what access improvements to make and how to prioritise amongst them.
This afternoon seminar first reports on a research collaboration between Leeds City Council and the University of Leeds, to explore the impacts of the Council's user-led approach to 'retro-fitting' accessibility into the local highway network. It also takes the opportunity to draw links with related local and national initiatives to declutter streets and to plan and design urban environments so as to make walking more safe and more comfortable. It aims to highlight the importance of this agenda, in relation to mobility, inclusion, health and public safety, and to identify how individual initiatives might be developed into a concerted strategy. The programme is as follows:
13:30 Registration and Buffet Lunch
14:00 Dropped Kerbs and Heightened Opportunities: Research into Disabled People and the Highway Environment - Kasia Speakman (Leeds City Council) and Bryan Matthews (University of Leeds)
14:20 Pavements are for People - Tracy Dearing (Royal National Institute of Blind people)
14:40 Improving disabled people's mobility: Opportunities and barriers - Sally Morgan (Leeds Disability Hub) TBC
15:00 Planning and Designing for Walking, Peter Dickinson (Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation)
15:30 Community Street Audits, TBA
16:00 Discussion
16:30 Close
Bryan Matthews CMCILT
Senior Research Fellow
Institute for Transport Studies and Centre for Disability Studies
University of Leeds
LS2 9JT
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 113 3435341
Please note, my normal working days are Mon-Thurs
Recent Publications
Edwards SJ, Partington D, Matthews B, and Blythe P (2015) Technology to support independent travel in the UK, MUNICIPAL ENGINEER (PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS) V168 pp140-149
Szczerbinska-Speakman K, Matthews B (2014) Retrofitting an accessible highway: a user-led approach, MUNICIPAL ENGINEER (PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS) V167 pp207-213.
Price L and Matthews B (2013) Travel time as quality time; Parental attitudes to long distance travel with young children, Transport Geography V32 pp4955
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