This is a photo I took the last time I was trying to get off a plane, but the staff refused to bring my chair to the door. I'm waiting with my wheelchair joystick, headrest, and cushion as the cleaning crew moves through the plane.

The Department of Transportation is proposing new rules to improve the experience of passengers like me. However, rules already exist—the problem is that the gate agents, flight attendants, and airport staff who should follow them either accidentally or willfully ignore them.

The new rules include training, and I'm suggesting expanding the training to all customer-facing staff. I also suggest having the rules clearly posted. If you like these ideas, please consider posting a comment to the DOT in support, either in your own words or referring to mine:

————

I thank Secretary Buttigieg, Senator Duckworth, Director Benjamin, and Disabled activists for this important proposal. As a Disabled air traveler and power wheelchair rider, I have two requests.

1. The current proposal includes "annual training, including hands-on training, of airline employees and contractors who physically assist passengers with mobility disabilities or handle passengers’ wheelchairs." I request that this annual training be provided to all airline and airport staff who interact with customers, not just those who physically assist or handle.

In fact, as a woman with muscular dystrophy who cannot walk at all, my best experiences have been with the people physically lifting me, and my worst experiences have been with gate agents and flight attendants who treat me with disrespect while violating the law. They have raised their voices at me while I'm instructing my assistant in preparing my wheelchair for stowage, threatened to "offload" me from the flight, repeatedly denied me and rolled their eyes when I request that my wheelchair be brought to the door, and repeatedly resisted ensuring adjoining seats for me and my assistant, who sometimes has to physically prevent me from falling forward from the airplane seat.

I request that you expand the annual training to all customer-facing airline and airport staff, including gate agents and flight attendants, because these staff members have significant power over Disabled travelers' safety and experiences.

2. While the DOT's Aviation Consumer Protection policies (which state "Your device must be returned to you in a timely manner as close as possible to the door of the aircraft") and Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights are excellent, they are difficult to call upon in the moment they're being violated. When gate agents, flight attendants, and other staff have tried to pressure me against the law, I have had to resort to finding the DOT's laws and policies on my phone (try doing that in airplane mode!). The times I can successfully excavate and point to the documentation are the only times staff have reluctantly backed down. But I believe the burden of carrying the law around shouldn't fall on each Disabled passenger.

Therefore, I request that these laws and policies be easily visible and available in accessible formats, such as: (a) being posted prominently at gate terminals and check-in desks, (b) being available in print at gate terminals and check-in desks, and (c) being included in onboard brochures at every seat.

I believe these two additions to the proposal will greatly enhance its ability to accomplish its mission to ensure airline passengers who ride wheelchairs can travel safely and with dignity.

————

Link to my comment: https://www.regulations.gov/comment/DOT-OST-2022-0144-0074
Submit your own comment: https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/DOT-OST-2022-0144-0005
Press announcement: https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/secretary-buttigieg-announces-proposed-rule-ensure-passengers-who-use-wheelchairs-can
Full text download of the proposed rule: https://www.regulations.gov/document/DOT-OST-2022-0144-0005
Aviation Consumer Protection policy on wheelchairs and other assistive devices: https://www.transportation.gov/individuals/aviation-consumer-protection/wheelchairs-and-other-assistive-devices
Airline Passengers with Disabilities Bill of Rights: https://www.transportation.gov/airconsumer/disabilitybillofrights
Tags: #Disability, #DisabilityJustice, #DisabilityRights, #ableism, #travel

"I folded up the map and headed out to have a look at nothing."

For Noema Magazine, Alastair Humphreys writes about "microadventures" and finding wonder in the everyday: https://www.noemamag.com/a-single-small-map-is-enough-for-a-lifetime

#Longreads #Exploration #Travel #Adventure #England

Alastair Humphreys: The Joys Of Microadventures

Exploring our own backyards can be a way to enjoy wild landscapes & the mental & physical benefits of adventuring out in nature without it costing the Earth.

^NOEMA

Content warning: Night trains in Europe are coming back Click to open/close

As night trains are the superior art of traveling, I never understood why in the last decade most train companies dismantled them.
I always suspected a mixture of pseudo-modernism ("high-speed trains are more modern"), lack of cooperation among rail operators of different countries (the European rail system has more of a patchwork than a network) and the conspiracy theory of car and air travel industries lobbying against the most convenient way to travel long distances.

Luckily, follks in Eastern European countries weren't as shortsighted as their counterparts in the other parts of Europe, and maintained their night trains. ÖBB is most active in bringing back night train connections in Europe. Turkyie and Ukraine are good on track, too!

If you want to find night train connections, check this web:

https://back-on-track.eu/night-train-list/?

"Back-on-Track is a European network to support improved European cross-border passenger train traffic and night trains." 🖤

#NightTrains #Trains #Railway #EuropeanMobility #Mobility #Travel #TravelInEurope #FutureOfMobility #EuropeTourism #Tourism #MobilityTransition #SleeperTrains #SNCF #DB #OEBB #ÖBB #NightJet #Nightline #TrenItalia #MÁV #PKP #PolRail #RENFE (just kidding, the Spanish rail company is a candidate for being the worst in Europe )

National parks have a long way to go before they become fully accessible to people that use wheelchairs, scooters and walkers, but there are some adaptive hiking trails. Here are 10 of the best, including the Trail of Time in Grand Canyon National Park and Old Faithful Geyser Loop in Yellowstone, plus how to find info on wheelchair-accessible places in more than 400 parks.

https://www.travelandleisure.com/wheelchair-accessible-national-park-trails-7500063

#Travel #TravelTuesday #Accessibility #Lifestyle

10 Wheelchair-friendly Trails Through the Country's Best National Parks

These accessible national park trails are suitable for people using wheelchairs, scooters, crutches, and walkers.

^{Evie Carrick (Travel + Leisure)}

Walking around #Zagreb I came across this place: The Museum of Broken Relationships.

It is exactly what it sounds like. People bring in mementos of breakups or other lost relationships, and the museum puts them on display along with their stories.

#museum #Croatia #travel