1. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Lack of or improper design of street furniture.
Obstructed pathways.
Inaccessible street facilities.
2. PLANNING PRINCIPLE
To design accessible amenities convenient to all people, without obstructing the free
passage of pedestrians along travel routes.
3. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
3.1 General
 Street furniture includes bus stops, benches,
mail boxes, lampposts, signboards, telephone booths, public toilets, newspaper kiosks,
planting tubs, garbage bins, etc.
3.2 Location (1)
Street furniture should be located so as to
allow for the free passage of all people without creating hazards.
Textural changes in the footpath surface help
sightless people to identify the location of public amenities (see Obstructions).
3.3 Resting facilities
Level rest areas with seats are helpful for
all pedestrians, especially for those with mobility problems.
Resting facilities should be placed outside
the main circulation path in public parks, recreational places, pathway crossings, in
front of accessible entrances and exits and wherever necessary.
Resting facilities should be provided at
regular intervals between 100.00 m and 200.00 m (2) (fig.
1).
Some seating accommodations should be placed
close to public toilets, telephones, etc.
Resting spaces with benches should allow a
minimum of 1.20 m of adjoining space for a wheelchair (fig. 2).
Public seats and benches should be
approximately 0.45 m above floor level, with backrests at approximately 0.70 m above floor
level (fig. 3).
The height of a table should be between 0.75
m and 0.90 m and the minimum depth under the table should be 0.60 m, in order to fit a
wheelchair under all sides (fig. 4).
3.4 Public telephone booths (3)
At public telephone booths, one telephone
should be accessible to a wheelchair user and another to a person with a hearing
impairment.
Telephones for the hearing impaired should be
equipped with hearing aid devices and amplifiers. The location of telecommunication
devices should be indicated by signs.
A push-button telephone numbering system,
with raised letters which can also be read by touch, should be used for the convenience of
sightless users and other disabled people. A dial numbering system is not recommended
unless the dial tension is reduced so as to require less effort to rotate the dial.
A folding seat should be provided in
accessible telephone booths for the convenience of people with mobility problems.
The minimum unobstructed area in front of the
telephone counter should be 1.20 m x 0.85 m, allowing either a parallel or a frontal
approach (fig. 5).
The coin slot should be mounted at an
accessible comfortable height between 0.90 m and 1.20 m.
The telephone cord length should be at least
0.75m.
Accessible public telephones should be marked
by appropriate signs.
3.5 Mailboxes
Mailbox slots should be mounted at an
accessible height between 0.90 m and 1.20 m (fig. 6).
3.6 Water Fountains (fig. 7)
Drinking fountain spouts should be located at
an approximate height of 0.90 m.
Drinking fountains can have two spouts
located at different heights, one convenient to wheelchair users at approximately 0.85 m,
and one at approximately 0.95 m for non-disabled people.
3.7 Signs (see Signage; Pedestrian
Crossings)
3.8 Garbage bins (see Obstructions)
3.9 Public toilets (see Rest Rooms)
3.10 Ticket vending machines (see Height Limits)
4. EXISTING CONSTRUCTIONS
Resting facilities should be rearranged where
possible to allow an adjoining space for a wheelchair.
Facilities mounted at a maximum height of
1.40 m are acceptable, while those located at a higher level should be modified.
Notes:
(1) Landscaped strips act as a buffer zone between pedestrian and vehicular zones, and
street furniture can be located within these strips.
(2) It might be beneficial to locate rest areas at more frequent intervals on long
gradients
(3) Public telephone requirements also include those in hotels, information booths and
other public areas. |
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