EVALUATION OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN POLAND FORM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING PEOPLE TOWARDS THE IMPROVEMENT OF MOBILITY

Abstract

The article presents findings of a survey research carried out on a group of the deaf and the hard of hearing. The objective of the research was to evaluate the quality of public transport in urbanized areas in Poland, identify problems that the deaf and the hard of hearing face while using public transport, and to review a selection of solutions facilitating mobility of this group of people. The survey was conducted on a group of 71 persons, of whom 65% were women and 35% were men. The group surveyed was active professionally and socially, thus they used public transport daily or several times a week, which they confirmed in surveys. Most of them (65%) were persons with profound hearing loss (above 90 dB), 17% with severe hearing loss (71-90 dB), and 11% with moderate hearing loss (41-70 dB). Public transport and its accessibility for the given group in the urban area where they live was assessed as very good by 8% - 17% of the surveyed, good: 23% - 46%, sufficient: 13% - 25%, bad: 13% - 25%, very bad: 3% - 28%. The results presented on the assessment of public transport by the deaf and the hard of hearing indicate that accessibility of public transport in Poland for this group of passengers is on a sufficient level. The assessment of public transport in Poland, performed in the survey, allowed the identification of vital problems the deaf and the hard of hearing face when they use the infrastructure and means of public transport. The article presented a selection of technical solutions used in public transport vehicles in Germany, Austria, Great Britain, France, Poland and Czechia. The following aspects were in the focus of this paper: information displayed at stations and train platforms; the passenger information system in vehicles; spots at railway stations where the deaf may obtain help connected with their journey; applications that enable planning a journey. These solutions aim at facilitating travel for the deaf and the hard of hearing.