If you want to help the Route4U community make the world’s first sidewalk navigation solution truly useful, download the iOS app first here or the Android one here.
These are the ways you can contribute:
assess places’ accessibility
automatically map sidewalks and crossings
notify others about obstacles
Sometimes categorizing places’ entrances or toilets is not easy, here’s some help:
Places
By tapping any Place on the map, you see their accessibility info. If there is no information yet (it’s gray) or if you find it incorrect you can change it’s properties by tapping the pencil icon and set it according to your findings. You can also add text on relevant details at the bottom.
Green entrances
are level or the doorstep is max. 2 centimeters tall, the door is at least 120 cm wide, and there is no ramp in front of/behind the door. If assess a Place as green, be sure that there is enough space inside for wheelchair users, and that there are no stairs inside that limit movement.
Yellow entrances
are inconvenient for most wheelchair users, but are still usable alone for some, and with assistance for the majority. If you find hard to decide the type of an entrance. Please leave a description, so others will know the exact characteristics. Places with mobile ramps and/or working wheelchair bells are and should be yellow in Route4U.
Red entrances
are with a high doorsteps or are too narrow for most wheelchair users (<80cm) or have steep ramps leading up to them. Narrow entraces always fall into this category.
Green toilets
are big enough for an electric wheelchair user to turn around, are equipped with handrails and an alarm, door opens outside, mirror and sink are convenient to use in a wheelchair.
Yellow toilets
are missing at least one of the features of Green toilets, but are still usable for some. Please always include accessibility details at the bottom!
Red toilets
are either: too small, not enough space next to the toilet without handrails, the door opens inside or any combination of these.
Even if the entrance is accessible (Green) with wheelchair, there might be problems inside. These are:
Not enough space to move/turn inside with a wheelchair conveniently. If this is the case, please assess the Point of Interest as Yellow
If there are ramps inside that are possible to use alone, please assess the Point of Interest as Yellow
If there are steep ramps or stairs in the way, please assess the Point of Interest as Red
If the tables inside are too high, or there are tables that are inconvenient to use with a wheelchair, please assess the Place as Red
Join the community!
If all this is not enough, You can also join the fun by following our Facebook page . We regularly share information about the map and the apps (both iOS and Android) organize events and share interesting stuff about the world of accessibility.
We also created a Route4U – UK Mapping closed Facebook group where our UK-based users can share feedback about map data and the app in general. We also hope to build an active community of accessiblity enthusiasts
Route4U is a community-contributed tool that helps You to navigate on the sidewalks of a city. The purpose of the application is to give you the highest possible level of freedom in mobility, whether you are in your hometown or out exploring a new city. In exchange You can also help the community in many ways. We have data available in every single city of the world.
How does it work?
First, download the iOS app here or the Android one here. Once you open the app, you’ll see a map with color coded information on it. These are
Places – Points of Interests (circles),
sidewalks and crossings (gray or coloured lines),
and maybe obstacles (exclamation marks).
With Route4U, you can search for accessible places, and if there’s information available already, you can have personalized sidewalk routes planned between two locations.
You can also contribute:
assess places’ accessibility,
automatically map sidewalks and
notify others about obstacles!
We also have a web based map, with limited functionality here.
What are the colours on the map?
We use colours on Places (or Points of Interest – POI), sidewalks and crossings.
Places can be gray, green, yellow and red.
Green means the entrance is accessible with all kinds of wheelchairs.
Yellow means entering is inconvenient but possible, either alone or with help.
Red means “impossible” because of the characteristics of the entrance.
Gray POI means insufficient data. But you can change that! 🙂
Sidewalks can be green, yellow, orange, red and gray. The colours show the smoothness and/or the steepness of the sidewalk surface.
Orange is very inconvenient and
red is impossible to roll on for most wheelchair users.
Gray sidewalks are not yet mapped, but again, you can change that!
Crossings can also be green, yellow, orange, red and gray. Colours of crossings indicate their kerb height.
You will definitely not have problems with green crossings, while
red ones have at least 10 cm high kerbs.
Route4U’s Navigation function shows you personalized routes. You can set your accessibility preferences in the Settings.
Can I also change colour of Places or sidewalks?
Sure! By tapping any Place on the map, you see their accessibility info. If there is no information yet (it’s gray) or if you find it incorrect you can change it’s properties by tapping the pencil icon and set it according to your findings. You can also add text on relevant details at the bottom.
Please read our Assessment Guide to see what kind of toilets and entrances fit into which category. This way we can avoid false data appearing on the map. Don’t worry though! Sometimes it’s not easy to decide the colours. If you have doubts, just add some comments in the “Accessibility Details” box. See the guide here.
Every user can “survey” sidewalks, kerbs and preferred routes while they move around in the city. Tapping the ruler (survey button) – even if the area is already mapped – automatically helps the community by keeping the map data fresh and accurate. Same applies when using the app in navigation mode. During survey, Route4U collects sensor data of your phone, and turns it into accessibility maps. No data about our users or their routes is given to a third party. This automatic survey function works best when you roll on the sidewalks and crossings. Surveying while driving or sitting in the car collects false data – however our built-in artificial intelligence will filter these out. 🙂
What if the sidewalk would be fine, but is temporarily obstructed?
You can notify other users about that! Long tap on the map, choose “Obstacle“. You can even add a photo for others to see. These obstacles also count in the route planning process, if the sidewalk is blocked, Route4U will show you an alternative route.
Why does Route4U say “No route!” when I try to use the navigation function!
We can only show you accessible routes on the mapped areas. Route4U is a community based app, which means you and your friends can automatically map your city from zero, only by opening the app and tapping on the ruler icon. This way we receive sidewalk data that is turned into coloured sidewalk maps. If you are an active person from a not-yet mapped city, feel free to contact us at tibor@route4u.org and our cartographer will help you get things rolling.
Does Route4U follow me when I am not using the app?
No.
Does Route4U use mobile data?
Yes, and GPS too.
Who can I contact if I have questions or something’s not working?
Although we’re just starting our pilot in Portsmouth, UK, you can use the Route4U app anywhere in the world already. The general problem with services based on community-contribution is that reaching the minimum viable amount of data in a given area is not easy. This is why we designed our app to use OpenStreetMap data, this way we already have hunders, thousands of places (Points of Interest – POI) with accessibility data available in every town and city of the world.
This means that If you use wheelchairs or prams every day, you can still use the app, even though there will be no sidewalk navigation in your city at first, due to the inital lack of sidewalk data. Of course, since you can automatically “survey” sidewalks, crossings and road surfaces, you can be one of the pioneers of your area who help us put the map together.
By tapping on gray circles on the Route4U map, you can add accessibility information to that shop, venue, etc. This way, you notify every Route4U user in the world, about the accessibility of that place. In addition, this information will be available on OpenStreetMap too, for everyone to see. Check the current status of the Portsmouth map out here. Please read our Assessment Guide to see what kind of toilets and entrances fit into which category. This way we can avoid false data appearing on the map. Don’t worry though! Sometimes it’s not easy to decide the colours. If you have doubts, just add some comments in the “Accessibility Details” box. See the guide here.
You can also join the fun by following our Facebook page . We regularly share information about the map and the apps (both iOS and Android) organize events and share interesting stuff about the world of accessibility.
We also created a Route4U – UK Mapping closed Facebook group where our UK-based users can share feedback about map data and the app in general. We also hope to build an active community of accessiblity enthusiasts 🙂
As we mentioned above, sidewalk data is very difficult to collect – even with our automatic function – without a big number of active wheelchair or pram users on the city streets. This is why we cooperate with city councils to map the first version of the accessibility map, which is then continuously being updated by our users, just by rolling around the city streets. We provide cites with statistics, heat maps, and problematic locations data about their sidewalk network. Please contact our CEO: peter.bodo@route4u.org for more information!
We collected sidewalk and crossing data on our trip to Portsmouth using the automatic survey funcion of the Route4U iOS application. We compared the result of this survey with open source data sets, and now released this preliminary sidewalk map of a pilot area in the centre of Portsmouth. We say it’s preliminary because only after Route4U users are actively contributing to the map, when all the shortcuts and personal routes are on it, we can say we’re ashore.
You are reading this because you are enthusiastic about wheelchair navigation, and you – as we do – actively work for a more convenient, more accessible world.
Before the October 1. start of our public test in Portsmouth, we would like YOU to check the map out, and give us feedback. We want to make sure it’s useful for locals and tourists alike. It looks like this now:
Check out the current status here. Right-click the map to plan an accessible route from A to B, or click on the grey circles (they are Points of Interest – POI) to view and assess their accessibility. You can also download the iOS app here, for more features and a much better user experience.
Please help us with these questions, let’s make sure everything is ready before setting sail:
We love short routes! Do you? Are there any accessible arcades or other shortcuts that are not yet featured on the map of the surveyed area? See an example here: http://route4u.org/maps/#19.22/50.79659/-1.09253/0/1
You can show us your preferred routes (even if they’re not yet on the map) by tapping the “ruler” icon in the bottom left corner of the map in our iPhone app.
Have you encountered any map errors regarding sidewalk surfaces, crossings, curbs? You can pin them for review inside the app. Just make a long tap on the map and choose “Obstacle”. Please choose “Map improvement” and if you can, attach a photo of the problematic area by tapping the camera icon above the red face.
Since you’re definitely an early adopter,
Feel free to write a note in our mapping group about anything Route4U related, or send an email to our cartographer: tibor@route4u.org
If you feel like, you can start the public testing right away! By clicking on the grey circles on the map around you, you can assess their accessibility. The information becomes available to everyone in less then an hour! If you encounter any obstacles – temporary or permanent – why not put them on the map, as it is mentioned above? The Route4U route planner now takes this into consideration during sidewalk navigation!
You are amazing, thank You! 🙂
Oh and there’s more: during our campaign in October we’ll be solving a nice, online community puzzle game together. – Stay tuned!
One of our friends told us about the wheelchair sailing opportunity at Agárd, on the shore of lake Velencei. They operate a Rehabilitation Centre at the lakeside where people can move in for a couple of months while they are learning to cope with challanges of their new life. The Centre is also next to a small harbor where residents can (and should!) try sailing.
How it works
With the help of the super friendly local staff, we prepared our boats, put them on water and got in. Zoltán, our teammate got in the boat with the help of a nifty crane next to the pier. All of us wore life jackets, and at least one person of the two in every boat had to know the basics of sailing.
As we were told it was nearly impossible to tip over with the boat but still, the author of these lines was not so sure about that when we tilted 45 degress multiple times 🙂
This is how it went, and this is how it looked:
Everything is given at Agárd what’s needed for a fun and exciting day with or without a wheelchair. Our goal with Route4U is the same. It’s easier to be active, when circumstances are optimal. And when they’re not, you need information to know how to bring the most out of the situation.
Santa has already left Lapland… and it depends on You, when he’ll arrive!
Categorize places (Points Of Interests – bars, cafés, restaurants, gov. offices, hospitals, etc.) by deciding if it’s possible to enter with a wheelchair or not. By saving your survey result in our game, you help Santa with 1 km route, on his way from the North Pole. The distance is around 3000 kms to Budapest, so we’ll need you to check on 3000 places if you want him to arrive in time.
All the accessibility information you provide during the game is immediately shown in the Route4U application and online map and is real value to the wheelchair user community.
How does it work?
1. On the main page, click on the bottom-right arrow.
2. Choose the area where you want to play. The system will determine your position automatically, but it won’t always work due to phone and browser settings. Shall this occur, you can set your location by moving the map.
3. Choose the place you’d like to categorize and look for stairs at the entrace.
4. Finalize your choice by choosing one of the three colours.
5. Be proud of yourself, you’ve just created value! 🙂
Meaning of colours
No stairs at the entrance, doorstep is 3 centimeters maximum
There is a maximum of 1 stair at the entrance, not taller than 7 centimeters
There are more than 1 stairs at the entrance, or step is higher than 7 centimeters
Information Accessibility
Did you know that information about places’ accessibility is at least as important as phisical accessibility itself?
There are hunders of thousands of places on Hungary’s online map, but majority of them doesn’t have any info about accessibility. Now with a little cooperation we can achieve huge difference.
How can I join?
You can join the game on guruljszabadon.hu. You’ll hear about the latest news on our facebook page. If you like the initiation, and you suppose some of your friends might be interested in helping a good cause or spreading the word, please invite them too, so we can make the world a bit more convenient place.
What we do and why we do it, to make the world a better place
For those who’ve been following our work in the last year, it’s clear, that the aim of Route4U is to make the lives of people with disabilities better. But maybe even these followers of ours haven’t realized, that our solution’s impact on the whole of society is significant.
Today 2% of Hungary’s population is with reduced mobility. In towns and cities – since conditions are better – their percentage of the population is even higher. Based on census data, only 7% of working-age disabled people work. This puts huge stress on society. Another, Western European survey’s results show that more than 50% of non-working people with disabilites would love to, if the conditions were sufficient. Younger generations’ access to accessible education helps them grow into adults actively helping society, even on the job market.
Higher incomes of working disabled people, hand in hand with accessible services, result in increased consumption in settlements, which is one of the key factors of growth and development .
Integration is everyone’s business and everyone’s interest, not only local governments’ and of those affected.
Sounds good, but why doesn’t it just work by itself?
Looking at the problem from the views of all affected parties, it’s the lack of information what’s really conspicuous. Those affected do not have the neccessary information on accessible routes, barriers, accessible services/places and alternative routes, especially when they are not in their everyday environment. Decision makers do not have the necceessary dataset to decide the best spots to use the limited funds available for this matter. And the majority society simply does not know the needs and expectations – which are, in majority of cases are easily achievable with minor effort – of those with disabilites.
If the root of all problems is the lack of information, they can be solved by communication and infocommunication means.
How?
The base of all this is city map with accessibility information. We create these, commissioned by local goverments by systemtically mapping sidewalks, curbs, slopes and services of a town or city. Thanks to our innovative technology, this is extremely fast and cost efficient, and also very cheap compared to city budgets. Personalized sidewalk navigation and search of the accessible services is available for the mapped areas shortly after our survey. We involve local organizations and the majority society in the survey. We raise awareness of the importance of equal opportunities with targeted, gamified communication campaigns. Thanks to our awareness-raising communication, it’s not uncommon that shops and other services of the city invest in accessibility plainly for business considerations. Don’t think about thousands of Euros here. Mounting a few Euros, bluetooth enabled disability bell on the outside of the shop not only helps a person in wheelchair, it also raises the prestige of the shop by making others content with the shop owners’ proactive behaviour. It also helps spreading the word and the idea.
Thanks to the wheelchair users actively using Route4U, local governments can see the problematic points in the sidewalk infrastructure, making it possible to plan development or refurbishment priorities based on real-life data. Effective problem management increases voter satisfaction.
In our view, if we plan to achieve fast and spectacular results, we need more complex approach than that was available before.
We are confident that the issue can only be solved, if all parties of society take part in the process, and not because of obligations of law, but for their own interests. It’s not the City Leadership’s duty to know and solve every local problem themselves, but to operate as a catalyst to help setting up a chain reaction, which grows into a self-sustaining system.
Role of the majority society is to realize their own interests in integration and to find opportunities in it. Route4U’s mission is to give platform to the most effective information flow between all actors. This is a “Smart City” answer to the problem of integration. This is why we built Route4U and this is how we’ll continue to build it in the future.
We call it Smart Accessibility.
Please contact us for further information about our solution.
“Sziget” is held every August in Budapest, Hungary and it’s been voted best European Major Festival multiple times. The 25th Sziget attracted over half a million visitors from all over the world, a small percentage of them were wheelchair users or members of other disability groups. All the stages and venues, camping areas, bars and fast-food restaurants are located on an island of the river Danube, hence the name “sziget”, which translates to “island” in Hungarian.
Sziget accomodated an Ability Camping with big, cleaned-up camping spots, accessible toilets/showers and they had also built – together with the company of the same name – an “Ability Park” where abled and disabled festival-goers could walk in their peers’ boots by trying games, solving quizes, drawing, walking in a maze, climbing walls and cycling blindfolded.
Festival nights can be quite chaotic, where accidents happen 🙂 Everyone with broken, bruised limbs or other movement-impairing injuries ended up in the Ability Camping. These people, together with other wheelchair users, could use Route4U, our iOS smartphone application to search for and navigate to accessible venues, toilets and lookouts inside the festival’s huge area. They could use the app in Budapest, and also in their own cities, after arriving back home. Find out more about Route4U here.
Survey
The island is a recreational area throughout the year with patches of forest, muddy or gravel paths and lots of grass. Our first step was – since we use OSM data in our maps – to check and verify the already available path and sidewalk data of the island. After our field survey, surface smoothness data were added to the network. Just one day before Sziget opened, we surveyed the stages, art installations, food and drink places, and other venues. We even ventured to the Northern tip of the island, where people could swim in the Danube and enjoy the cool shades of the riverside forest.
All the Points of Interests (POI) in Route4U have an accessibility (entrance) and an accessible toilet attribute. We had only set these “green” on the venues without steps, and on the few accessible toilets and showers, to make sure our users find what they were looking for: accessible places in the festival area. All the “grey”, not yet verified POIs on our map are waiting for community feedback. After they are evaluated, they appear in the application with their new colour.
Even though the festival area is not yet connected to the Budapest Route4U sidewalk network, we surveyed routes from the festival entrance to low-floor public transportation stops.
Use and feedback
We reached our goal: Route4U was the best festival venue finder smartphone solution for Sziget 2016. After a rainy night some of our users even marked osbtacles, such as huge puddles or untraversable muddy spots. In these areas, our route planning function worked just fine, as the suggested route evaded the problematic areas.
We received some useful feedback too: for colourful events like music festivals, the map needs to be merrier too, especially our icons (POIs). Go ahead and download Route4U here, we have accessibility data available in your city too.
Egy örökkévalóságnak tűnt, de végre elkészült. Kérdés, hogy javult-e a helyzet a korábbiakhoz képest, illetve hogy kerekesszékkel lehet-e egyszerűen, kényelmesen közlekedni
Jelen írásnak nem célja a tér múltját és a felújításig történt eseményeket számba venni. A napokban megjelent mainstream és urbanisztikai sajtóban főleg azt nehezményezték, hogy a felújítás után is megmaradt a régi Moszkva tér tranzit jellege. Ennek a szerepnek adottságai miatt – egyszerűen nincs elég hely – nem tud igazán jól megfelelni.
A bejárás során mi is ezt tapasztaltuk, rengeteg ember siet hullámokban minden irányból minden irányba, de valójában ennek semmi köze ahhoz, hogy mennyire használható a tér kerekesszékkel.
A téren három, pontosabban sajnos egyelőre 4 problémát találunk továbbra is a felújítás után. Az első, ami szintén a tér sajátossága, hogy rengeteg a villamossín – helyszínenként minimum 2 pár – melyeken kerekesszékkel folyamatos a zötykölődés. Az átkelők burkolata is kis méretű díszkő, nagyon kényelmetlen. Persze a 10 centiméter magas bazaltpadkánál lényegesen jobb.
A második probléma a több helyen megtalálható, homorú térelválasztó “csík” a járda és a kerékpárút között. Ez az elem más felületek elválasztását is szolgálja néhány helyen. Ez sokszor a síneken, aztán az 1-2 cm magasságú padkán történő átkelés után kerül elénk.
Harmadik probléma a tér déli oldalán lévő rámpa, amely úgy tűnik, mintha a felsőbb szintre vezetne, így kimondottan megtévesztő.
A negyedik, remélhetőleg ideiglenes problémát a lift, pontosabban annak hiánya, okozza. A fenti képeken látható rámpa túloldalán, az alagút mellett találjuk egyébként a liftet, mely a helyszínen dolgozó mérnökök tájékoztatása szerint már üzemképes, azonban az engedélyeztetés még nem zárult le. Reményeink szerint hamarosan birtokukba vehetik a közlekedők!
A tér ugyan továbbra is egy “átjáróház”, de azokat a kritikákat, melyek a közösségi tér hiányát róják fel, nem teljesen érezzük jogosnak. Az új Széll Kálmán tér padjait, könyöklőit és többszintes pihenőhelyeit már most birtokukba vették a járókelők. A tér közepén található szökőkútnak pedig kicsik és nagyok egyaránt csodájára járnak.
Időről-időre vízpára tör elő a szökőkútból, mely a nyári hőségben borítékolhatóan az itt áthaladók egyik nagy kedvence lesz.
A felületek csúszósságáról most nem tudunk nyilatkozni, a bejáráson a száraz térkövek (nem meglepő módon) remekül tapadtak. Eső után azonban érdemes óvatosan közelíteni a lejtőkhöz, gyalogátkelőkhöz.
A tér valóban nem tökéletes, de tágas, sima, és ami a legfontosabb, mentes a magas padkáktól. Kerekesszékkel nagyságrendekkel jobban közlekedhető, mint korábban. A térbútorok és a fák, melyek néhány év múlva ékei lesznek a térnek, együtt igazán barátságos hangulatot teremtenek. Az apró, vagy épp nagyobb street-art megoldások pedig egy modern, európai tér méltó elemei.
Következzen zárásul néhány életkép a felújított Széll Kálmán térről.
Április 28-án kerül a mozikba a Tiszta Szívvel – Kills on wheels című film
Till Attila rendezésében.
Hogy ez miért olyan érdekes, hogy blogolunk róla? Nagyon is az! Máris mutatjuk miért:
https://youtu.be/TGHWsIvG6fk
Elég ütős, ugye?
A film
Till Attila a következőképp fogalmazott a film elkészítésének személyes motivációiról: “Külön izgatott, hogy készüljön végre egy olyan film a mozgássérültek világáról, ahol nem színészek játsszák el az ő életüket, hanem saját maguk kapnak lehetőséget a szereplésre. Ahol valóban ők a hősök. Ebben a filmben a főszereplők a valóságban is fogyatékossággal élő emberek, akik a saját életüket, testüket, mondanivalójukat mutatják be egy különleges történeten keresztül.”
Nem szeretnénk túl hosszan elemezni a filmet, hiszen el fogunk menni megnézni, és biztosan fogunk is írni róla utána. A másik ok, amiért szükségtelen hosszan írnunk szereplőkről vagy a sztoriról az alábbi remek, szereplőket, helyszíneket és egyéb érdekességeket bemutató videó, melyet a Tiszta Szívvel – Kills on wheels Facebook oldalán találtunk:
Fenyvesi Zoltán a film egyik főszereplője és a mindennapi életben nem mellesleg egy örökmozgó energiabomba.
Az elmúlt hetekben egy konferencián vettünk részt a Premier Kultcaféban, amelyen Zoli is részt vett. Mivel jelen sorok írója pont néhány órával korábban olvasott arról, hogy a filmet hamarosan bemutatják, így kézenfekvő volt, hogy kapva az alkalmon interjút kérjünk Zolitól. A filmről, tervekről, sportról és városi közlekedésről kérdeztük:
A Tiszta szívvel előtt nem volt filmes szereped. Hogyan kerültél képbe, és milyen volt a szereplőválogatás?
Till Attila ismerősökön és barátokon keresztül talált meg, amikor egy kerekesszékes szereplőt keresett, akkor többek között engem is ajánlottak. A casting folyamaton ugyanúgy végig kellett mennem, mint mindenkinek.
Mi volt számodra a forgatás legkedvesebb része? Volt-e olyan, amit azért nem sírsz vissza?
2 hónapos volt a forgatás, nem tudnék egy olyan napot kiemelni, ami jobb lett volna, mint bármelyik másik. Végig egy olyan csapatban voltam, ahol jól éreztem magam, és örülök, hogy így zajlott az első forgatásom.
Egy korábbi interjúdban olvastuk, hogy nem tervezel a filmezéssel foglalkozni. Az utóbbi időben azonban feltűntél például a Coca-Cola karácsonyi reklámjában. Ez némi változást jelez?
Igazából, ha adódna olyan lehetőség, hogy akár sorozatban, akár filmben szerepelhetnék újra, valószínűleg nem utasítanám vissza, de persze nem dédelgetek olyan álmokat, hogy mostantól színész leszek. Inkább szeretnék arra koncentrálni és ezzel a szereppel is az volt a cél, hogy megmutatni, hogy kerekesszékesként is igenis lehet többféle dolgot csinálni.
Nagyon aktív vagy a közösségi médiában, az instagramodat például 10 000-nél is többen követik, rengeteg rendezvényre jársz. Mennyire tudatosan dolgozol az online és offline megjelenéseden és mi az üzeneted a követőid, a társadalom felé?
Javarészt azért tudatosan alakítom ezeket a dolgokat, hiszen ahogy említettem szeretném minél több felületen és rendezvényen megmutatni, hogy ez csak egy állapot, és hogy az ember ebből mit hoz ki, az már csak rajta múlik. Közben pedig azért a magam szórakoztatására csinálom, az a típusú ember vagyok aki szeret nyüzsögni és egyik lehetőséget megragadni a másik után.
Önkéntes vagy a Suhanj! Alapítványnál. Hogyan kerültél képbe és milyen munkával segíted az Alapítványt?
Egy nagyon jó kerekesszékes barátnőm invitált, hogy fussunk a Spar maratonon váltóban 5-5 kilométert, de a verseny előtti napon ő lebetegedett így aztán rám hárult mindkettőnk 5 kilométere és lett belőle 10. Önkéntes futók segítettek a verseny alatt és az egyik legjobb élményben volt részem, azóta immár 5 éve az alapítványnál ragadtam és ahol tudok igyekszem besegíteni miközben félmaratonokon és maratonokon veszek részt.
A Facebook oldaladon láttuk, hogy jártál New Yorkban és részt vettél a város híres maratonján. Milyen élmény volt, és mennyiben volt másabb, mint egy hasonló rendezvény Magyarországon?
A New York-i maraton fantasztikus volt és egyben elég nehéz is. A film forgatása alatt készültem rá, heti két alkalommal. Maga a táv nem is lett volna gond, inkább az időjárás volt az, ami nem volt éppen kellemes. Nagyon erős volt a szembe szél, és emiatt sokszor úgy éreztem, hogy hátra jobban megyek, mint előre. A verseny vége fele már úgy éreztem, hogy nem bírom sokáig, de az utolsó kilométer előtt volt egy kislány, akivel pacsiztunk és ez megadta a végső löketet a célig. Annyiban volt más szerintem, mint egy Magyarországi verseny, hogy elképesztően sokan voltak kint szurkolni az időjárás ellenére, és órákon keresztül álltak kint, biztatták az ismeretlen futókat, ami nekem nagyon tetszett.
Versenyen kívül milyen volt New York utcáin közlekedni? Akadálymentes a város?
A városban a legtöbb metróállomás is akadálymentes volt, úgyhogy a tömegközlekedést elég jól tudtam használni, sőt igénybe is vettem elég sokszor, a nagy távolságok miatt. Az utcák minősége kerekesszékes szempontból már hagy némi kivetnivalót, de nem okozott különösebb galibát, mindenhol le voltak kerekítve a szegélyek is.
Melyek voltak számodra közlekedés szempontjából a legjobb külföldi városok és miért?
Nekem nagy kedvenc London és Madrid. Ez a két város volt az, ahol kerekesszékesként se éreztem magam különbnek, önállóan tudtam közlekedni oda, ahova csak akartam.
Mivel nagyon aktív életet élsz, biztosan rengeteg pozitív és negatív élményed van a budapesti közlekedésről is. Az utóbbi években melyek voltak a legpozitívabb változások, és mik azok, melyeken még továbbra is van mit javítani?
Azt kell mondjam, hogy az utóbbi időben rengeteget javult azért a budapesti közlekedés, elég sok az alacsonypadlós busz és most már a villamosok nagy része is kezd akadálymentessé válni. A negatív dolog viszont az, hogy sokszor a buszsofőrök úgy állnak az emberhez mintha szívességet tennének azzal, hogy lenyitják a rámpát, hogy fel tudjak szállni a buszra. Sokszor szólni kell, hiába jelzem a leszállási szándékom a gombbal, akkor sem jönnek.
Mennyire érzed létjogosultságát a Route4U által képviselt információs akadálymentesítésnek?
Nekem már a kezdetektől fogva tetszett az ötlet és nagyon fontosnak is tartom, hogy minél több applikáció legyen, ami a közlekedést és az olyan
akadálymentes helyek megtalálását segíti, mint a Route4U.