Access Board Meeting

How can we advance Disability Justice in mobility and transportation?

Dr. Anat Caspi will address the Board, shedding light on groundbreaking efforts at the Taskar Center for Accessible Technology in creating a comprehensive transportation equity program, highlighting three key elements: 1) Community-Centric Design: the Taskar Center champions a community-driven design strategy, emphasizing inclusivity across diverse groups such as DeafBlind travelers and multi-generational families; 2) Transportation Data Equity: A critical component of the Taskar Center’s work involves a focus on data equity in transportation. This includes the development of OpenSidewalks, an open pedestrian data standard, and an ecosystem of tools to ensure consistent and standardized data collection processes and consuming trip planners, like AccessMap; 3) Capacity Building Tools: equipping transportation agencies and Departments of Transportation (DOTs) with the knowledge and conversation tools is also necessary to create and understanding of Disability Justice and address holistic access needs. Dr. Caspi will speak about her experience working with the USDOT ITS4US program, OpenSidewalks data collections in six U.S. counties, and will also highlight a recent milestone achieved by collaborating with WA state advocacy organizations leading to a proviso passed by the WA State Legislature, paving the way for OpenSidewalks data collection across all public rights of way in the entire state over the next two bienniums.