Towards Inclusive Mobility
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INTERNSHIP REPORT Towards Inclusive Mobility Investigating the feasibility and usability of MobiMate: A Dutch perspective Bouchra Mohamed STUDENT NUMBER COMMISSIONING PARTY ECTS + COURSE CODE SPECIALIZATION 2509234 Vervoerregio Amsterdam 27 EC + AM_1120 DATE VU SUPERVISOR 10 jul. 2020 PhD A. Scheffelaar ATHENA SCIENCE SHOP Colophon Title: MobiMate; A Digital Platform for Inclusive Mobility Key words: Accessibility, Inclusive public transport, disabled people, people with a disability, public transport Word count: 14169 Author: B. Mohamed Commissioning organization: Vervoerregio Amsterdam VU supervisor: PhD. A. Scheffelaar On-site supervisor: C. Zandstra February-June 2020 Course code: AM_1120 This internship report was established in cooperation with the Athena Science Shop. Athena Institute Faculty of Science VU University Amsterdam De Boelelaan 1085 1081 HV Amsterdam The Netherlands 2 Executive Summary Background. Many people with physical disabilities encounter difficulties while taking public transport. Therefore, it is pertinent to deal with such issues and to make public transport more accessible to them. An innovative digital platform, MobiMate, might help make public transport more inclusive for people with disabilities. MobiMate connects people in need of assistance with potential volunteers who can assist them during their travel journey. The research objective of this study was to offer Vervoerregio Amsterdam recommendations concerning the feasibility and usability of MobiMate in the Netherlands. In order to examine this, the perspectives of the stakeholders and their role in the implementation of the digital platform were investigated. The Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation Theory (1995) that was used by Carter & Belanger (2004) has been utilized in this research. This conceptual framework explores the success and effectiveness of the innovative digital platform, MobiMate. Methods. A Qualitative research method has been chosen to gain in-depth insight into the perspectives of the stakeholders. The representatives were chosen using the purposive sampling. The 15 semi- structured interviews were conducted over phone and then transcribed. The data was analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding. Results. Even though public transport is more accessible than it had been before, there still remains some difficulties, such as limited travel assistance and various applications that provide different information on accessibility. The digital platform MobiMate has a lot of benefits. For example, it removes the mental barrier of persons with a physical disability, because they can ask for assistance through a platform. Moreover, the persons with a physical disability can request assistance at any time. The latter was identified as essential during unforeseen situations such as when a train is cancelled. Some of the challenges that were reported were regarding the safety of the person with a disability, the digital complexity of the MobiMate and the uncertainty that a person in need will receive (proper) assistance. Most of the organizations seemed to have the same view on their role regarding the digital platform depending on their function in society. For example, some stakeholders are willing to introduce MobiMate to their audience, as well as offer their help during the pilot phase. Discussion. Purposive sampling is an important strength of this study because it has provided a real in-depth view regarding the perspectives of the stakeholders and gave an overview of how and to what extent can MobiMate be implemented in Amsterdam. Additionally, the limitations of telephone interviews might be minimized because of the use of purposive sampling. Interviews should be held with every public transport company in the Netherlands in order to have reliable information about the feasibility and usability of MobiMate in a Dutch context and to investigate their role in achieving that. Further studies are required in order to examine which organizations would be held accountable if something goes wrong, and which ones would be responsible for financing and maintaining the digital platform. Conclusion. It has been shown that MobiMate has advantages that aligns with the needs of the person with a physical disability if it is able to ensure the safety of the person in need and if it is able to provide (proper) assistance when needed. It is recommended to involve people with disabilities during every step of the development of the digital platform to properly understand their needs. It is also recommended to cooperate with other public transport organizations to achieve accessible mobility for all people with disabilities in the Netherlands. 3 Table of contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 5 1 Contextual Background ............................................................................................................................. 6 1.1 Laws, policies and regulations ........................................................................................................... 6 1.2 Current situation ............................................................................................................................... 7 1.3 Disability in context ........................................................................................................................... 8 1.4 Policy and Projects in Amsterdam ..................................................................................................... 8 1.5 MobiMate .......................................................................................................................................... 8 1.6 Stakeholders ...................................................................................................................................... 9 2 Theoretical Background ........................................................................................................................... 11 2.1 Inclusive mobility ............................................................................................................................. 11 2.2 Digital platform ................................................................................................................................ 12 2.3 Framework 1: The Need Assessment Model ................................................................................... 13 2.4 Framework 2: Diffusion of Innovation Theory ................................................................................. 15 3 Conceptual Framework ........................................................................................................................... 16 4 Methodology ........................................................................................................................................... 18 4.1 Research design ............................................................................................................................... 18 4.2 Qualitaitive data-collection ............................................................................................................. 18 4.3 Participants ...................................................................................................................................... 18 4.4 Qualitative Data-analysis ................................................................................................................. 19 4.5 Research quality .............................................................................................................................. 19 4.6 Ethical considerations ...................................................................................................................... 19 4.7 Planning ........................................................................................................................................... 19 5 Results ..................................................................................................................................................... 21 5.1 Current Inclusive Public Transport .................................................................................................. 21 5.2 Relative Advantage. ......................................................................................................................... 22 5.3 Compatibility ................................................................................................................................... 24 5.4 Image ............................................................................................................................................... 26 6 Discussion ................................................................................................................................................ 28 6.1 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................... 30 7 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 31 8 References ............................................................................................................................................... 31 9 Appendix I Interview guide ...................................................................................................................... 38 10 Appendix II ..........................................................................................................................................