The accessibility cell of Handicap International (HI) composd of architects, engineers and an occupational therapist has launched a project that aims to improve the accessibility of public transport, organized a workshop with a university training architects to make them think about the development of a tap-tap adapted to people with reduced mobility.

An ideas competition, called "Tap-Tap for all" has put in competition three teams from two schools of mechanical engineering in the capital. The aim was to improve the quality of the organization of public transport, by proposing a reflection on innovative equipment to disabled persons, by removing obstacles in public transit, which are significant brakes to the integration of people with disabilities.

This contest took into account the type of vehicle, number of passengers and materials to be used. This is the "Innovation Tap-Tap" team of the Pilot Vocational Training Centre, who won the contest. "The winning team has shown great ingenuity, and presented a fairly technological work," declared Aurélie Cristini, the head of accessibility project, Handicap International.

"People with disabilities in their daily lives face various obstacles, including public transportation. Drivers do not stop to take a disabled person claiming it is too slow, it takes too much space in the tap-tap in a wheelchair, not to mention the indifference of the passengers," denounced the organizers of project, hoping to create and test, a tap-tap accessible and innovative using local resources.

A public transport station [selected with the Ministry of Public Works (MTPCTC)] will also be adapted to allow a better vehicle parking and access to passenger flows, especially those with reduced mobility. Moreover, through this project, HI also wants to educate drivers, owners and users of this type of transport, to lead to a more courteous behavior towards people with disabilities.

This innovative project is implemented by Handicap International in partnership with several institutions including the MTPTC and the Office of the Secretary of State for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities (BSEIPH). A tap-tap model will be developed and a first prototype should be ready in September 2014.

HL/ HaitiLibre