Draft - Type 1 City Bus Accessibility

[Vaishnavi Jayakumar (Inclusive India)]

Dear Mr. Prabhakar,

Please find attached the draft Type 1 city bus accessibility matrix for your inputs. In addition to this the ARAI AIS standards would need to be updated to be in sync with the influencing document UNECE R-107 which is currently being improved vis a vis accessibility. Some dilutions and omissions from the past would also need to be reversed. 

We would appreciate your speedy initial feedback by tomorrow evening as the Supreme Court clock is ticking.

Apologies for not getting this across to you earlier - have been unwell.

Thanks,

Vaishnavi

MODE	REQUIREMENT	REFERENCE	★ NON-NEGOTIABLE	◼ DESIRABLE / RECOMMENDED	⬤ ASPIRATIONAL
Road : Type 1 City Bus (non-BRT)
A	DOORWAY / GATE		,
A1	Max 400 mm floor height (GFH) w/o kneeling, Step-Free, Level Entry Door 1200 mm wide (at least 900 mm clear after counting flaps and railing) with immobile handrails (with knuckle clearance of 38 mm across full length) , contrast / lit edges and av indicator for door opening and closing and failsafe	* AIS-153 : Anx V - 3.6.4 * HG-2016 11.7.1.2 / 21 6.3.1.2.2,	★ All new procurement including mini buses
A2	60 mm kneeling via air suspension on  entry/exit side severally & collectively with failsafe	* AIS-153 : 2.8 * AIS-153 : Anx V - 3.11.2 *  UBS II : 7.3	★
A3	Rear entrance wheelchair ramp to extend to 400 mm level bus boarding platform specified in UBS II. Sunken type hybrid (manually wrap over + retractable automatic cassette ramp below footboard), for wheel chair of PwDs, fitted on floor at gate in front of PwD seat anchorage. Load capacity 300 kg mm, anti side roll edge colour contrasted. Usable width of 800 mm (920 mm will facilitate crutch users) usable length 1200 mm. AIS bus ramp slope contradictory with AIS requirement of ‘moving freely and easily’ for unassisted, safe boarding. Maximum slope should not exceed 1:6. Front entrance height of first step from ground to not exceed 250 mm	*  AIS-153 : Anx V - 3.11.4.1.3 *  AIS-153 : Anx V - 3.6.4.1 *  UBS II : 14.8 * MOUD 2012 NUTP advisory * MoRTH 2021 draft 10.4.1	★	◼ Hybrid ramp in view of imminent card swipe fare box conductorless travel
A4	Passenger safety system - allowing bus motion on electro pneumatically controlled entry / exit gates doors closing and doors opening only when the bus is stopped	* UBS II : 14.1.d	★
B	SEATING
B1	At least 1 front-facing Wheelchair space close to the driver must be not less than: 1300mm measured in the longitudinal plane of the vehicle, 750mm measured in the transverse plane of the vehicle, 1500mm measured vertically from any part of the floor of the wheelchair space. Backrest with seat belt anchorage, stoppers, WTORS and handrail, communication button at 700-1200 mm height.	*  AIS-153 : Anx V - 3.6 *  AIS-153 : Anx V - 3.8 * CMVR -2022 GSR-797(E)	★
B2	At least 4 Priority seats with seat belts for other PRM / medically disabled (with tactile  pictogram) near driver (2 for Midi / Mini)  with movable armrests, aid securement, tactile pictogrammed high visibility communication control at 700-1200 mm height.	*  AIS-052 : 2.2.19.1 - 5 *  AIS-153 : 3.2 * CMVR -2022 GSR-797(E)	★
B3	Space for guide dog	*  AIS-153 : Anx V - 3.2.2			⬤
C	SUPPORT, SAFETY & FALL PREVENTION
C1	Handrails & stanchions & handholds - boarding assist till seat. Immobile, high visibility, colour contrasting and slip resistant.	*  AIS-052 : 2.2.19.4 *  AIS-052 : 2.2.9 *  AIS-046 *  AIS-153 : Anx V - 3.4 * CMVR -2022 GSR-797(E)	★
C2	Gangway min 700 mm width	*  UBS II : 15.7.2 b	★
C3	Level floor anti-skid without trip hazards (WTORS), colour contrasted demarcated wheelchair space, priority seating. If low entry bus, internal steps to have tactile warning at both ends and edge colour contrast for every step. Ditto if some seats are on raised platforms.	* AIS-153 : Anx V 3.11.4.1.6	★
D	COMMUNICATION / PIS /  ITS
D1	GPS + Transponder Automatic Vehicle Location Realtime Text Feed via GTFS - Flex. Multimodal (audio + visual + phone based text feed of information of destination display, route, bus identification & homing transmission  / beacon system for blind / deafblind, arrival announcements, emergency alerts etc. Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS) for electric / Quiet Road Transport Vehicles	* AIS-153  - 2.18 * AIS-140 * AIS-173	★ Avas	◼ On Board homing system for blind - phased implementation	⬤ Announcement text feed for deaf-blind
D2	Wheelchair Boarding Driver Communication button 800-1300 mm high adjacent to door, Tactile pictograms with high visibility	*  AIS-153 Anx V - 3.3.4 * CMVR -2022 GSR-797(E)	★
D3	Signage / Tactile Pictogram on wheelchair accessible door and at wheelchair docking space floor and backrest, and outside bus indicating wheelchair space location. Ditto dashboard and ramp.	*  AIS-153 : Anx V - 3.7 * CMVR -2022 GSR-797(E)	★
D4	High visibility Night Stop on demand request communication button shall be fitted at an ideal height of 1.2 meter (800-1500 mm) on all stanchions.	* AIS-153 : Anx V - 3.3 * CMVR -2022 GSR-797(E)	★
D5	App integration with GTFS Pathways, SoundScape , NextStop ,	*  RPDA 2016 *  RPDA 2016 *  GIGW 2.0			⬤

 

---------------------------------------

VAISHNAVI JAYAKUMAR

http://about.me/vjayakumar

[Vaishnavi Jayakumar]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Vaishnavi Jayakumar <jayakumar...@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 3 Mar, 2025, 12:54
Subject: Re: Draft - Type 1 City Bus Accessibility
To: HARSH PRABHAKAR <harsh.p...@gov.in>
Cc: arman_ali <arma...@ncpedp.org>, NITHALI RAM <nitha...@nic.in>, <vikas....@ias.nic.in>

Thanks for the update Mr. Prabhakar.

When do you think MORTH can get back this week - it's been over a month since the draft was sent for city buses!

The SAC transport group has since confirmed that new Type II buses would also be low floor, with minor tweaks to specifications.

That leaves Type III buses alone in the bus segment, with adapted vehicles and special vehicles pending.

Please may we speed this process up - the Supreme Court will not be pleased given the stress on accessible buses in the CDS-NALSAR report.

Thanks,

Vaishnavi Jayakumar 

On Mon, 3 Mar, 2025, 12:36 HARSH PRABHAKAR, <harsh.p...@gov.in> wrote:

MoRTH feedback is under process with the concerned wing of Ministry dealing with Vehicle Engineering matter.

---- On Fri, 28 Feb 2025 21:30:59 +0530 Vaishnavi Jayakumar (Inclusive India) <vaishnavi...@inclusiveindia.info> wrote ---

Dear Mr. Prabhakar,

Could MoRTH's feedback on the Type I city bus accessibility framework shared on 12 February 2025 be shared at the earliest please?

It will not be possible to proceed with Court-ordered rule making without multi-stakeholder deliberation, dialogue and consensus.

Looking forward to receiving at least preliminary inputs from the Road Ministry by 4 March 2025.

As mentioned in the WhatsApp group discussion,  please share exported form 22A & 22B floor height data - #6.12 (ii) for Type I buses for last 5 years from Vahan and allied portals.

Thanking you,

Vaishnavi Jayakumar
Co-Facilitator, SAC-Transport

---------------------------------------

VAISHNAVI JAYAKUMAR

http://about.me/vjayakumar

On Fri, 14 Feb 2025 at 13:22, Vaishnavi Jayakumar (Inclusive India) <vaishnavi...@inclusiveindia.info> wrote:

Dear MORTH team members,

We await your response before end of day - a 'take stock' progress meeting is scheduled for Monday 17th, and this is just 1 silo for your inputs. 

Accessibility of Type II & III buses, EV specific standards, adapted vehicles, taxis, e-rickshaws, ambulances, police and prison vehicles etc also need to be addressed as does NMT.

Looking forward to hearing from you and working together for a more inclusive India,

Vaishnavi Jayakumar

For the SAC-RR Transport Group

On Wed, 12 Feb, 2025, 11:30 HARSH PRABHAKAR, <harsh.p...@gov.in> wrote:

Sir

This is regarding the Supreme Court order for accessibility. It is requested to give your input on the draft attached.

============ Forwarded message ============
From: Vaishnavi Jayakumar (Inclusive India) <vaishnavi...@inclusiveindia.info>
To: "harshprabhakar"<harsh.p...@gov.in>
Cc: "GG - SAC : Transport Egroup"<sac-transport-...@googlegroups.com>
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2025 09:30:42 +0530
Subject: Draft - Type 1 City Bus Accessibility
============ Forwarded message ============