A “first of its kind” centre has opened in north Dublin that aims to help people with disabilities become familiar with public transport and teach authorities how to design more accessible services.
It is understood that just 6 per cent of people in Ireland with disabilities use public transport.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) and Vision Ireland, formerly the National Council for the Blind (NCBI), showcased The Wayfinding Centre, which cost €7.83 million, on Wednesday.
The centre is located on a 31,000 sq ft site of a former printworks on Botanic Road in Glasnevin and will open to the public in April after six years of construction.
It includes half an Airbus A319 plane, part of a Luas tram, part of a Dart carriage, pathways, cycle lanes, traffic lights, buses and an example of an airport security scanner.
Ministers and disability organisations have hailed it as the “first of its kind”, and it is understood parliamentarians from other countries attended the event on Wednesday.
The centre aims to give people with access needs the confidence to use public transport by familiarising them with it through real-world scenarios in a safe and controlled environment.
It will also give public transport drivers, architects, designers, engineers and students a chance to learn how public services can be made more accessible.
Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan, Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman, Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe, and Minister of State for Disabilities Anne Rabbitte attended the launch.
“It’s a really positive development that we’re seeing here today,” Ms Rabbitte said, adding that it could be a “pedestal” from which to grow the number of people with disabilities using public transport up from 6 per cent.
She said that transport is a “key piece” that links education, employment and independent living, and said the airport scanners model gives a chance to improve the experience of 36,000 people with wheelchairs who use Dublin Airport every year.
Ms Rabbitte added: “The location is really, really good, there’s a bus stop outside the door, there’s a Dart (in the area), we’re just off the M50 and the airport is down the road.
“A lot of people like to leave the country on their holidays so the training of staff that work in various airlines to come along here and give people the opportunity to feel that they have the right to travel, I think that’s what this is all about.”
Mr Donohoe, who is a local TD, said this was “a unique centre, not just in Ireland but across the world”.
He added: “On a lighter note, there’s been some speculation for a while regarding why we’re moving half an airplane and various forms of public transport into the centre – I’m delighted to be able to explain what they’re all being used for now, and the role that they’re going to play in supporting our citizens with disabilities to travel in Ireland.”
Matt McCann, chief executive and founder of Access Earth, said the centre could see the creation of a public realm that is more accessible and which most people will not “age out of”.
“The United Nations mentions that we’re going to live about seven to eight years of our lives with some form of disability,” he said.
“So having facilities like this to look at and identify opportunities for improvement for the years to come will not just benefit the 1.1 million people with a disability in the country today, but will essentially benefit everyone into the future.”
Chris White, chief executive of Vision Ireland, said the main focus will be to engage with the 1.1 million people with disabilities in Ireland, and also with the 50,000-60,000 people who work in public transport services.
“But what’s going to change Ireland is this centre is linked to DCU, to TU Dublin, to University College London and we’ll be educating all the future architects, engineers, surveyors and planners, to ensure that they understand accessibility properly, and can actually put accessibility as an equal valued element of the design,” he told the PA news agency.
“So what we’re looking at is the architects doing modules here as part of their degree.
“So this centre sets out what good looks like, what the challenges are, and we can have a more consistent, more joined up public realm that is more considered for people with disabilities.”
Mr White added: “There’s nothing else like this in the world. There is a centre in Melbourne, but all they have is a tram.
“So there’s nothing else like this in the world. So we’ve got an MP from England today going ‘Wow, this is amazing’.
“We’ve got a guy from the United States, we’ve got EU representatives here as well and we’ll be hosting EU conferences in May of this year.”
