Exploring stakeholders' response to travel needs of commuters with disability in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly

Abstract Access to public transport increases vulnerable people's social mobility, facilitates economic integration and improves general well‐being. This is possible given the low vehicular acquisition and low cost required to enjoy public transport services. Unfortunately, the discourse on the...

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Main Authors: Prince Kwame Odame, Regina Obilie Amoako‐Sakyi, Albert Abane, Mark Zuidgeest
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2023-07-01
Series:Geo: Geography and Environment
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/geo2.129
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author Prince Kwame Odame
Regina Obilie Amoako‐Sakyi
Albert Abane
Mark Zuidgeest
author_facet Prince Kwame Odame
Regina Obilie Amoako‐Sakyi
Albert Abane
Mark Zuidgeest
author_sort Prince Kwame Odame
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Access to public transport increases vulnerable people's social mobility, facilitates economic integration and improves general well‐being. This is possible given the low vehicular acquisition and low cost required to enjoy public transport services. Unfortunately, the discourse on the responsiveness of public transport services to the disability community in the Global South has been viewed from users' perspectives, leaving out key stakeholders whose actions impact persons with disability (PWDs') mobility needs. This study seeks to fill the gap by exploring stakeholders' responses to the travel needs of commuters with disability in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly. Employing an exploratory research design, this study purposively engaged five national stakeholders on transport and disability issues. All interviews and transcripts were transcribed using MaxQDA. The qualitative data analysis was iterative as the study adopted a thematic analytical approach to explore participants' opinions. From the data, all stakeholders did not have a disability‐inclined transport agenda or policy despite making various attempts to meet the travel needs of PWDs. Some attempts include the reliance on one's discretion as seen in the case of transport operators, while other stakeholders appeared to offer little support due to financial and administrative bottlenecks. Transport‐oriented stakeholders cared little about PWD while disability‐oriented stakeholders cared little about transport issues. This study recommends a consultative action framework to guide all stakeholders in ensuring the delivery of barrier‐free transport services to the disability community.
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spelling doaj.art-ec5d3ed992124c2ba0896d71c1a3e9592023-12-22T06:26:44ZengWileyGeo: Geography and Environment2054-40492023-07-01102n/an/a10.1002/geo2.129Exploring stakeholders' response to travel needs of commuters with disability in the Accra Metropolitan AssemblyPrince Kwame Odame0Regina Obilie Amoako‐Sakyi1Albert Abane2Mark Zuidgeest3Department of Geography Education University of Education Winneba Winneba GhanaDepartment of Geography and Regional Planning University of Cape Coast Cape Coast GhanaDepartment of Geography and Regional Planning University of Cape Coast Cape Coast GhanaDepartment of Civil Engineering University of Cape Town Cape Town South AfricaAbstract Access to public transport increases vulnerable people's social mobility, facilitates economic integration and improves general well‐being. This is possible given the low vehicular acquisition and low cost required to enjoy public transport services. Unfortunately, the discourse on the responsiveness of public transport services to the disability community in the Global South has been viewed from users' perspectives, leaving out key stakeholders whose actions impact persons with disability (PWDs') mobility needs. This study seeks to fill the gap by exploring stakeholders' responses to the travel needs of commuters with disability in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly. Employing an exploratory research design, this study purposively engaged five national stakeholders on transport and disability issues. All interviews and transcripts were transcribed using MaxQDA. The qualitative data analysis was iterative as the study adopted a thematic analytical approach to explore participants' opinions. From the data, all stakeholders did not have a disability‐inclined transport agenda or policy despite making various attempts to meet the travel needs of PWDs. Some attempts include the reliance on one's discretion as seen in the case of transport operators, while other stakeholders appeared to offer little support due to financial and administrative bottlenecks. Transport‐oriented stakeholders cared little about PWD while disability‐oriented stakeholders cared little about transport issues. This study recommends a consultative action framework to guide all stakeholders in ensuring the delivery of barrier‐free transport services to the disability community.https://doi.org/10.1002/geo2.129Accradisabilitypublic transportqualitativestakeholder
spellingShingle Prince Kwame Odame
Regina Obilie Amoako‐Sakyi
Albert Abane
Mark Zuidgeest
Exploring stakeholders' response to travel needs of commuters with disability in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly
Geo: Geography and Environment
Accra
disability
public transport
qualitative
stakeholder
title Exploring stakeholders' response to travel needs of commuters with disability in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly
title_full Exploring stakeholders' response to travel needs of commuters with disability in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly
title_fullStr Exploring stakeholders' response to travel needs of commuters with disability in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly
title_full_unstemmed Exploring stakeholders' response to travel needs of commuters with disability in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly
title_short Exploring stakeholders' response to travel needs of commuters with disability in the Accra Metropolitan Assembly
title_sort exploring stakeholders response to travel needs of commuters with disability in the accra metropolitan assembly
topic Accra
disability
public transport
qualitative
stakeholder
url https://doi.org/10.1002/geo2.129
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AT albertabane exploringstakeholdersresponsetotravelneedsofcommuterswithdisabilityintheaccrametropolitanassembly
AT markzuidgeest exploringstakeholdersresponsetotravelneedsofcommuterswithdisabilityintheaccrametropolitanassembly