Ensuring the Persons' with Disabilities Access to Facilities of the Transport Infrastructure: a Comparative Legal Study

The article discusses the legislative framework of USA, leading European and selected post-Soviet countries applicable to ensuring the rights of persons with disabilities to access to social infrastructure, including vehicles.

The authors investigate the legal provisions regarding human rights and discrimination in the context of disability. People with disabilities have limited abilities to mobility because of their own health problems and of prejudice in the society. In turn this limitation leads to the direct and indirect discrimination and restriction on their civil, social and other human rights. Therefore, implementing inclusion of and accessibility for persons with disabilities is a primary obligation of governments and business. In USA, UK, Germany, Austria, France and other modern democratic States there are special laws through which people with disabilities’ right are reinforced by the governments.

The legislation and best practices of Western countries shows the examples of ensuring the persons with disabilities access to facilities of the transport infrastructure. Existing legislation generally requires to create barrier-free environment. There is a number of technical rules and standards legislation and best practices for the construction and equipment of public vehicles provided by law. The regulations establish the obligations and responsibilities of the public carriers and private transport services.

Despite the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities the post-Soviet States these persons remained insufficiently protected. The accessibility of transport infrastructure has not been adequately addressed in Ukraine. There is a lack of legally binding rules and liability. Therefore, the analyzed foreign experience should serve as a benchmark for Ukraine, both in terms of accessibility standards (USA, Austria, and Germany) and stages of their implementation (France).