Introduction
I live in the Blue Mountains, about 100 kms west of Sydney. It is a beautiful region loved by Sydneysiders as a destination for day outings. I have mixed feelings about this – as any anybody living in an attractive destination knows. We can be overrun by visitors on weekends and holidays. In 2020 and into 2021 COVID brought residents a period of blessed respite. We had the place to ourselves – and that was wonderful. That said I do believe that people with disability are equally entitled to be a nuisance.
The Blue Mountains City Council (BMCC) has an impressive commitment to inclusion and accessibility. In June this year (2024) it launched its Blue Mountains Mobility Map. As a member of the council’s Access Advisory Committee, I was able to contribute some thoughts to the map’s development.
I was particularly impressed that the council committed itself to developing the map with limited funds and produced a useful web-based tool that could be accessed on mobile phones (as well as tablets and computers). This was an innovation that had potential to be replicated across the state, across the nation and beyond.
What does the map do?
The map covers the BMCC local government area, principally localities along the Great Western Highway. The map gives the opportunity to identify accessible playgrounds, toilets, parking, walking tracks and lookout as well as other facilities and services. It means that people like me with mobility disabilities can plan a visit to the region and not have to guess whether a potential destination is accessible.
You can explore the map here.
The value of the map to a person with mobility challenges
I don’t travel as much as I used to. Places and travel routes are not as accessible as I need. So, when I do go anywhere I have to plan carefully. Travelling itself is bad enough for me. It can be draining physically and emotionally. It is hence deeply disappointing to arrive and have no idea where is accessible, inclusive and safe. The opportunity to consult a map that guides me on what and where is accessible would be a huge advantage.
My personal reaction to this Mobility Map is that it must become a universal tool to which other critical information can be added. My major travel gripe is the way motels misrepresent that they have ‘accessible’ rooms. Last year I travelled east to the coast and booked into a motel I was assured was accessible. It was true there was a handrail into the shower and steady grips in the shower cubicle. But I am 186 cms tall and I had to bend over a lot to grip the handrail, rendering it useless. It was way too low. The toilet had a grip mounted on the wall, but it was too low and too close to be on any use to me.
I have previously approached the NSW government recommending that it set standards concerning claims about accessibility made by motels. I mostly travel solo, so I don’t have a companion who can look out for my safety. In the last 5 years I have found only one motel with a genuinely accessible room – The Shearing Shed in Dubbo. I was told I was lucky to have gotten the room, given the demand for it.
My vision is a statewide mobility map that also provides real information about a whole range of accessibility concerns, including accessible accommodation – something the BMCC map does not yet cover.
The potential of a mobility map
Aside from my issues about accessible accommodation there are questions about whether a variety of facilities and services are accessible. This includes cafes, restaurants, and shops as well as other businesses.
I use Google maps a lot and I am sometimes irritated by the number of businesses whose information clutters my screen. But that tells me there is a possibility of enticing accessible businesses to make their presence known on a mobility map.
I think the map is a wonderful idea whose potential begs to be developed. I understand that in realising this potential money and management beyond a local council’s scope. But at a regional or state level realising that potential is eminently doable.
The ideal would be to develop the mobility map as an app for mobile devices as well as computers.
Conclusion
I contracted GBS in 2008 and acquired permanent mobility and grip disabilities. In 2009 I bought my first iPhone and discovered how mobile technology could enhance my lived experience of disability.
My first response to the BMCC’s mobility map wasn’t that it would make my life in this community any better. I have lived here 22 years. My immediate reaction was to imagine how good it would be to have such a map available when I visit places I don’t know. At the moment, a visit to an unfamiliar destination requires a lot of net-based preparation. This is especially the case when it comes to identifying accessible toilets, parking, recreation areas and accommodation.
The BMCC has opened up an extraordinary potential that all people who need to know how accessible a community or destination is can benefit from. The mobility map should have ongoing refinement, of course.
Check the map out. Urge your local government to create something similar. Better still urge it to create a coalition of local governments who can share costs or access funding.