Access Committee: Co-Designing the T (In-Person Session + Tour)

Why design if it doesn’t change the human condition?” – Niels Diffrient

As much as design can be harsh and exclusive, design can also be a tool for equity, as recent collaboration between The Institute for Human Centered Design (IHCD) and the MBTA has shown. This session is aimed at furthering transit for all, taking into account the diversity of functional abilities across communities. The design of stations, shelters, equipment and vehicles influence a rider’s sense of control over their journey. While accessibility codes provide some guidance, they are not enough to cover the wide range of abilities and limitations, seen and unseen, especially across the many modes of public transportation.

Following the in-person session at the BSA and lunch, a tour will leave from the BSA. We’ll visit a handful of nearby subway and rail stations to see examples of the MBTA’s latest accessibility initiatives, both installed and in design, and consider how improved access to T stations can function as a form of equitable urbanism.

Agenda:

11 AM – 12:30 AM
Co-Designing the T (In-Person Session at BSA Space) with Reggie Ramos , Director of Inclusive Public Transit, ICHD; and Christopher Hart, Deputy Director of Inclusive Design and Engineering, MBTA.

12:30 PM – 1:00 PM
Lunch

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
T Station Tour