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Bus station in Sonthofen: Significant improvements for people with disabilities

2021-09-04T04:41:37.508Z


Sonthofen - With a "tactile guidance system", the city of Sonthofen is making the new bus station safer and ultimately barrier-free for people with visual impairments.


Sonthofen - With a "tactile guidance system", the city of Sonthofen is making the new bus station safer and ultimately barrier-free for people with visual impairments.

The new pedestrian crossings in Eichendorffstrasse at the new bus station in Sonthofen are definitely noticeable. Also because the white markings are only a few weeks old. But it's not just the striking white. What “white markings” are for the layperson is a well thought-out “tactile guidance system”, which is intended to guide people with visual impairments and wheelchair users safely to the platforms of the bus lines and in the train station to the train tracks.


“For people with visual impairments, the plate elements can be clearly and quickly grasped with the stick due to the special surface structure,” says Christoph Stöberl, responsible for the “major station construction site” at the city of Sonthofen.

The shallow grooves are only a few millimeters deep and can therefore be easily felt by the visually impaired, but are not a hazard for other road users.

Longitudinal grooves, transverse grooves and dimple fields

Clear longitudinal grooves facilitate orientation and mark the recommended guiding direction.

Transverse grooves delimit other surfaces and areas, such as the roadway.

Knob areas are "attention fields", therefore waiting areas.

Knob fields can be found in front of the boarding doors of the buses, at the stops or at the pedestrian crossings.

For wheelchair users, ramps have been created to the raised waiting areas, which significantly improve mobility.


"In this way, the arrangement of the differently designed surfaces safely leads to the respective stopping areas of the bus routes," continues Stöberl.

Although the new control system for the mobility center has not yet been implemented everywhere, it will be expanded and supplemented for the new Sonthofen station to include the railway facilities.

Accessibility is also a declared aim of the railway.


Standard for new construction projects

The city does not play the accessibility card completely "altruistically".

“This design has now become the standard for new building projects in public spaces,” emphasizes Stöberl.

If you take state subsidies for such urban development measures, the equipment is actually mandatory.

“And the execution is then also determined by the relevant guidelines and standards.” So none of this is a creative playground for the architects, as one might think.

The stops of the city bus are also being upgraded in this regard, for example with digital timetable displays and interactive information options.


Peter Götz, local chairman of the social association VdK in Sonthofen, is satisfied with the bus station in terms of accessibility and mobility. As the disability officer of the city of Sonthofen, he was involved in the planning from the start and had written a statement together with the Association of the Blind. Here and there one or the other can still be improved, suggests the wheelchair user. “But so far it fits.” However, he has far greater expectations when it comes to improvements at Deutsche Bahn. Patience is still required. He's getting to the bus quite well now, but still with considerable difficulty to get to the train.

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-09-04

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