Screaming lights, noises, crowds, delays ... For vulnerable groups including autistic people, the metro is a real ordeal that arouses fear and anxiety.
It is to facilitate their journey that the device of the "
Blue Line
" was officially inaugurated Friday, October 22 in Lyon by Claire Compagnon, interministerial delegate to the National Strategy for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders.
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Their adaptation difficulties have inspired the redevelopments throughout the Brotteaux station, on line B of the Lyon metro, and part of Perrache station, according to the recommendations of the "Translators", the collective of entrepreneurs from Lyon. project leader.
Appropriate signage
In addition to the blue color, recognized as calming by the target audience of the device, the captions have been simplified, and the signage adapted to mark the route.
Installed at the entrance to Les Brotteaux, a visual notice made up of monument pictograms distinguishes the stops and illustrates the directions of the lines in different colors.
“
At each stop, we took a landmark, a monument or a building nearby and made a pictogram that we associated with the name of the station to adapt to the needs of neuroatypics
”, people whose cerebral functioning differs from the norm and which "
need to be given a framework to be able to find their way around a station
", explains Guillaume Bourdon, the project designer.
"
The nearby monument makes it possible to have an easier memorial axis
", he explains.
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“
I sometimes get lost in the network.
When I come out of a station and see the monument represented, it reassures me
, ”confirms Charles, an Asperger autism who participated in the program.
Numbers at the exits and markings on the ground have been added which indicate where to wait for the metro train and mark the path for vulnerable groups.
Another innovation to easily find your tickets, "an inclusive ticket holder" with three types of notches to classify them: one for the ticket in use, one for the reserve of tickets and one for used tickets.
A wallet designed to facilitate the use of metro tickets.
Jean Mathy
The interest of the greatest number
The project is based on a particular logic, that of “
universal design
”, at the heart of the system: “
By relying on the vulnerabilities of the weakest, we realized that we were serving as many people as possible: pregnant women, the elderly, children, people with reduced mobility, in fact to everyone
, ”explains Guillaume Bourdon. "
By modifying the elements a little, we realize that we are doing something that helps more people,
" he adds.
To design this device, the collective tried to understand the anxieties and fears of autistic people by doing immersion sessions in transport with them.
A collection of information which resulted in 34 recommendations for a “
more autonomous and serene
”
journey
, of which 14 have been implemented.
A total cost of 80,000 euros, largely financed by SNCF and Keolis.
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This experience, the first of its kind, could see the light of day in other cities around the world, starting with Paris.
The collective notably proposed the initiative to the organizing committee of the 2024 Olympics. According to the designer, the device is part of the process of “
more inclusive
” games.
