Easter Seals Project ACTION (ESPA) is honored to support specific international activities as requested by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Our mission is to promote universal access to transportation under federal law and beyond by partnering with transportation providers, the disability community and others through the provision of training, technical assistance, applied research, outreach and communications.

Internationally, ESPA expands its mission by increasing awareness about universal access to transportation by sharing information about training, technical assistance, research and publications. ESPA also participates in dialogues and other activities to exchange information about domestic and global efforts to advance accessible transportation with Easter Seals affiliates and other U.S. and international partners.

International Accessibility Roundtable
ESPA in partnership with FTA convened the International Accessibility Roundtable on September 28-30, 2008 to discuss and exchange information about experiences and shared goals of accessible public transportation. Roundtable participants also offered input on a survey instrument for assessing accessible transportation in a country. The final report (*.PDF) summarizes the results of the roundtable and other related international activities.

Final Report:
Download an accessible PDF of the final report of the roundtable: International Projects on Accessible Transportation, A Report and Findings to Date.

12th International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Disabled Persons (TRANSED)
 ESPA was pleased to be a major participant in the 12th International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Disabled Persons (TRANSED) hosted by the Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation in Hong Kong from June 1-4, 2010. During the event, ESPA staff presented two papers - Evaluating Access: An Instrument to Measure Accessible Transportation and A Cost Benefit Model for Travel Training: Meeting the Needs of People with Disabilities, Society and Funding; co-moderated several panels, attended sessions and sponsored an International Disability forum, the highlight for our participation.

TRANSED International Disability Forum: Accessibility for All
The purpose of the International Disability forum was to hear first-hand perspectives from people living with disabilities on accessibility around the world. The stories, perspectives, and suggestions were compelling and underscored the need for continued international knowledge sharing and mutual support to expand accessible multi-modal transportation, accessible pathways, and trip planning/navigation aids in multiple formats/languages.

ESPA congratulates the many esteemed delegates of the conference, the TRB Accessibility and Mobility Committee members and the conference organizers on an excellent and very informative event. ESPA would also like to thank FTA for its commitment to international sharing of perspectives on accessibility that enabled our participation in this event.

Final Report:
View the final reports of the International Disability Forum and TRANSED (*.PDF) developed by the conference hosts.

Resources:
World report on disability