by Brianna Crandall — April 22, 2016 — ASTM International’s Committee on Vehicle-Pavement Systems is developing a standard that will make sidewalks safer and more comfortable for wheelchair users and others. The proposed standard is expected to have a positive effect on businesses, campuses and other venues by enabling better accessibility for a larger number of customers and visitors.
WK41917, New Practice for Computing Pathway Roughness Index from Longitudinal Profile Measurements, describes a method to collect and analyze data from a sidewalk to determine its roughness. Roughness can make sidewalks uncomfortable and risky for wheelchair users and others such as parents pushing strollers, postal carriers pushing three-wheeled carts, and people using wheeled walkers, points out ASTM.
According to ASTM member Jonathan Pearlman, the proposed standard will be useful in several ways. “For businesses, the standard could increase the number of customers who are wheelchair users,” says Pearlman, chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board and co-founder of Pathway Accessibility Solutions Inc., as well as an assistant professor in the rehabilitation science and technology department of the University of Pittsburgh.
“The standard and related data collection tools will help establish a new service that engineering firms can offer to municipalities and transportation agencies that manage sidewalks and crosswalks,” notes Pearlman. “For architects and contractors, the proposed standard will help guide design-build approaches for safe and accessible routes.”
Pearlman also foresees that, in the future, the standard could be referenced in guidelines for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
WK41917, New Practice for Computing Pathway Roughness Index from Longitudinal Profile Measurements is available from the ASTM Web site.
