5 - 3 Universal Designed Mobility Support Geographic Information System for All

Recent years have seen a great deal of progress in the research and development of ubiquitous systems that provide pedestrians with various types of information and support to ensure safety and security in movement [1]. This paper reports on the results of research on a Geographic Information System (GIS) to assist all pedestrians — including the disabled and elderly — in moving about, through the provision of information on barriers and barrier-free pedestrian spaces. This system may serve as a solid base for the establishment of an overall mobility support system. In the past, municipalities and volunteers led the way in research on electronic maps and pedestrian navigation GIS to provide information on obstacles and accessible pedestrian spaces. These institutions and volunteers have prepared electronic maps that allow users to retrieve accessibility information for potential destinations and routes (indicating shops and public facilities); the maps have then been provided to the public via the Internet. However, these maps are intended only for individuals with certain types of disability. To date, no one has implemented universal design in electronic maps, which would offer the needed accessibility information to all pedestrians, including the disabled and elderly, facing different physical difficulties[2] [3]. Given this background, we aimed at developing a universal-design pedestrian navigation GIS for all pedestrians, including the disabled and elderly, proposing the Mobility Support GIS in 2000. We have since conducted further research on this system[4]. In this paper, Section 2 describes an overview and various research problems regarding the Mobility Support GIS, and Section 3 describes the universal design of the pedestrian-route network investigated through the construction of