The impacts of ergonomics/human factors of wheelchair/user combinations on effective barrier-free environments design: A case study of the Chinese universal rail coach layout

Abstract

Adequate barrier-free environments for all people have become a pressing concern in several societies. This paper explores the riding tasks, key riding motions, routes, and impacts of other passengers on wheelchair users traveling by rail as well as typical riding therbligs to support the development of universal rail coach layouts appropriate ways to evaluate their efficacy. We present 3 studies. The first examines 15 typical riding therbligs of wheelchair/user combinations obtained through experiments and behavioral observation; the second focuses on 15 segments and 9 electromyograms of typical riding therbligs obtained from motion capture and electromyography experiments; the third used 15 typical riding therbligs of wheelchair/user combinations and modeled them in digital human model simulation systems. In all three studies both wheelchair and wheelchair user characteristics were examined. The subsequent analyses determined that the ideal barrier-free environment with an all-inclusive design demanded no instrumental or service auxiliary elements because users were able to accomplish all tasks with ease. Moreover, the research showed that a universal rail coach layout should provide a unified design of functional and reversible routes for the wheelchair/user combinations to move within the space, strive for the reduction of the entire distances that wheelchair/user combinations must travel, minimize the physical effort required to perform typical riding therbligs. Additionally, the 3D design scheme should match the typical digital riding therbligs. Finally, we summarized the key aspects recommended for Chinese universal rail coach layout and proposed two layout schemes. Findings from these studies may provide useful guidelines and suggestions for layout design of universal rail coaches.