Editing Curb cut (section)

==History==
{{Globalize|article|USA|2name=the United States|date=March 2015}}

Historically speaking, footpaths were finished at right angles to the street surface with conventional stepped curb treatments. Their introduction to help people pushing prams dates back at least as far as the 1930s in the UK.<ref>{{cite web|title=Proceedings, Institution of Municipal Engineers, London, Volume 62, Issue 3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H0pQAAAAYAAJ&q=dropped+kerbs|access-date=May 31, 2018|last1=Institution Of Municipal Engineers|first1=London|date=1935-07-30}}
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[[Kalamazoo, Michigan]] installed curb cuts in the 1940s as a pilot project introduced by veteran and lawyer Jack H. Fischer to aid employment of veterans with disabilities.<ref>{{cite web|last=Brown|first=Stephen|title=The curb ramps of Kalamazoo|url=http://www.independentliving.org/docs3/brown99a.html|publisher=Independent Living Institute|access-date=July 18, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Duvall |first1=Jonathan |last2=Sivakanthan |first2=Sivashankar |last3=Daveler |first3=Brandon |last4=Sundaram |first4=S. Andrea |last5=Cooper |first5=Rory A. |date=2022-12-28 |title=Inventors with Disabilities — An Opportunity for Innovation, Inclusion, and Economic Development |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.21300/22.3.2022.5 |journal=Technology & Innovation |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=322 |doi=10.21300/22.3.2022.5 |s2cid=256882735 |issn=1949-8241|url-access=subscription }}</ref> A major project in [[Berkeley, California]] led by the grassroots [[Center for Independent Living]] led to curb cuts up and down Telegraph and Shattuck Avenues creating an extensive path of travel.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Williamson|first1=Bess|title=The People's Sidewalks|url=http://www.boomcalifornia.com/2012/06/the-peoples-sidewalks/|website=Boom: A Journal of California|date=26 June 2012|access-date=22 September 2014}}</ref> Following this, the value of curb cuts was promoted more strongly and their installation was often made on a voluntary basis by municipal authorities and developers. 

Curb cuts in Western countries have been mandated by legislation such as the [[Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990|''Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990'']] (ADA) in the United States (which requires that curb cuts be present on all sidewalks) or the [[Disability Discrimination Act 1992|''Disability Discrimination Act 1992'']] in Australia. The legislative requirements in some jurisdictions have been increased from the original requirements in recent times, to the point where existing treatments can now fail to meet the most recent design requirements.<ref>{{cite web |title= Paths: Infrastructure and Asset Management Plan|url=http://www.teatreegully.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/Paths_Infrastructure_Asset_Management_Plan.pdf |publisher=City of Tea Tree Gully Council |access-date= 12 November 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110220023243/http://www.teatreegully.sa.gov.au/webdata/resources/files/Paths_Infrastructure_Asset_Management_Plan.pdf |archive-date= 20 February 2011 |page= 17 |language= en |date= August 2009}}</ref>

When the ramps are used by a broader population than just the disabled (for whom the curb cut requirement was legislated), this new convenience can be seen as a positive [[externality]], and has become known as the [[curb cut effect]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://slate.com/business/2018/07/curb-space-is-way-too-valuable-for-cities-to-waste-on-parked-cars.html|title=American Cities Are Squandering Some of Their Most Valuable Real Estate: The Curb|archive-url   = https://web.archive.org/web/20180719203952/https://slate.com/business/2018/07/curb-space-is-way-too-valuable-for-cities-to-waste-on-parked-cars.html  |  archive-date = 19 July 2018 | website = Slate |last = Grabar  |first = Henry  |date=19 July 2018 | quote=...mandated by the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, soon provided a path for all kinds of street users, like kids on bicycles, parents with strollers, and senior citizens with shopping carts. Pedestrians are drawn to using curb cuts, and a street corner would look odd without them. It's a story of how changes made for small groups wind up having positive, unforeseen externalities.}}</ref>