Editing Accessibility (section)

===Low floor===
{{Redirect|Low floor|more details|Low-floor bus|and|Low-floor tram}}
[[File:Person on PMD boarding an SMRT bus, August 2022.jpg|thumb|alt=A man on a motorized wheelchair is using a ramp to enter an SMRT bus|Wheelchair ramps allows those on wheelchairs or [[Personal transporter|personal mobility devices]] to board low-floor public transport vehicles.]]

A significant development in transportation, and [[public transport]] in particular, to achieve accessibility, is the move to "low-floor" vehicles. In a low-floor vehicle, access to part or all of the passenger cabin is unobstructed from one or more entrances by the presence of steps, enabling easier access for the infirm or people with [[Baby transport|push chairs]]. A further aspect may be that the entrance and corridors are wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair. Low-floor vehicles have been developed for [[bus]]es, [[trolleybus]]es, [[trams]] and [[train]]s.

A low floor in the vehicular sense is normally combined in a conceptual meaning with normal pedestrian access from a standard [[Curb (road)|kerb (curb)]] height. However, the accessibility of a low-floor vehicle can also be utilised from slightly raising portions of kerb at [[bus stop]]s, or through use of level boarding [[bus rapid transit]] stations or tram stops.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.itdp.org/library/standards-and-guides/the-bus-rapid-transit-standard/what-is-brt/|title=What is BRT? – Institute for Transportation and Development Policy|work=Institute for Transportation and Development Policy|access-date=2018-07-02|language=en-US}}</ref> The combination of access from a kerb was the technological development of the 1990s, as step-free interior layouts for buses had existed in some cases for decades, with entrance steps being introduced as chassis designs and overall height regulations changed.

Low-floor buses may also be designed with special height adjustment controls that permit a stationary bus to temporarily lower itself to ground level, permitting wheelchair access. This is referred to as a [[kneeling bus]].

At [[rapid transit]] systems, vehicles generally have floors in the same height as the platforms but the stations are often underground or elevated, so accessibility there is not a question of providing low-floor vehicles, but providing a step-free access from street level to the platforms (generally by [[elevator]]s, which may be restricted to disabled passengers only, so that the step-free access is not obstructed by non-disabled people taking advantage).{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}