A thought on an additional feature for google map

The issue of disability access for public transportation emerged in a conversation today and it led my head to come up with some ideas.

Don't know what it is like for the others.  Personally, my physical disability has a direct impact on my SES although it ain't like I was above the low SES for so many years.  Like... between 2005 to 2007 right before my accident? 8-O lol sigh

If you are handicapped like me who is stuck in the lower SES, chances are, you will be using the public transportation when going around places as opposed to taxing around. Also if you are a disabled like me whose condition isn't considered as physical disabilities by the system, public transportation surely is the only way to go (e.g., subway, metro, bus).

For newer subway or metro systems, it's more likely to incorporate the "disability access" component into the blueprint.  Yet, for older subway or metro systems, such as those in New York, London, and Paris, which might have been built before passenger elevators are a commodity in ordinary buildings, it's more likely for stations to have not disability access. As a result, if you ask around, a lot of people with disabilities living in cities with older systems might eventually take it to busing to avoid the hassle of finding a station disability access. 

When in New York and when planning trips, I sometimes will use Google Map to help me identify the best route--meaning a route that would minimize the chance of my having to do them stairs.  Let's take a real trip I made to Dyckman Street from W. 108th st. in New York this winter after some snowstorms for example.

Google map helped me identified several routes.

However, on my end, I have to take into the following into consideration, especially when I had never gotten off from the Dyckman Station.

1. Are there elevators installed at this station?

2. If this station is not, since the subway in uptown Manhattan started to run above the ground, are the stairs on the outside and possibly covered by "ice" as opposed to snow?

Ended up, I might have taken the route shown in the picture because I know there are elevators in 168th street station and transferred to M100.

Make no mistake.  This is no complaint.  This is but a description of an event that happens too many a time and possibly not only to me.

The conversation I had earlier led me to think though... since Google Map already does a good job in providing potential routes to destinations, maybe it could incorporate an additional feature with the feature aiming to help people needing disability access to identify the most suitable route.   

Though based on a naive theory, I figure ... perhaps, all that's needed is to have information on which station has elevators and perhaps, at which exit. Given the sophistication of the information the app is capable of providing, it can't be too difficult to add the "elevator" and "exit" variables into the database and the algorithm? (Though I can tell you out front that me ain't got no idea how they found me that route behind the scene and what I have in mind requires the collection and maintenance of information on metro/subway systems globally. Easier said than done. lol 8-X))

Sure, elevators can be under-maintenance or disability accessible might mean slopes. Yet, much better than none!

So it concludes a thought on an additional feature for google map.

P.S., Why using elevator as an indicator as opposed to escalators? Sometimes, escalators don't go all the way to the ground floor or might skip in between floors.

(This is cross-posted at Ratology Reloaded.)

An ode to Subway elevators/escalators

If there is anything that makes this trip of mine drastically different from any other trips I have done so far... it would be... avoiding stairs...  And, as a result, taking detours....

Sometimes, such inconveviences do have their upside... for example, otherwise, I would not have the opportunity to release the lotus lantern the other day.... (and this is sort of like what you call... looking at the bright side of life... 8-O 8-X)

In terms of public transportation...

I love taking buses... as opposed to taking subway/metro....

Two reasons...

Although it is much faster, most of the times, to take subway, you get to see more of the city with buses.... slow and stop.... in New York, in Taipei, in Shanghai and in Seoul.... and even in airports... 8-O

With the buses, there are, most of the time, far fewer stairs you have to manage....

All of these cities I mentioned above have disability access....

However, the design is universally stupid at times.... leading me to the conclusion that... either them people doing the designs must not be physically disabled or this world is designed not for people with physical disability.... For instance, them escalators... a lot of cities have only escalators going up but not going down.... a real killer for people with knee problems...

In addition, there seems to be an assumption that all people with disability uses wheelchair... and only people in wheelchair could be disabled?!

I am not gonna make you believe that I can not do stairs at all....

I can force myself to do a few stairs but I have to do it slow... one stairs at a time... if necessary.  However, the revenge of my body is very scary... if it feels that I overdo it....

The New York subway system just celebrated its 100th anniversary not too many years ago... I can understand why there are relatively fewer disability access... This is part of the reason why I used to use buses to go places....

However, with them newer subway systems in Taipei, Shanghai and, perhaps, Seoul.... I have a problem with disability inaccess kind of design...

For these cities, you might be able to find elevators to go down to the metro station in case all elevators you find only go up... except for... there is no guarantee that the elevators could be found.....

Worst of all, after all the detours you have taken, circling around like a dog chasing its tail, when you find that elevator of you life... it might be out of order.... and... you have to restart your search... all over again... Sometimes, you might as well walk to the next subway station.

At times, you come across situations within which... just when you are praising to yourself... "How wonderful!  There are escalators going both up and down!"  You find yourself in front of them stairs... and.. many many stairs... This is especially traumatizing on days when your body is in the piece-of-crap shape.... 8-O lol

The second day I got to Seoul, I was shipped me out to explore.... Seoul.

I decided to go to Seoul Station because something told me that it is where I could find the tourist information booth to get a tourist map...

Seoul Subway Route Map

All that I had... a Subway map in Korean, a language I had no idea about, and the only thing I knew... when I get back, I have to get off at the Sunae station and I have to transfer from the yellow line to the orange line at the Suseo station.

Arriving at the Suseo station, I saw escalators and I was overjoyed... So I followed the sign trying to get to the orange line... except for... at some point... I found myself circling around as if I walked into... 鬼打牆....

"Where is the elevator?  There is the sign saying this is how I get to disability access... but how come all I see are the stairs?"

Seoul Subway Wheelchair disability access

So I spent the next 5-10 minutes looking until I came to the conclusion... the devise shown in the following picture is THE disability access... and there was no other disability access...

Ended up, there are many of these kind of disability access all over town...

Since I spoke no word of Korean and many Korean don't speak English, provided I am not on wheelchair, I had never used this... wouldn't be difficult to explain to the station worker my condition anyways...

So, I climbed up... one step at a time... like everyone else... I guess.... 8-O lol sigh...

While trying to drag my big fat butts up them stairs, the thought that I might have to climb all those stairs for the next few days started to form a nightmare... one as scary as the nightmare on Elm street...



"It can't be... that's gotta be a different way around..."

Ended up, since one could also transfer between the yellow and the orange line in Dogok, after I eventually got to the orange line, I got off at Dogok.... in search of more accessible disability access...  It took me a whole lot of sign following and walking around and around... till... voila... I finally found it... the escalators of my dream... which run both up and down.... (speaking of... I have a dream.... 8-O lol)

It was not until a bit later did I realize that... inside of each every station, there is a map outlining the blueprint of the station... It shows you where you are, where the stairs, escalators and elevators are... sometimes even toilets...  The only problem I had was... this map is only available when you are inside of the station but not on the ground level.

Subway station Map

I find this map extremely useful.  The only recommendation I have is to make it available is to also make this map available at the ground level entrance.  This is so that people with disability knows what to expect once they set off with their stair climbing mission whether going up or not.

In addition, one scary thing about them stairs towards the metro is that, first, they are huge stairs, second, the subway could be as deep as something like 6 floors below the ground level, and, at some locations, the exits/entrances are not connected.  As a result, if you enter the station through an entrance without disability access, you are doomed....

One night, due to circumstances, I took the "non-disability-accessible" entrance after a long day...  The problem was... there were only two options... Keeping going down or try to see whether I could walk back up.... By the time I got to the subway, my body was already in the kind of shape I was when I just got injured.  I was so in pain and I could barely move.  You see, if the station map was available, this could have been avoided...

Since I started feeling something was coming down the second day, sometimes I wonder whether my sickness later might have something to do with the fact that the entire body, from neck down, was inflamed.  If I knew for sure that the elevator going down was only a block away... I might not have to go through my entire Shanghai trip later sick like a dog.... Just an hypothesis, though....

Since I was such a determined traveler and since I did not have much more time in Korea, despite the severe pain and physical condition, I was out and about again the day after partially because I had totally ran out of Korean currency and needed to go into town to exchange more money...  Though I moved even slower and with a cane.  I kept on moving forward.... 8-O lol

Somewhere over the Internet, I learned that the "black market" kinda money exchange places in Ming-dong area give you the best deal.  Since I hadn't had the chance to check out Ming-dong (明洞), I decided to go to there that day....

When I got off from the dark blue line at the Ming-dong station, I went to check out the station map to see which direction might have disability access.  Unfortunately, I did not find any sign of elevators or escalators going to the ground level.

Without hesitation, I hopped onto the next train to get off at Nam Dae Mun (南大門), thinking... that... what is the likelihood that they would haveno disability access to the ground two stations in a roll...

So I took the escalator all the way up and I exited the subway gate.  After I circled around like a doggie for a while, I came up with the conclusion that... oops.... on a day when I could hardly walk on flat land, I landed on a station without any disability access to the ground level.

I went to speak with this ticket agent, who told me that... "This is an old station.  No.  We don't have elevators going to the ground level.  However, it is not too far.  Only one floor."

I looked up... and pondered to myself...

"Should I get back and take the subway all the way to the next stop Seoul Station or should I try to climb up since I am already in a piece of shit kind of state anyways?"

Well, following the rationale that I was already in pain and already in the piece of shit state, I decided to start bringing myself up with both arms and, of course, both legs... one step at a time... painfully...

Many subways must have come and go...  because I can't quite tell you how many bunches of people had past me by...

Some look at me with curiously...

Others wanted to offer help except for... I was not even sure how they could help me.

At some point, the ticket agent appeared next to me... and I wonder whether it was because some passersby might have told him about the apparent struggle of this strange creature....

"I didn't know that the stairs are so difficult for you!  Let me help you!!"

Before I could respond, I found him pushing me up from the bottom up... all that I had to do was to move my legs up...  It felt as if we flew all the way up them stairs....  In no time, we were up on the ground level inside of the Nam Dae Mun Market.

I thanked him, thanked him and I could not have thanked him enough.

To this day, when I thought of that ticket agent and the strange scenario, I remain to be thankful and will always be.

After all these time, to be honest, I don't even recall what it might have felt like when I could do stairs with so much ease.... until that day.

At one of the entrance of Nam Dai Mun Market, I thanked this life-saver of mine, I rested my body a bit.  And, I kept walking on... backwards to Ming-dong after the interesting detour.

Isn't life funny?  You can run but you can't hide.  I took a deliberate effort to get off at a different subway station.  Yet, them stairs..... I still can not escape.

It sort of reminds me of that story.... This servant saw death in the market, with a strange look on his face.  The servant went home and asked the master for one of the fastest horse so that he could go as far as he could to avoid death.  Later that day, the master bumped into death and complained...

"Why did you do that to my servant?"

Death replied with something like... "I was just surprised to see him here because I shall catch him tonight in the far-away land!!!"

At the same time, shall I have not taken the detour to Nam Dae Mun, I would not have had the chance to encounter that wonderful man and the experiences of flying up to the ground!  8-O lol

I did not really get to take the local buses in Korea this time.... mostly having to do with the fact that I don't know the language and the city.  One of my greatest regrets, I guess, in my trip to Korea.

In Shanghai, it was much easier for me to learn to use the bus system... mostly having to do with the fact that....  though I am not very good with simplified Chinese and I also don't know the city, at least, I am half-literate... and it makes it much easier for me to navigate all around town.

Another reason why I decided to take it to busing is that...

Although there surely are elevators available to go down to the subway stations, the apparently visible elevators are not really all that easily accessible.

The day I got to Shanghai, I transfered to the subway after getting off the maglev.  After asking around, the officers at the security check told me that I would need to ask one of the transit people to take me down to the elevator because these elevators were locked.

I had to swipe the card at the entrance first before going back out to take the elevator.

I had thought it was because that was a special station.... because that's where people taking maglev would get off...

When I went out another day, I asked some volunteers whether there are elevators available because I have physical disability and I have problems with stairs.

While one of the ladies told me... "No," this guy from a distance somehow overheard our conversation and replied...

"Yes.  You see that elevator over there... that is the elevator going down to the subway."

So, happily, I got to the elevator, I pressed the down button and waited for the elevator to arrive like a good girl.... under the Shanghai heat...

I waited a bit and a little longer but did not really hear any movement...

This is when I saw this red button....  Apparently, you have to press the red button to contact the workers of the station.

After pressing the button, someone spoke to me over the speaker phone.

"Hi, there, sorry... I have problems with stairs and need to use the elevator."

"Wait a minute and someone will come and get you."  So the person replied.

Someone eventually came up with the elevator.

Inside of the elevator, I asked the lady who came to get me... "Do I need to trouble someone to come to get me every time?"

Apparently... yes...

Since I am very vain and I don't really like to trouble others because I am "handicapped."

From that day on, I decided to take it to the bus instead...

Well, I might have gotten lost a time or two...  essentially... thinking I was walking north... ended up I was walking towards the west....  but, by the time I left Shanghai, I was already able to get to specific destinations by bus.

One of my proudest achievement this trip, I guess..... 8-O lol

Well, if the purpose of locking the elevators down is to deter people from using elevators, I guess... the purpose is served.

At the same time, how on earth would could one spend all these times and using all these words talking about subway elevators/escalators?   On a second thought... well... at least I am not talking about the disability access to toilets, right? Or... maybe I should consider it..... 8-O lol

Getting a lift

One thing differs this trip from my previous trips is that....

I spent a whole lot of time looking for disability access... escalator, elevator, or taking detour... 8-O lol

One day, I was stuck at a subway station in Seoul because there was no elevator going to the ground...  The gentleman working at the booth found out I was having so much problem bringing myself up them stairs, he graciously pushed me all the way up through all those stairs till I was up to the ground... 

I was and remain extremely thankful to him because, otherwise, I might be struggling to get up till the day break next day.... 8-O 

At the same time... a different definition of getting a lift... I guess... 8-O lol

The meaning of uselessness

Time flies is a term sounding so very corny…

Yet… how time flies… now it’s been 2 month since I came back to Taiwan from New York and over one month since my visa back to the States got denied.

If I had thought two months ago that the life I had lived in the year past had taught me what it meant to live a useless life marked with nothingness… I was wrong again…

The matter of the fact is, and, in retrospective… during those days, I tried painting, origami (paper folding), researching about my conditions, writing, and, be it buying or selling--- ebaying.

Most importantly, there was never a moment did I feel the need to prove to the world that I, despite of my mental and physical conditions, could amount to something.

Then, there came this past two months… a good two months more of my life when I, again, beat my own record of living a life even more useless and contribute nothing more to the world than boosting the economy through spending my Mickey mouse amount of savings and swinging rehab activities… lol

Then, earlier this evening, my mama told me about this friend of hers who has been suffering from the impacts of osteophyts in her lower back. Accordingly, the pains are so bad that this auntie had gone in and out of the ER 3 times and the pains so bad that she could hardly do a thing to get her life out of the unbearable state of miseries.

Mama wanted to take me to see the lady--- to tell her that my spinal conditions had put me through times of miseries, too…. And, today, I am making progress… Today, I can walk faster than my mom… Today, I could finally bend down to pick up the power cable to charge this laptop.

I was more than happy about my mom’s suggestion.

Happy is actually an understatement…

All else I might have failed to accomplish throughout this time…

If the sharing of my road to recovery could bring even the least sense of hope to this lady….

The excruciating pains…

The pains that could put you down on the office floor…

The pains that could take all your sense of joy away from life…

The pains that could force you into the dark side and see, no more, light.

The pains that leave you so very--- home alone—for what you experiences, what others can’t understand.

Not to mention the problems associated with mobility--- or physical disability accompanied by the pains…

If, even only one of my fellow patients could, somehow, benefit from any part of my miserable states of being, I will be happy and complain no more… for such would serve as the evidence for the purpose of my uselessness and the proof that even the emptiest existence could be full (here comes my self-serving thoughts lol).

Tell me how much you suffer… and, you will know that you are not alone.

The road towards redemption might be much less than rosy (and, chances are not rosy at all)--- if you believe, each of us will find that specific path for ourselves.

There might be detour after detour—such as my en route temporal destination in the cuckoo’s nest—

Yet, consider it but part of the itinerary for our life’s special trip because, if we believe, one day, we will walk out of it, somehow, and, it would be a trip that cannot be sought however global you travel--- it is something that could only be found within yourself (although, to be honest, I'd rather to have travelled a thousand miles and visited a million towns than having to go through this internal trip... oops... lol).

Back to the meaning I found during this trip... again... I found that, although it is something I have to look inside of myself, again, it is you who makes up the meaning.... (call it social construction of knowledge or social loafing.... lol)