Translations

KEOLIS LILLE promotes the use of public transport by persons with intellectual disabilities

6. Clients and consumers

Client and consumer relations

Sector Transports

Year 2014

Country France

Transmitter

Context

A subsidiary of KEOLIS for the public transport system of Lille Metropole, Keolis Lille is a transport company engaged in Sustainable Development in its work in inner cities, both in terms of the environment and as creator of social connection by offering employment and services to its passengers (170 million voyages in 2013, 60 metro stations on 2 lines, 45 bus lines and 2 tramway lines). Keolis Lille has established an initiative to promote the mobility of persons with intellectual disabilities.

Objectives

Anticipate meeting the requirements set by law regarding accessibility of the of the network to Persons of Reduced Mobility (PRM) beginning in 2015 (law applicable on 11th February 2015).
Promote current and future mobility on behalf of the mentally impaired across the public transit network.
Stimulate a network of specialized facilities geared towards accommodating individuals with social disorders in order to better identify the expectations and constraints on both sides.
Encourage internal awareness-building of the specific difficulties experienced by this population segment, especially in the case of degraded service operations.

APPROACH

Awareness about the use of public transit services is raised through a partnership established with the facilities assigned to handle this population segment (i.e. IME - Medical-Educational Institutes, and IM Pro - Medical-Professional Institutes). In each structure, Transpole employees, all volunteers involved in different jobs (conductors, controllers, sales personnel, etc.) and called ‘‘godparents’‘, run pedagogical interventions throughout the year with the help of specialized educators to raise awareness, both for the children with intellectual disabilities and the educators, on how to best use the public transport network. These interventions also address signing, the construction of routes, the various people available on the network (mediators, sales agents, controllers…), the tools for security and safety (emergency phones), the equipment, etc.

These pedagogical actions are completed by mobility experiences, in which the godparent accompanies his/her reference group (for this type of public, the fact of having the same agent each time is reassuring and promotes listening) on the transport network by following a path predefined during an intervention within the structure.

In addition to these interventions in the structures, an event called Mobi’Defi, is organized once a year and brings together all the partner structures: in the morning, accompanied by their godparent, the children follow a map of the network that they will have prepared beforehand. They then meet up with members from the other structures of the project to share a meal, watch a show related to mobility and receive a medal symbolizing their participation in the Mobi’Defi.

At present, 7 such facilities have become partners, spread across the Lille Metropolitan Area, while several others have expressed interest in being affiliated with this network. 5 sponsoring employees have received training and been participating for the past few years in the effort. Other volunteer employees are currently undergoing training.

Best Practice spotted by the World Forum Lille in 2013 and updated in 2014.

CONTRIBUTION TO COMPANY PERFORMANCE

Improvement of the image of the enterprise to parents of persons with intellectual disabilities and their teachers
Change in the way employees regard disabilities, which helps in their daily jobs

Benefits

Enhancing mobility of the disabled, as a key factor favoring social integration.