Defective elevators: making information publicly available

“It often happens that lifts are faulty,” says Florian. “It affects me alone at least once a month. Sometimes the broken lift is located at large train stations where there are still alternatives. Then the defect is unpleasant and shouldn't be, but it doesn't affect my goal achievement as much at this moment.” But reality often looks different. “I remember a particularly concise situation,” says Florian. “When I got off at Oberzollikofen train station on my way to work, the elevator was broken. At that moment, I was stuck as there was no alternative to the lift for me. I was forced to pick up the phone and call my work colleagues, who came to help me.” But that solution isn't always available. “It also happened that I had to get on a train again just so that I could get to the same station on another platform and thus avoid the faulty elevator.” That is annoying and costs time.

“During a hackathon, together with a team, I developed a prototype for recognizing and displaying lift status. The idea: to publish the current operational readiness of public elevators. To this end, existing status information should be harmonized and published in combination with elevator data such as location, wheelchair usability and used floors.”

Florian Underlines the Importance of the Central Collection of Information about the Lifts. “Lift manufacturers have the data on the status of the elevators. A central pool of accessibility data, digitally collected and made accessible, would be a significant step forward for barrier-free mobility.” Not only wheelchair users benefit from this, but also people with lots of luggage, temporary injuries and senior citizens. “It's about more than just comfort for individuals; it's about creating an inclusive, efficient and reliable public transport network for all.”