Metro4All Subway Accessibility Rating (Metro4All SAR) is a result of independent evaluation of accessibility level of subway systems undertaken by Metro4All project. Metro4All SAR uses open data collected by Metro4All contributors in accordance with the specific methodology.

2 main metrics were used for evaluation of accessibility of each subway system:

• percentage of intra-station routes* accessible** for users with reduced mobility;
• percentage of subway stations accessible*** for users with reduced mobility.

Station Accessibility vs Route Accessibility

Claiming that station is accessible doesn’t always give us all necessary information. For complex stations having an elevator at one particular entrance doesn’t mean any other entrance is also accessible which means the station is not “fully” accessible. That is why we use two accessibility metrics: general (station accessibility) and precise (route accessibility). The second metric is more explicit, but should be taken with care as it is often unfeasible to achieve 100% route accessibility for the complex transport node.

User Categories

As of June 2015 subway accessibility is evaluated for 3 categories of users with reduced mobility:

• wheelchair users,
• elderly people,
• parents with baby-strollers.

Intra-station route accessibility implies:

1) for wheelchair users:
– total absence of steps;
– absence of escalators;
– maximal passage/ramp slope of 6 degrees;
– minimal passage/door/turnstile width of 70 cm;
– elevators operated by user, not station officer;

2) for elderly people:
– 2 steps or less;
– maximal passage/ramp slope of 8 degrees;
– elevators operated by user, not station officer;

3) for parents with baby-strollers:
– 2 steps or less;
– minimal passage/door/turnstile width of 70 cm;
– elevators operated by user, not station officer.

Ranking Order

Accessibility for wheelchair users is a priority criterion and used for ranking of subway systems by default.
Accessibility for elderly people is a secondary criterion and used for ranking of subway systems in case of systems with similar accessibility levels according to primary criterion.
Accessibility for parents with baby-strollers is a tertiary criterion and used for ranking of subway systems in case of systems with similar accessibility levels according to primary and secondary criteria.

* “Intra-station routes” mean user paths from all station entrances to the train platform (entrance routes), and from the train platform to all station exits (exit routes).

** “Accessible intra-station route” means that user can enter the station and reach the train platform without assistance of a third party (accessible entrance route), or leave the train platform and exit the station without assistance of a third party (accessible exit route).

*** “Accessible station” means that the station has at least one accessible intra-station route (entrance route or exit route).