As I mentioned in a previous post I have a certificate in Disability Studies. So, with that in mind I wanted to compare the accessibility of Munich and the US. The US has the ADA (the Americans with Disabilities Act), and Germany has different laws for disability rights. I am not that familiar with Germany’s laws; however, I am familiar with the accessibility guidelines outlined by the ADA which is what I will be comparing to.
In Munich one of the biggest things that I noticed was a lack of physical accessibility in buildings whether that be entrances or just the way the building was designed. For example, I don’t believe I saw a single button that would open an automatic door for a business. Which, yes, not all buildings in the US have this many do or at least have automatic doors; however, many places in Munich I had to open a door myself which could be challenging for a wheelchair user. Secondly in some of the grocery stores I shopped at many of the aisles were narrow and it was difficult to walk side by side in some places. This limits access for wheelchair users as in some places the aisles are not wide enough or if they are wide enough there are displays in the way that made it difficult for me to walk through. I will say though sensory wise the stores I visited there often was no music playing and the lighting was not as bad as some of the stores in the US. One thing to acknowledge is that there are language barriers for someone who doesn’t speak German in Munich and someone who doesn’t speak English in the US as most of the stores I went to in Munich there was little to no English, which is like the US. Most people I interacted with knew some basic English so if I did not understand I could still purchase an item; however, I personally did not find the language barrier to be that hard to navigate.
Moving on from stores I would like to talk about public transportation and for this I am specifically going to be comparing to Pittsburgh as that is where I have the most experience. So, in Munich there are many types of public transportation from busses to varying types of train which are extremely accessible for able bodied people; however, I did see some accessibility concerns for disabled passengers being able to access transportation. Firstly, is getting to the train platform or bus stop in Munich. I sadly discovered this the hard way on my last day when I was going to take a train to the airport, I thought the station would have an elevator or at least an escalator; however, it did not. I had to carry my 40-pound suitcase up a flight of steps and for context I have been dealing with back problems for a while and that was extremely painful for me. So, while yes, I was able to walk up the steps and get to the platform someone who is a wheelchair user would not have been able to get to the platform and have to go somewhere else that is accessible for them. I will say that most stations I was at had both escalators and an elevator; however, I cannot comment on whether or not the elevators reliably worked as I did not need to use them most times. Another aspect of accessibility in public transportation is the busses and physically how a wheelchair user gets on the bus. In Pittsburgh the busses have the ability for the driver to automatically put down a ramp; however, the one time I saw a wheelchair user in Munich on the bus the driver had to get off and use a tool to manually lift the ramp so the person could get off. While there are flaws to the accessibility in the public transit in Munich I preferred taking a bus there than in Pittsburgh because not once did the bus go before I was given enough time that I would be reasonably able to sit down, whereas, at Pitt this only happened when I used crutches. The vehicles in Munich would pretty much always announce the stop in advance and often it was both in German and in English.
Overall, it was interesting to me that Munich is an extremely walkable city, and a car is not all that necessary for someone who is able bodied; however, the city is lacking in features that would make it accessible to those with disabilities. It is surprising to me concluding that many places in the US are more accessible than Munich even though the US tends to be less walkable. There are pros and cons of each countries approach to accessibility; however, overall, I think people need to stop overlooking accessibility as it does not just benefit the disability community it benefits everyone.
