Assessing Knoxville bus stops: seeking disability justice for disabled community members

Keywords: disability, accessibility, access, transit, transportation, creative cartographies
Abstract Type: Virtual Paper Abstract

Abstract

The purpose of my research is to engage with discussions of disability access, disability justice, and crip theory in Knoxville, Tennessee buses and bus stops. I situate my research in a rich body of literature that grapples with questions of justice, equity, and inclusion through crip and feminist theory. The lack of sidewalks throughout the city is what makes many of the bus stops in Knoxville inaccessible. The problem I have identified is that there are not enough accessible bus stops for disabled bus riders. This problem should be researched more in depth so that the city can allocate funding to make those bus stops ADA compliant, and so that in the meantime, disabled bus riders can plan to use bus stops that are safe for them to navigate. Not having accessible bus stops impacts the mobility of disabled members of our community by limiting where and when they can go. I plan to ride the buses myself, with a journal, and write and draw observations. I want to look for answers to my research questions on the bus rides: Where and how do disabled people experience this city? How do disabled people experience public transit in Knoxville? Who rides the bus? How does knowing who rides the bus help the city and community change or improve or redirect services? I want to draw observations, making a creative cartography/creative ethnography of what I see and experience in this space.