Andrew
Coyne


URP
525

Assignment
1

12
January
2011

GIS
Literature
Review



Article:
Modeling
Access
with
GIS
in
Urban
Systems
(MAGUS):
Capturing
the

Experiences
of
Wheelchair
Users

Authors:
Linda
Beale,
Phil
Picton,
and
David
Briggs

Graduate
School,
Park
Campus,
University
College,
Northhampton

Department
of
Epidemiology
and
Public
Health


Source:
Area,
Vol.
35,
No.
1
(March
2003)
pp.
34­45

Published
By:
Blackwell
Publishing
on
behalf
of
the
Royal
Geographical
Society




 This
article
discusses
a
GIS
modeling
system
that
helps
to
assist
wheelchair


users
in
urban
areas.
It
is
often
the
case
that
access
and
mobility
throughout
the
city


is
 difficult
 for
 wheelchair
 users.
 Things
 like
 long
 inclines,
 high
 curbs,
 steps,
 and


uneven
 surfaces
 might
 cause
 only
 minimal
 issues
 for
 the
 average
 citizen,
 but
 for
 a


wheelchair
 user
 these
 are
 major
 impediments
 to
 navigating
 city
 streets
 and


sidewalks.
 The
 ideal
 solution
 would
 be
 to
 make
 all
 areas
 of
 a
 city
 conducive
 to


wheelchair
 use,
 but
 the
 unfortunate
 reality
 is
 that
 infrastructure
 improvements


happen
only
gradually.

What,
then,
is
a
practical
solution?
Researchers
in
England


have
 developed
 an
 exciting
 new
 GIS
 modeling
 system
 called
 MAGUS
 (Modeling


Access
 with
 GIS
 in
 Urban
 Systems)
 that
 provides
 users
 with
 readily
 updateable


information
 about
 conditions
 in
 the
 urban
 landscape.
 This
 model
 helps
 the


wheelchair
user
to
find
a
preferred
pathway
between
destinations,
showing
specific


routes,
including
issues
that
may
make
travel
difficult
for
the
wheelchair
user.
The


technology
 is
 useful,
 both
 to
 planners,
 who
 can
 use
 it
 to
 make
 design
 and


development
 decisions,
 and
 to
 wheelchair
 users,
 who
 now
 have
 a
 valuable
 tool
 to


help
them
make
travel
decisions.



 MAGUS
 is
 the
 result
 of
 quantitative
 and
 qualitative
 research
 that
 measured


the
 levels
 of
 access
 that
 exist
 in
 the
 urban
 area
 of
 North
 Hampton,
 England.


Researchers
 sent
 questionnaires
 to
 a
 sample
 of
 400
 wheelchair
 users,
 in
 order
 to


ask
 what
 barriers
 exist
 that
 impede
 access
 and
 mobility
 for
 them.
 To
 get


supplementary
 information,
 they
 interviewed
 focus
 groups,
 and
 conducted


experiments
 that
 measured
 the
 rolling
 resistance
 of
 surfaces
 on
 manual
 and


automated
wheelchairs.
All
of
this
information
served
as
a
source
of
data
for
the
GIS


model.




 The
MAGUS
model
was
built
entirely
with
ESRI
ARC
View
GIS,
using
Avenue


Programming
Language
and
Dialogue
Designer
for
the
interface.
Ordinance
Survey


Address
Point
and
Ordinance
Survey
Land‐Line,
two
commonly
found
databases
in


Great
Britain,
were
used
in
order
to
make
MAGUS
transferable
throughout
England.


Address
Point
defines
all
public
and
private
addresses
in
England
and
Land‐Line
is
a


vector
data
set
that
shows
as
many
as
37
feature
codes.
Manual
Plotting
was
utilized


to
identify
building
outlines,
sidewalks,
and
roadways.
In
order
to
show
the
various


impediments
(both
point
and
linear)
that
a
wheelchair
user
may
encounter
along
a


route,
the
information
had
to
be
transcribed
into
numerical
data
and
then
plotted
by


field
 survey
 using
 ARC
 Pad.
 For
 example,
 the
 researchers
 considered
 the
 rolling


resistance
for
6
different
surfaces:
concrete,
paving,
tarmac,
brick,
grass,
and
gravel.


The
best
surface
was
given
a
rating
of
1
and
all
others
were
made
multiples
of
this.




 Curbs
were
given
separate
consideration
because
of
how
much
their
design


affects
 wheel
 chair
 users.
 Each
 characteristic
 of
 a
 curb
 ‐
 height,
 surface,
 slope,


camber,
 orientation,
 and
 width
 –
 was
 scored
 in
 order
 to
 get
 a
 perceived

goodness/poorness
 rating
 for
 different
 types
 of
 curbs.
 Once
 all
 the
 data
 was


gathered,
 it
 was
 plotted
 into
 separate
 arc
 segments
 and
 stored
 independently
 in


event
 tables
 so
 that
 updates
 could
 be
 made
 without
 affecting
 the
 underlying


coordinate
 data.
 All
 wheelchair
 routes
 were
 determined
 using
 a
 search
 algorithm


that
looks
at
the
barriers,
which
might
be
found
along
a
particular
route.
They
were


written
 as
 an
 output
 GIS
 layer
 that
 could
 be
 saved
 or
 deleted,
 as
 desired.
 When


choosing
a
pathway
between
destinations,
the
route
with
the
lowest
level
of
barriers


(surfaces
and
curbs)
would
be
considered
the
optimal
route
for
the
user.




 An
 essential
 aspect
 of
 this
 new
 model’s
 success
 is
 how
 well
 it
 performs
 for


the
 general
 user
 with
 limited
 computer
 experience.
 When
 the
 program
 first
 opens


up,
 the
 user
 sees
 the
 map
 with
 each
 layer.
 The
 user
 is
 then
 asked
 a
 series
 of


questions,
 beginning
 with
 the
 type
 of
 wheelchair
 they
 use
 (motorized
 or
 non‐

motorized),
their
perceived
level
of
physical
fitness
(10‐
least
fit;
100‐best
fit),
and


their
preferred
method
of
route
selection.

The
first
option
for
route‐selection
that


the
 user
 can
 choose
 is
 “from‐to.”
 They
 can
 either
 enter
 their
 starting
 address,


followed
by
their
desired
destination
address,
or
they
can
simply
make
a
selection


by
 clicking
 locations
 on
 the
 screen
 map.
 The
 user
 can
 choose
 to
 see
 the
 shortest


route
to
a
given
destination,
the
route
with
the
fewest
barriers,
a
route
that
avoids


slopes
 with
 a
 gradient
 >
 4
 degrees,
 one
 that
 avoids
 bad
 surfaces,
 one
 that
 utilizes


only
 controlled
 crossings,
 or
 a
 route
 that
 combines
 any
 combination
 of
 the
 above.


Another
unique
option
of
route‐selection
is
“out‐from.”
This
allows
the
user
to
see


every
wheelchair
accessible
route
outward
from
a
given
location,
for
a
distance
that


they
select.
At
every
location
along
a
route
where
there
is
a
possible
impediment
to

wheelchairs,
the
user
can
click
on
an
icon
and
view
a
written
or
visual
description
of


the
impediment.



What
makes
this
GIS
model
so
unique
is
that
it
serves
a
duel
purpose.
Not
only
is
it


helpful
 to
 wheelchair
 users,
 helping
 them
 to
 optimize
 their
 interaction
 with
 the


urban
 environment,
 but
 it
 also
 serves
 as
 a
 research
 tool
 for
 urban
 planners.
 A


planner
can
now
easily
predict
the
effect
that
a
change
to
the
built
environment
will


have
 on
 wheelchair
 users.
 This
 program
 will
 be
 indispensible
 when
 prioritizing


street
and
sidewalk
improvements
in
the
city.

This
model
is
more
than
a
savvy
new


technology;
 it
 has
 the
 capability
 to
 perform
 a
 valuable
 social
 service
 for
 the


community.