Abstract
In Japan, the population of elderly persons has been increasing, and following this, the number of persons with disabilities is increasing. On the other hand, expressway has been gradually expanded and been one of important facilities for elderly travellers. So, it has been expected that expressway facilities become accessible for travellers with disabilities.
This paper describes services and functions of expressway rest areas focusing on present physical conditions, which include problems, and facility improvement planning.
First, we survey physical conditions of expressway rest areas, for example, some physical objects specially designed for users with disabilities-parking lots, toilets, slope and signs-, the surface of walking space, the boundary of facilities and the distance between facilities. Using the results of survey, we build the data base of rest areas and classify them into six groups through correspondence analysis and cluster analysis. The groups are classified by the scale and accessibility of rest areas, and they show the direction of improvement. And, we propose facility improvement plans based on all of the results and verify their efficiency and feasibility.
