Abstract:

Mobility within cities is a key factor for social and economic development, as it allows people to access services, educational spaces, work activities, and different aspects of daily life. However, in many cities around the world there are still physical, operational, and planning barriers that make it difficult to use public transportation systems in an equitable way. These conditions especially affect people with disabilities, older adults, and other vulnerable groups, limiting their full participation in urban dynamics.
This study focuses on analyzing accessibility in urban transport as a challenge to achieve more inclusive mobility from the perspective of education for sustainability. The objective of this research is to identify the main barriers that prevent all people from accessing urban transportation.

In the field of education, higher education teachers can promote debates, presentations, or teamwork so that students reflect on the importance of ensuring that all people can move around a city without barriers. During the development of the activity, the professor presented examples of urban transport systems in different cities so that students could observe their level of accessibility. Based on these cases, students identified how accessible they were for people with disabilities, older adults, and other population groups who may have greater mobility difficulties. Afterwards, a class discussion was held in which students commented on the main problems observed, such as the lack of ramps, inadequate signage, or unsafe access in some stations and transport stops. Finally, the students proposed some possible improvements to make these transport systems more accessible and inclusive for everyone.

The research was conducted using a descriptive approach. First, different sources of information were reviewed, such as academic articles, reports, and documents related to urban planning, public transport, and social inclusion.

Afterwards, the collected information was analyzed and organized to identify the main barriers that limit accessibility in urban transport systems. Subsequently, the data were classified into different categories, such as infrastructure, transport design, access conditions for different population groups, and inclusion criteria.

The results show that the main difficulties are related to problems in infrastructure, the lack of universal design, inadequate signage, and urban planning that does not always consider the needs of all people. In addition, the importance of including these topics in education is recognized in order to raise awareness and promote more accessible, equitable, and sustainable cities.

Keywords:

Vulnerability, accessibility, public transport, sustainability.