Meeting the Diverse Needs on Access to Transportation Grha Sabha Pramana UGM
One of key strategies on land transport development is meet diverse needs. It means that transportation service shall be accessible by all people in any condition. In fact, it is frequently found that diffables find difficult to get access to public transportation and so that they prefer to move using their own modified vehicles. In Yogyakarta, according to chairman of DMC (Difable Motorcyclist Community) Yogyakarta, Waluyo, there are more than 600 diffables riding on the road. Although they do not have driving license, they ride motorcycle to move as the available public transport could not properly meet their specific needs. In one hand, for most diffables, having a driver license will make a great difference. They could be an independent person as they could go anywhere by themselves. Besides, they could also look for job and make money.
On the other hand, it is true that every citizen has the same level of rights to use road. Nevertheless, there are two prerequisites for a citizen to ride/drive on the road, i.e. (1) the possession of driver license for type of vehicle he/she rides on (Article 77 of Law Number 22/2009); and (2) that the vehicle (including its modification) has passed the vehicle type test. Driver license imply compliance to all legal aspects and appropriateness to operate vehicle. Meanwhile, the vehicle should pass the vehicle test which includes technical and roadworthy aspects.
As an initial step to establish transportation system which could meet diverse needs, PUSTRAL-UGM in collaboration with DMC Yogyakarta and UCP (United Cerebral Palsy) Indonesia had organized a series of activities specially designed for diffables. The main objective was to provide access as wide as possible for diffables to their legal rights on the road (driver license and vehicle modification).
The activity started with medical check-up on August 22, 2014. The medical team came from Rumah Sakit Akademik UGM and consisted of 5 doctors, 1 neurologist, 1 medical rehabilitation specialist, and 4 nurses. There were 180 participants in total taking part in this medical check-up. On the next day, August 23, 2014, participants joined a public lecture on road safety, riding/driving ethics, material for driving license test both theory and practical. Meanwhile, the speakers came from PUSTRAL-UGM, Directorate of Traffic of Yogyakarta Police Department, Sleman Police Department, and Gunung Kidul Police Department. (Listi & Muadz)