Let's ask Candy some travel questions

It would be difficult to find someone more published on the topic of travel by people with disabilities than Candy Harrington, founder of Emerging Horizons  magazine and author of several books on the subject (the latest is just out and titled "101 Accessible Vacations"). I recently had the opportunity to ask her a few questions about travel by people with disabilities and she was kind enough to answer. So I thought I'd share the q's and a's over a couple of posts over the next few days. Enjoy:

DH: What would you say is the state of accessible travel in the U.S.today? For example, still pretty inconvenient, improving faster than ever, etc.?

Candy Harrington: I think it's improved greatly over the past decade, and I think that change is due to a shift in attitudes about PWDs. Years ago folks in the hospitality industry merely accommodated disabled travelers, but today many are proactively making access changes in order to woo their travel dollars. Let's face it, the Baby Boomers are aging and they have a lot of disposable income and this isn't lost on folks in the very competitive tourism industry.

DH: What do you see as the chief issue facing the accessible travel world?

Candy Harrington: I'm going to say that accessible "on-demand" ground transportation is still in short supply in many places. Yes we have accessible taxis,
but not in all cities, and we still need more of them. In London it's great because all of the big black cabs are accessible, so you don't have to make special arrangements for transportation -- you can just go to the taxi queue and hop in any old cab. In my "dream" world that's the way I'd like to see things work everywhere.

DH: Airline travel seems to be a fairly complex logistical process for full-time wheelchair users. Do you hear of anything in the works that
might change that in the future?

Candy Harrington: Well of course there is the Dreamliner, Boeing's new 787 which is scheduled for delivery in 2008. They designed it to have a "truly" accessible lavatory, something that many long-haul aircraft are sorely lacking. This will benefit many people, especially those that travel with a companion and need assistance in the lavatory -- there's just not room for two people in many "accessible" airline lavatories. There is also one company -- a nonprofit I believe -- that's experimenting with letting wheelchair-users travel in their own wheelchairs. They fly small planes and it's pretty much a charter type of service, but if it takes off it might be an option for some folks. I don't see that concept working on a large scale with commercial flights though, due to safety issues and FAA regulations. But like I said, it might be an option for some people. I'm thinking mostly business travelers or those folks who are not on a tight budget would benefit from it.

Don't miss part two, where Candy explains where she draws writing inspiration from and the best -- and worst -- aspects of being a writer on travel by people with disabilities.