Source Title: 40 “Welfare Vehicles” Serving the Winter Paralympic Games, Drivers and Passengers Communicate in “Sign Language” Through the Windows
With the approaching of the Beijing Winter Paralympic Games, the Beijing Public Transport Team, which has just completed the Winter Olympics transportation support, ushered in a new task. 640 Winter Paralympic support vehicles are ready to go, of which 40 are conventional buses. Converted into “welfare vehicles”, they will focus on serving wheelchair passengers and accompanying persons.
Compared with the previous work, serving the Winter Paralympics has put forward higher requirements for the transportation support team. Not only drivers need to take into account the travel habits of wheelchair athletes, but also the operation and scheduling of vehicles should be more refined and more user-friendly. Before the departure, the driver also communicates with wheelchair passengers in “sign language” through gestures through the partition to ensure that everyone is seated.
40 busesvehicleConverted into a “welfare car”,make sureWheelchair athletes travel “barrier-free”
After the closing of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the B2 bus team of the Beijing Division of Beijing Public Transport Group began to prepare for new tasks. As one of the teams that still need to stick to their posts, they have now invested in the traffic guarantee work of the Beijing Winter Paralympics. .
“Everyone has almost no rest. Immediately after the closing of the Winter Olympics, they began to familiarize themselves with the new operating routes during the Winter and Paralympic Games. The operation will start on February 25.” Liu Ye is the party branch secretary of the B2 team. The travel security needs of athletes in the Beijing Winter Paralympic Village during the Winter Paralympics.
The reporter learned from the Beijing Public Transport Group that 640 vehicles for the Winter Paralympic Games have been prepared. Because the Beijing Division will hold a wheelchair curling competition, according to the requirements of the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee, the Beijing Public Transport Group specially transformed 40 vehicles into “Welfare car”, to ensure the convenience of wheelchair passengers and accompanying persons to travel. It is understood that these 640 Winter Paralympic support vehicles are mainly responsible for the traffic support tasks in the Beijing Division and Yanqing Division and the emergency transportation tasks in the Beijing Division. Serving multiple customer groups. Beijing Public Transport Group is expected to send 1,957 people to participate in the service guarantee.
Liu Ye told reporters that these 40 vehicles are all low-floor barrier-free vehicles that serve Beijing passengers for a long time. The height of the vehicle floor is the same as that of the platform, and it is also equipped with barrier-free pedals. Athletes in wheelchairs can get on and off the bus easily and quickly. In order to ensure the safety and reliability of the “welfare car” in operation, Beijing Public Transport has also conducted a comprehensive inspection of the car’s condition before it is put into operation.
It is worth mentioning that each car has been professionally remodeled, the seats and equipment in the middle have been removed, and sufficient space has been arranged. Each car can accommodate up to 6 wheelchair vehicles at the same time without interfering with each other. There are also barrier-free facilities such as handrails, soft boards on the back, and doorbells for getting off the car. Some wheelchair spaces are equipped with ground anchors as needed, which is equivalent to equipping wheelchairs with independent safety belts. In addition, the vehicle is also equipped with a body tilt function, making it smoother and lighter for passengers to get on and off.
Winter Paralympic athletes training shuttle takes the form of customized charter
Liu Ye told reporters that although the driver was not allowed to get off the bus during the official operation, and there were special volunteers to help wheelchair athletes get on and off the bus and fix the wheelchair, in the training, each driver was still carried out the wheelchair getting on and off, The practice of parking and fixing also allowed everyone to experience the feeling of sitting in a wheelchair on the bus, and arranged staff of different heights and weights to experience the wheelchair on the spot, and adjusted the angle of the barrier-free ramp, the height of the safety handrail and the safety according to the feedback. The tightness of the belt, etc., repeatedly scrutinized in terms of service details. “Only when we fully understand the travel needs of disabled passengers can we provide better services.” Liu Ye said.
“A few days ago, safety professionals had to lead colleagues to familiarize themselves with the route every day. After the start of operation in the past two days, they have always paid attention to the operational safety of each vehicle.” Ma Yaohui, the operation leader of the B2 team, admitted that compared with the Winter Olympics, The traffic guarantee during the Winter Paralympics has put more emphasis on safety requirements.
“We are all wheelchair athletes, and there are a lot of luggage and sports equipment they carry in the car. Therefore, higher requirements are also placed on the driver in terms of driving safety. The driver is required to check each time before leaving the car. Whether these barrier-free facilities such as ground anchors, handrails, and exit doorbells are normal to ensure that there is no looseness. When the vehicle is parked on the platform, the distance from the platform should also be kept within 50 cm, so as to facilitate the erection of barrier-free pedals.” Ma Yaohui said, During operation, the driver will also pay special attention to stable driving, and observe whether the athlete is sitting firmly through the rearview mirror.
It is understood that since the operation service was launched on February 25, the B2 bus team of the Beijing Division of Beijing Public Transport Group has undertaken the task of transporting athletes from the Beijing Winter Paralympic Village. The Olympic athlete training shuttle takes the form of a custom chartered car. First, each national team puts forward travel needs, and the team formulates a one-to-one customized service plan.
For the fleet, the daily operation scheduling also needs to be more refined and more user-friendly. Depending on the mode of transport, the fleet adapts the way it works. First of all, since each delegation needs to determine the specific training time with the venue, the training time of each delegation is different every day, and the training time of the same delegation is also different every day. Therefore, the team specially arranged two people to be responsible for formulating and reviewing the task of chartering, and to arrange the personnel and vehicles. Check the next day’s tasks with the person in charge of the bus team in the Beijing Division every night. Secondly, the team arranges spare vehicles and drivers at each venue and the Winter Paralympic Village to ensure that they can be mobilized at any time to complete temporary and unexpected tasks and avoid affecting the travel of athletes. In addition, many factors such as flight delays will lead to uncertainties in the departure time of athletes, and the team also needs to respond in a timely manner.
From “fast” to “slow”, everything is still for safety
Drivers who are accustomed to the fast-paced work during the Winter Olympics are trying to slow down. Not only do they need to pay more attention to speed control while driving, and their steering is softer, but they also have a set of seemingly “trivial” but essential before each departure. Less communication process. For the purpose of epidemic prevention, the cockpit and rear seats of each traffic support vehicle are physically separated by transparent partitions, but this does not mean that the driver does not need to consider the situation in the car.
Communicate with athletes and volunteers through gestures before each departure to ensure passengers are seated. “The driver will say hello to the athlete or tap the partition to get attention, point a finger on the steering wheel or make a forward gesture, then tap the partition again to make an ‘OK’ gesture, meaning It is to remind the athletes ‘we are going to start, whether we are ready’, and we will only start if the driver in the opposite direction also makes an ‘OK’ gesture or responds.” Liu Ye said that such a communication method is completely satisfactory. Basic needs, able to communicate smoothly.
The security personnel also fully consider the individual needs of athletes from various countries and fully respect their wishes in their services. “Some athletes are not accustomed to having their wheelchairs completely fixed on the car. After communication with volunteers, we learned that they will fasten their seat belts and hold the handrails, which can basically meet the needs of safe driving.” Liu Ye said that they also The driver will be told in advance to fully respect the wishes of the athletes, so it is even more necessary to communicate through gestures to ensure that the other party is ready to start.
Before the closing of the Winter Olympics, Beijing Public Transport Group has received more than 20 letters of thanks
These days are the peak time for foreign athletes to arrive at the airport. In order to ensure that athletes can get on the bus as soon as possible, the Winter Paralympic security team of Beijing Public Transport has used a “stupid method”.
Due to the strict security procedures at the airport, the fleet base is also an hour’s drive away from the airport, and considering the uncertainty of flight schedules, each pick-up shuttle needs to depart at least 4 hours in advance. This means that for the driver, from the moment they put on the isolation suit and sit in the cab, they cannot drink water or go to the toilet, and they cannot rest until the operation task is completed.
“Sometimes there are flight delays, and it is common to wait at the airport for several hours. The driver can only sit in the cab, and even the doors and windows cannot be opened.” Ma Yaohui told reporters that in order to better complete the task , Some drivers with better health and more driving experience took on the heavy responsibility of picking up the plane. However, in order to prevent overloaded work, the team also arranged a backup driver at the airport. Once the waiting time is too long or the driver is unwell, the backup personnel and vehicles will be replaced in time to ensure safety.
As foreign athletes arrive in Beijing one after another, this task is coming to an end, but they will soon usher in the transportation guarantee task for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Paralympics.
The reporter learned that in the just-concluded Beijing Winter Olympics, Beijing Public Transport Group dispatched 2,388 vehicles and 5,755 employees to successfully complete the 138 Winter Olympics line support tasks in a 24-hour standby state. During the service process, more than 600 pieces of dynamic data such as the running position, speed, in-vehicle real-time and historical video images, and driver operating status are collected and uploaded in seconds to ensure driving safety. The new hydrogen fuel vehicles put into use in the Yanqing Division have completed the 5,000-kilometer run-in task before service. The drivers have received special training and have rich experience in mountain driving. Before the closing of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Beijing Public Transport Group had received more than 20 letters of thanks.
“The transportation service guarantee for the Beijing Winter Paralympic Games is about to be fully launched. We will provide warm services for special groups such as Winter Paralympic athletes, and help the Winter Paralympic Games be successfully held.” The relevant person in charge of Beijing Public Transport Group said.