People who use walkers, scooters and wheelchairs may now find it easier to spend time at the beach.
At least, that’s what the Vancouver Park Board hopes. On Thursday it unrolled a series of Mobi-Mats at English Bay as part of its “accessible beaches” campaign. According to its press release, the Mobi-Mat makes sandy areas more accessible, and the initiative includes other adaptive beach devices.
“The Mobi-Matis a portable and durable rollout mat, which provides a walkway across the sand just above the high tide line,” it reads. Plus, “the Park Board [now] has two beach wheelchairs with inflatable tires that can roll on sand,” and are available for free by reservation.
If two chairs sounds like too few, do not fear. The Park Board says it has nine more on order, set to be available by Summer 2018. More Mobi-Mats are also set to hit the sand at other beaches, but only if the trial mat at English Bay proves a success.
Jacques Courteau, co-chair of the City of Vancouver Persons with Disabilities Advisory Committee was at the event and applauded the Park Board’s efforts. “I just want to be like everyone else and go to the beach with my friends,” he said in the press release.
According the city’s data, 15 per cent of Vancouver’s residents have some form of physical disability or mobility restriction, and when relationships to family are factored in, the activities of 50 per cent of Vancouverite’s are affected by barriers to accessibility.
If you have mobility challenges & like to visit the beach,try out new Mobi-Mat at #EnglishBay Beach #BeachesforAll https://t.co/cFZCWgBJe7 pic.twitter.com/GlRjPYPG0Y
— Vancouver Park Board (@ParkBoard) August 9, 2017
