Public Wheelchair Accessibility

[Lunico]

I'm trying to convince a friend of mine to visit BA, but he's in a wheelchair and I can't remember if BA is wheelchair friendly or not.

I guess no Cocodrillos for him, huh?

[Thomaso276]

I would say it is wheelchair friendly, but not as much as Europe or USA.

[AllIWantIsLove]

I can tell you two things. 1) In my neighborhood they have just completed a project to make street crossings wheelchair friendly. Like in the US they install a ramp instead of a curb at the ends of the crossing. 2) I have never noticed an elevator at a subway station.

Bob.


I'm trying to convince a friend of mine to visit BA, but he's in a wheelchair and I can't remember if BA is wheelchair friendly or not.

I guess no Cocodrillos for him, huh?

[JuanCaminante]

I can tell you two things. 1) In my neighborhood they have just completed a project to make street crossings wheelchair friendly. Like in the US they install a ramp instead of a curb at the ends of the crossing. 2) I have never noticed an elevator at a subway station.

Bob.Bob I think there are elevators in all new subte stations and there is a programme to put them in the rest.

Best.

Juan

[Tessan]

I'm trying to convince a friend of mine to visit BA, but he's in a wheelchair and I can't remember if BA is wheelchair friendly or not.

I guess no Cocodrillos for him, huh?I have not been to Cocodrillo since last year, it starts too late for me. The nice girls don't show up to 4 am or so. If I remember right, I don't remember stairs, but I could be wrong since it's been a while, and I would not remember a small number. If he can get into the club, I bet the girls will treat him very well. Probably better then they do you.

As far as I can tell, BA is not very wheelchair friendly. I walk allot, and most of the streets do not have wheelchair ramps to cross the streets. I have never seen a wheelchair on the buses in the city, and I take them allot. In NY I see them all the time. The side streets sidewalks can be small, and a wheelchair would have a hard time on them. Also allot of broken sidewalks, which can be a problem with someone on a wheelchair.

On the other hand, I am sure if he goes to a privado, or a boliches, the girls will take good care of him. One thing I have noticed is that argentines go out of their way to help old and handicapped people, more so then I have noticed in the US. Last year I used a cane for a little while, and people offered me seats on the buses all the time, in the US that rarely happens. People will be helpful to someone in a wheelchair, but getting around alone will be a problem. Probably need someone to help him up and down the step from the street to the sidewalk every time he crosses the street. Also I notices allot of restaurants have their bathrooms up or down a flight of stairs, which would make it hard to go to the toilet.

If your friend has someone to help him get around, I am sure he will have a great time. The girls will treat him VERY well.

[Facundo]

I'm trying to convince a friend of mine to visit BA, but he's in a wheelchair and I can't remember if BA is wheelchair friendly or not.

I guess no Cocodrillos for him, huh?No, it's not wheelchair friendly. A recent local 60 Minutes type television show did an expose to see if Buenos Aires is wheelchair friendly. They filmed a woman in a wheelchair trying to board busses, use the subte, cross streets, enter government buildings, etc.

They found the majority of the busses did not have the equipment to assist a person board a bus, subtes did not have elevators or have elevators that functioned. The majority of the bus drivers, if they saw a person waiting to take a bus, wouldn't stop. They found taxis lacked the capacity to pick-up a wheelchair bound person. Also, only modern or recently built buildings have ramps or lifts to assist the physically challenged enter buildings.

Also, a separate government investigation reported that there are thousands of senior citizens who are apartment bound or virtual prisoners inside their own apartments because apartment buildings lack elevators or elevators that work and lack ramps or lifts at the entrance of buildings.

If I were you, I wouldn't encourage your friend to come to Buenos Aires. It's a friendly city, but not friendly for the physically challenged. The city has a European feel, but Argentina is, still, a third world country.

By the way, this has nothing to do with the above, but if your Spanish is pretty good, I would like to recommend a book of short stories, "Estación Coghlan y Otros Cuentos", written by one of my favorite argentine writers, Mempo Giardinelli. One short story is about two friends, one of which is wheelchair bound, living in Buenos Aires. This is modern argentine literature at its best.

Suerte

[Daddy Rulz]

The only accessible line is the D line, it has elevators in most stations. (as a matter of fact you can use them to skip paying the fare at the Faculdad de Medicina stop) as for the rest of the city it's a disaster.

[Stan Da Man]

I'm trying to convince a friend of mine to visit BA, but he's in a wheelchair and I can't remember if BA is wheelchair friendly or not.I don't know about ramp accessibility. In the Palermo areas, however, I would hazard that there are not many wheelchair friendly streets.

From my perspective, however, there is a bigger wheelchair problem. Portenos love dogs. Portenos do not feel they should be required to pick up after their dogs. Hence, there is dog crap all over the sidewalks. It's one of the most prominent differences between be. A and most other major cities in the world. If I was in a wheelchair, I would think this would be even more of a problem than being on foot. I don't know Recoleta or other parts of the city well enough to say this is a problem there, but it sure is an ugly issue in the Palermos. If you go there, tell your buddy to wear hand condoms or have a careful person push him.

[JuanCaminante]

The new stations in Line A, Carabobo and Puan have lelevators for disabled.

Most of the pavements in Flores have or are being adapted for wheeelchairs.

Slowlly, slowly but its happening.

[Aqualung]

The Vice Gobernor of the city of Bs As, Marta Michetti is in a wheelchair so I suppose that is one of the main reasons for the change in attitude.

[JuanCaminante]

If you need to find out which Subte stations have elevators, there is a map here.

http://www.subte.com.ar/mapas/subte.asp

If you click on the map a bigger one appears with the wheelchair sign indicating disabled facilities

[Lunico]

Thank you all for that valuable input.