Metodology

HOW INTERVIEWS AND DIRECT SURVEYS WERE CARRIED OUT

 Interviews were divided into three groups:

• telephone interviews
• in person interviews
• Direct surveys

  1) Telephone interviews

Telephone interviews were used to get information from companies involved in:

• Urban transport
• Extraurban transport

Practical matters were at the basis of this decision: transport companies in Lombardy are about one hundred, so in person interviews would have been too expensive.
Because of the complexity of Milan’s transport network operated by ATM Milano, in this case we decided to make an in person interview to a representative of ATM Milano.

2)In person interviews

This kind of interview was used where it was necessary to obtain a large amount of information, almost impossible to obtain by telephone.

In person interviews were used to get information from representatives of:

• ATM Milano,  for urban transport
• Ferrovie Nord Milano and Trenitalia, for railway transport

For lake navigation, representatives preferred to receive the questionnaire by e-mail instead of receiving the visit of one or our surveyors.

3) Direct surveys

Direct surveys consisted in on-the-spot investigations during which data and information were collected. They concerned:

• the main railway stations in each capital of a province of Lombardy;
• the 5 airports of the Lombardy Region.

In detail:

Airports
With a telephone call, we agreed  a meeting with the representative of the company in order to make the interview. Data collected concerned the characteristics of the service provided to disabled passengers and the degree of accessibility of each airport as an infrastructure.

Railway stations
The companies managing railway stations are:

• Ferrovie Nord Milano for the following stations: Milano Cadorna, Como Nord Lago and Varese Nord)
• Grandistazioni for: Stazione di Milano Centrale FS
• Centostazioni  for: Brescia FS, Bergamo FS, Como San Giovanni FS, Cremona FS, Lecco FS, Lodi FS, Mantova FS, Pavia FS, Sondrio FS , Varese FS

Before the on-the-spot investigation, we sent an official inquiry to the company and then we fixed the meeting with their representatives.
During the visit we collected data on the degree of accessibility of each railway station and the paths allowing a disabled passenger to reach the ticket office, the waiting room, toilets and the platform.