A User Evaluation Study on the Universal Network of the Water Transportation in the Seto Inland Sea in Japan

As Japan has increasingly becoming a so-called “super-aging society,” and the number of people with mobility impairment has increased, the barrier-free improvements have been implemented to public facilities so far. After the New Barrier-free Law has been enforced, however, the conceptual basis of such improvements has been shifting toward the universal design, based on the idea that everybody should be able to use facilities impartially. This study clarifies the present situation and problems of the barrier-free improvements from a passenger ship terminal to the inside of a ship, and elucidates improvement issues of nodal points of future marine and land transport. We carried out a questionnaire and site survey for the Hiroshima Port Ujina Passenger Boat Terminal, as well as the ships used, where the improvements are made based on the New Barrier-free Law.