This week, the city of lights is set to shine once again
with the opening of the Paralympic Games in Paris.
220 athletes will represent Team U S A.
184 countries take part, competing in 22 different sports.
C B S. Is Elaine Cobb reports how Paris has been getting ready
when it bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games,
Paris promised the city would be accessible for all
before the opening ceremony.
The newly built Olympic and Paralympic Village
has been hailed by the organizers and advocacy groups
as a success story
with its accessible buildings and multisensory signage.
But outside the village, it’s been a challenge
to make the 2,000 year old city more manageable
for people with disabilities.
The authorities spent a lot of money improving the situation,
including making all public buses and trams wheelchair accessible,
increasing audio messages on public transport to identify stations,
and making more street crossings easier for people with mobility,
vision or hearing impairments.
LA mère de Paris a souhaité que
Paris officials say they believe
they have radically transforme the city for these games.
But Paris 2024 volunteer and diem a lame begs to differ.
It’s a bit complicated, she says,
especially public transport accessibility
because there are a lot of metros we can’t take.
Just 3% of Metro stations are wheelchair accessible,
and they’re all on the one new line.
New apps are being developed,
including one to help visually impaired people
find their seats on a train.
The User use the smartphone as a scanner,
look around and they find the door to enter the train.
From there
they launch the guidance because they entered the number of the seat
and the application is going to calculate.
Calculate the shortest path to go to the seat.
And Yamey Lamy knows some of the changes are only temporary.
And after the games, she says it will be a nightmare once again
because we will have to take public transport buses.
Sometimes when the ramps don’t work,
we have to wait for another bus,
she says. So it takes a while.
It takes. Organization.
Elaine Cobb, CBS News, Paris.