Transit Access for Americans: A Proposal for the Next Stage of Implementing the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990

Formany Americans with disabilities, transit is the only path to real opportunities. An open society for them depends upon increased transit services for all Americans. Many transit professionals, however, daunted by transit needs and worn down by their critics, wallow in cost issues, ignoring transit's real value to their communities. The key to improvement is to measure transit benefits that are intuitively obvious to most taxpayers. Empirically, accessible transit proves to be the most valuable transit to passengers and to other taxpayers as well.     

An Overview of Maritime Archaeological Research of the Colonial Period in the French Antilles

This article provides a summary of the various maritime archaeology projects undertaken in the French Antilles (Guadeloupe and Martinique) since the 1980s that date to the 17th–19th century Colonial period. These projects are presented in the context of the principal maritime archaeological research questions. The results are analysed thematically touching on different aspects of archaeological research in littoral and underwater zones: coastal plantations, ports, and micro‐islets. Research carried out on wreck‐sites is presented with respect to their maritime use (commercial, naval, and cabotage). The nature and distribution of such sites provides information both on maritime routes and traffic, trade, conflicts, and environmental risks specific to the Antilles in the Colonial period.     

‘We or them,’ ‘you and I,’ and ‘I’: spaces of intimacy and (not so) public displays of affection in Hanoi

Through an exploratory study of romantic heterosexual couples in a public park situated in Hanoi’s outskirts, this article offers a conceptual rethinking of a western understanding of the park’s public/private dichotomy which can then be used to better appreciate how these categories are evolving in western urbanizing societies and their impacts on gender relations. By developing a relational, spatialized understanding of how young romantic couples justify their ‘transgressive’ displays of sexual intimacy in public spaces in contemporary urban Vietnam, this article focuses on how couples, especially women, manage their visibility. This analysis confronts the public civilizational discourse on Vietnamese sexual restraint by analyzing how young couples justify their romantic displays by creating an intimate space within a public environment. This space of visible intimacy is justified through their commitment to marriage. For the individuals involved in these romantic couples, visibility is justified, particularly for young women, through the enjoyment of a newly gained sexual autonomy as they migrate to the city.     

General practice access in regional and remote Australia for ageing populations

Identifying and removing access barriers to the timely provision of comprehensive health care is increasingly important for the wellbeing of Australia's rapidly ageing and frail populations, particularly those in non‐metropolitan settings. This study has examined if current general practice (GP) locations in non‐metropolitan South Australia (SA) and Western Australia (WA) are geographically accessible to the rapidly growing frail and prefrail populations known to have a high level of health service use and reduced mobility. Geospatial analysis linking 60‐kilometre GP service catchments, 2016 population counts, and 2027 population projections has estimated that the size of the frail and prefrail population that live outside these GP service catchments will double, reaching 7,800 people by 2027. The maldistribution of GP locations was most evident in WA. As regional and remote populations continue to age, the challenge of health service provision, including geographic access to care, must be resolved to ensure that populations in these areas have the best opportunity to age well. Geospatial methods linking service and demographic information, such as the approach used in this analysis, can aid in planning the equitable provision of health care for older Australians.     

Institutional and Policy Responses to Uncertainty in Environmental Policy: A Comparison of Dutch and U.S. Styles

Uncertainties regarding problem definition and policy response are an endemic pan of environmental decisionmaking. Some standard responses to uncertainty in decisionmaking are analyzed and then used to suggest the importance of learning-oriented policy processes in open, flexible, and adaptive institutional environments. The institutional and policy responses to both types of uncertainties are explored in two different institutional settings: the consensus-oriented setting of the Netherlands and the more adversarial and pluralistic context of the United States. The examination displays tensions accompanying learning-oriented environmental policymaking and the complex impact of institutional environments. Conclusions sketch implications for how to accommodate learning-oriented environmental policy processes.