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Global Alliance on Accessible Technologies and Environments |
What's New at GAATES: Feature Article
GAATES Award of Recognition to Mr. Tom Rickert
From left, Bob Topping, Betty Dion, Tom Rickert and Mukhtar Shibani at TRANSED
A GAATES Award of Recognition was presented to Mr. Tom Rickert, in recognition of his outstanding leadership in the field of accessible transportation. He has demonstrated great leadership, perseverance, and determination in the development of accessible transportation procurement, design and training and have impacted many thousand if not millions of lives of people with disabilities around the world.
The award was presented on June 11, 2010 in conjunction with the TRANSED conference in Hong Long, in celebration of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Tom Rickert is the founder and Executive Director of Access Exchange International (AEI), an NGO with twenty years of experience in promoting accessible public transit for persons with disabilities and seniors in less-wealthy countries around the world. Prior to founding AEI, he was Manager of Accessible Services for San Francisco's bus and light rail systems as well as coordinator of San Francisco's door-to-door van and taxi services for disabled passengers. He has provided workshops and presentations in twenty-five countries and has carried out accessible transport projects sponsored by the UK's Department for International Development and USAID. He serves as a consultant to the World Bank responsible for compilation of its Bus Rapid Transit Accessibility Guidelines and Transit Access Training Toolkit. Rickert is a member of the Committee on Accessible Transportation and Mobility of the USA's Transportation Research Board and is Co-chair of its International Subcommittee.
Last updated: June 28, 2010