Accessibility Challenges in Indian Multimodal Transportation for Differently-Abled Riders: A Systematic Review for a Context-Specific Evaluation Tool

The multimodal transport system in India poses severe accessibility issues for wheelchair users and other differently-abled riders.While there are policies designed to address these issues, gaps still exist in applied research focusing on the complete understanding and evaluation of these challenges, particularly pertaining to the Indian context.This paper aims to analyze literature on the most pertinent issues related to physical and infrastructural restrictions, including the boundless social perception problems overriding empathic understanding people have towards aiding others.The results of the study pointed out the widespread inadequate infrastructure-a lack of ramps, elevators, tactile guides, accompanying accessible last-mile services, policy gaps, enforcement inequality, and unique problems regarding ride-sharing services like algorithm discrimination and insufficient vans equipped with lifts.Additional social perception issues based on legislation, technology, and grassroots efforts also challenged the existing government policies.Through addressing these problems, this study introduces an advocacy strategy aimed at revamping policies, infrastructure, education, technology, and the role of government and civil society for a supportive environment involving everyone at the community level.The primary significance of this research is the development and proposed concepts concerning the multimodal transport policy from the perspective of methods used to implement policies in relation to the use of Indian systems of evaluation of accessibility in transportation.This tool aims to empower policymakers, technologists, and business stakeholders to systematically identify, measure, and address the accessibility needs of differently-abled passengers, thereby fostering a more inclusive and equitable transportation system in India.