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The TechMobility Podcast
Meet the Wood That Laughs at Steel, Who is Rural America, Wanted: More Wheelchair Ramps
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A revolutionary material that could transform our built environment is emerging from laboratories into commercial production. Super Wood, developed at the University of Maryland, demonstrates strength properties that outmatch conventional steel while maintaining a dramatically lighter profile. With 50% greater tensile strength and a weight-to-strength ratio ten times better than steel, this transformed natural material is heading to market this summer after seven years of development. Unlike steel production, which releases nearly two tons of carbon dioxide per ton manufactured, Super Wood sequesters carbon during its growth phase and requires only food-grade chemicals and modest heat for processing.
The contrast between innovation and stagnation becomes stark when examining accessibility issues across America. Despite the Americans with Disabilities Act being law for nearly three decades, a recent study found 70% of disabled Americans still encounter buildings they cannot enter. Meanwhile, in Iceland, a single determined wheelchair user has spearheaded the installation of 1,756 ramps in just four years, demonstrating that solutions don't require massive budgets or complex engineering – just commitment and creativity.
Rural America presents another overlooked story of potential and perseverance. Comprising 71% of our nation's landmass while housing just one-seventh of the population, these communities contribute approximately $2.7 trillion to US GDP. Contrary to popular perception, farming accounts for merely 7% of rural employment, with government, manufacturing, and healthcare dominating the economic landscape. As we recalibrate our understanding of remote communities and their significance, we face parallel challenges in the energy sector, where US drillers now believe "peak shale" has arrived – signaling the end of America's domestic oil production boom as fields become less economically viable to develop.
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Speaker 2:I'm Ken Chester On the docket. When wood is stronger than steel. Who is rural America and wanted more wheelchair ramps? To join the conversation, be it to ask a question, share an opinion or even suggest a topic for future discussion, call or text the TechMobility hotline. That number, as always, 872-222-9793. Or you can email the show directly if you prefer. Talk at techmobilityshow. Also, be sure to follow, subscribe and like us on social media. Our YouTube channel For those of you that subscribe to Substack, I'm there too, as a proud member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. My handle there is at Ken, the letter C and Iowa. So that's Ken, c-i-o-w-a. Check me out there. I know you're going to love it. From the Tech Mobility News Desk.
Speaker 2:I want to talk about crude oil and specifically I want to talk about shale oil. This is a piece out of the Wall Street Journal. Here's the headline. This is earlier in May. Here is the headline this past month. Us drillers say peak shale has arrived. Lower oil prices are expected to participate. A decrease, a crude output that won't easily be reversed. We're going to take you back to school now. We're going to take you in economics class. We're going to have a little talk here.
Speaker 2:The crude oil industry. The oil industry, the industry of research, development, exploration, development, exploration, drilling, pumping, processing and delivery of crude oil and the products that they make out of it. Everything from gasoline, jet fuel to plastics. Everything is a capital-intensive business with long lead times. What has happened in the last 50 years has been nothing less than miraculous. In the traditional I guess you would call it first wave of crude oil exploration and development, people were saying then that the original, the discoveries like Crudeau Bay in Alaska, like Spindletop in Texas, like the Permian Basin, all of those major, older fields, big oil was saying, were played out by the 1970s. They were talking about peak oil in the 1970s. Then an interesting phenomenal thing happened. They developed fracking. They developed computer models. Over time, as computers got better, they learned how to find the oil and how to reach it. So even older fields that were traditionally played out were kept online for many more years than would have been otherwise under traditional methods. Regardless how you feel about fracking, fracking is a major reason why they were able to get even more out of what should have been played outfield. Then came the ability to get oil out of shale. Out of shale oil a whole different aspect to the industry. North Dakota came online as a big play, permian Basin, we talked about Eagle Pass in Texas Whole new fields with whole new possibilities.
Speaker 2:So how do the economics work? They spend the money Millions, billions of dollars. They go into development, they go in exploration, they try to find it. If they find it, then comes the processing, actually putting in the infrastructure to extract the oil. Once that happens, then further infrastructure to deliver the oil either to a point where it can be sold or processed, and typically that means the chemical coast to Texas and that means pipelines.
Speaker 2:You may have heard that if you follow financial news. You may have heard the term WTI, which is an abbreviation for West Texas Intermediate. It's the type of crude oil that comes out of the ground in the United States. Those contracts they sell and that's how the industry works. They sell for delivery in the futures contracts. It's how oil is bought and sold. It's a commodity. It's how that works here. What they're talking about is the delivery of that oil at a certain date, at a certain time at the intersection of all those pipelines, which just so happens to be Cushing, oklahoma. So WTI is priced for delivery at Cushing at any given time.
Speaker 2:With every boom and bust. Oil is up for a while and when oil is up, all the developers and the wildcators and the independents jump in to make money. The interesting thing about capitalism and the interesting thing about supply and demand as more companies jump in to drill oil, as more oil comes onto the market, as more capability and processing comes into the market, it drives the prices down. Because there's more supply, Get prices low enough and the opposite happens they cap wells, they stop spending money, they don't do as much and it forces prices back up. It's the boom-bust cycle of the oil industry and folks have made and lost millions over the last 100, 120 years that way.
Speaker 2:Here's what's going on now. The investors that underwrote the private independent wildcatters and smaller companies to do that. They want their money and we've reported on that earlier. So even as oil was going up in price, you didn't see a corresponding increase in drilling rigs. And all of that because the investors were demanding a return on their money and those companies were obligated to return money to their investors and not put it into the ground.
Speaker 2:Here's another thing If they know that oil prices are falling and right now OPEC is playing that card, because OPEC? Because their oil is so cheap to get out the ground they can literally turn it on and off like a spigot. And for many years Saudi Arabia has kind of been the safety valve of the crude oil industry, adding production easily or holding it back to stabilize prices. Right now they got the spigot on. They're driving prices down. Here's the problem For the average oil company to do what they do, which is the development and drilling and research for new crude oil, they need to make a profit.
Speaker 2:They need $40 a barrel oil. That is their break-even. If oil falls below that, they can't make a return. If they can't make a return, they can't spend the money. And again, billions of dollars and we're talking many years. This is not a one or two-year return. It takes years to bring these fields in and get them up and running. Where we're at right now is a world where investors want their return, which means there's less capital available to actually take advantage of any new opportunities unless they are extremely lucrative, and I'm talking about at least $60-barrel oil or more. And that's not where we're going.
Speaker 2:The interesting challenge of drill baby drill the more oil you bring to the market, the lower price you're going to get for it, the lower price you're going to get for it falls below what you need to make your money back on the investment, the money you spent to get it and deliver it and develop it. So here we go. What are oil companies doing now? Well, they're telling us that shale, the shale fields, are about played out. Even with all their technological advancements, they're not going to be able to get more oil out of those fields, particularly where prices are right now. Prices would have to get real high to make it economically feasible to go for that last little bit in those fields. So, even though we will see an incremental increase in availability of crude oil in 2025, it is it. From here it starts to fall.
Speaker 2:In the United States, all of that drilling for the last 10 to 15 years that made us energy independent in crude, extending old fields, exploiting shale oil fields, bringing all that online, made us the number one producer of crude oil and natural gas in the world. Well, those days are coming to an end as those fields get played out, because this stuff is finite. So if you're a big oil company or an independent, what are you doing? You're going elsewhere, outside of the United States, where the cost of development and research and all of that that you need to do makes economic sense, but if it's outside the United States, you end up coming full circle again.
Speaker 2:Now we're back to importing, and then there's always been the issue of refining capacity and the availability of pipelines, which has always been a problem in the United States since it's been at least 30 plus or more years since a new refinery has been built. So even at the height, our biggest problem was not capacity, it was refining capability, being able to turn this stuff into what it needed to be. They say peak shale is here. It means prices go up from here, but even if they do, supplies are going to drop. It may not be enough to counteract the challenge, and that's where we're at in the industry today. It's called Superwood and it has a strength ratio that is 10 times better than steel. You are listening to the Tech Mobility Show all-in-one, browser-based platform that does it all.
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Speaker 2:Social media is the main place to be these days, and we are no exception. I'm Ken Chester of the Tech Mobility Show. If you enjoy my program, then you will also enjoy my weekly Facebook videos, from my latest vehicle reviews to timely commentary of a variety of mobility and technology-related topics. These short features are designed to inform and delight. You Be sure to watch, like and follow us on Facebook. You can find us by typing the Tech Mobility Show in the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to our Facebook page. Social media is the place to be these days, and we're no exception. I'm Ken Chester of the Tech Mobility Show. If you enjoy my program, then you will also enjoy my weekly Instagram videos, from the latest vehicle reviews to timely commentary on a variety of mobility and technology-related topics. These short features are designed to inform and delight. You Be sure to watch, like and follow us on Instagram. You can find us by typing the Tech Mobility Show in the search bar.
Speaker 2:For those of you that listen to podcasts, we have just the one for you. Hi, I'm Ken Chester. Tech Mobility Topics is a podcast where I upload topic-specific videos each week. Shorter than a full show. These bite-sized programs are just the thing, particularly if you're interested in a particular topic covered on the weekly radio show, from Apple Podcasts to iHeartRadio and many podcast platforms in between, we got you covered. Just enter Tech Mobility Topics in the search bar, wherever you listen to podcasts Describe the perfect day, Liz.
Speaker 2:Well, we're driving to the lake, the kids watch DVD and Joe and I have some quality time. Joe, okay, we're barreling along the Hemmings. Kick in some serious butt Then we fish DVDs.
Speaker 2:Anybody still have those, and do you even remember what they were before streaming back in the day? And, oh my God, a new Durango at $26,000. Double that and, by the way, that was from 2005,. But you can't touch a Durango for less than double that, now At least, and it's a bigger vehicle. Ah, but the can't touch a Durango for less than double that, now at least. And it's a bigger vehicle. Ah, but the days, the days Still, though. You can get it with a Hemi. In fact, they make a performance version. That is just sick. Thing is fast, and it makes you ask why do you need an SUV that goes that fast? Haven't answered that question yet, except when I did review it a few years ago. It was sure fun to drive, but I wouldn't want to put gas in it because I couldn't afford it because it drinks gasoline. But it was fun.
Speaker 2:A material invented at the University of Maryland will soon offer a radical alternative that has a 50% greater tensile strength than conventional steel and a weight strength to weight ratio that is 10 times better. Let me stop. It's 50 stronger and has a strength to weight ratio that is 10 times better than steel. It's tougher and actually locks away carbon. It's called super wood and, after seven years of development, mass production of the material will start this summer. This is topic A. Now, before you figure out and before you say, well, I've added something to it, it's not really wood. Actually it is. It's a process, and it's amazing what they're doing and the fact that they would do it. So let me first explain the process a little bit and then walk you back. The reason why everybody is looking to displace steel is that, while it's long anchored modern construction, producing one ton of steel emits nearly two tons of carbon dioxide. So, for every ton of steel you get, you get two tons of greenhouse gases. This process that they're talking about, they've been working on for about 10 years and they documented the work in a 2018 Nature paper that revealed a method of transforming ordinary wood into a substance rivaling titanium alloys.
Speaker 2:They can use any kind of wood, a wide variety of wood. So, number one, they're not growing a special, imported from somewhere crazy, cultivated specifically with properties type of wood. No, this is your typical wood in any forest. It's what they do with it or to it that makes it work, and it's just amazing. Now they say that super wood is a complex making. It is a complex process, but it requires two primary steps.
Speaker 2:First, lignin it's a polymer that stiffens wood. It's naturally occurring and it gives it its brown hue. They partially dissolve it. Now this is counterintuitive. They take the stuff that binds wood together and they partially dissolve it using food-grade chemicals. They're not even having to use anything caustic or bad. This is just regular food-grade stuff they're using, and the trick is to move just enough of it to maximize hydrogen bonding between cellulose fibers without compromising its structural integrity.
Speaker 2:Then comes the fun part. Next, the wood is compressed at 150 degrees, and that is Fahrenheit, not Celsius. It's not that hot, it's barely a little bit hotter than your hot water in your bathroom. So let's get this straight they're using food-grade chemicals. They're using wood grown naturally. Nothing special about it. They haven't cultivated it different, they haven't messed with its genes at all, just regular wood. And they're applying they're removing a bit of the lignin and they're applying. After they've done that, 150 degrees of heat, they compress it at 150 degrees, collapsing its cellular structure into a dense matrix. The combination of those processes gives you material five times thinner than the original wood, but 12 times stronger and 10 times tougher. It's still wood. The beautiful part about that wood while it was growing, it was grabbing carbon and sequestering carbon out of the atmosphere. So you're using a material that actually helps the environment by removing carbon while it was growing, unlike steel when it's made. That's putting two tons out there for every ton you make.
Speaker 2:Let's take it a little further. This molecular reconfiguration eliminates wood's inherent weaknesses. Natural wood is porous and prone to rot, but superwood's tightly packed cellulose fibers create a barrier against moisture, termites and even fungi. Would you believe that it has a class A fire rating? And get this now. Superwood gets the rating without chemical flame retardants being added. And what's the secret? Again, it's its density, which starves flames of oxygen. Lab tests proved its ballistic resistance too. A projectile pierced untreated wood, but it lodged halfway through a same thickness superwood block. Again, it's the density.
Speaker 2:Unlike steel or carbon fiber, it requires no energy-intensive smelting of synthetic resins. Let me read it again, because I know what you're thinking. You're saying okay, all this sounds great, but how big is the energy input to make all this stuff? Let me read it again. Let me read it again Unlike steel or carbon fiber, it requires no energy-intensive smelting or synthetic resins, with all the nasty afterproducts, because of course the smelting plant puts nasty heavy metals both in the atmosphere and in the ground around it. None of that here, because remember, they're removing part of the naturally occurring material with food grade chemicals. So you're not getting caustic, nasty, funky stuff Food grade, it's edible. Food grade chemicals to remove it. Initially it took weeks to make a single plank of superwood, but the team at Inventwood streamlined the process to just a few hours, enabling bulk production of material to build their first facility in Frederick, maryland, and they're going commercial this summer and they expect to produce 1 million square feet of super wood annually, focusing initially on interior finishes for commercial and high-end residential projects. A second phase this fall will introduce exterior-grade panels for siding and roofing. They envision structural beams and columns within a few years, pending certification, their plan is to build a larger facility that will scale over 30 million square feet, allowing use in infrastructure and large development.
Speaker 2:I want to throw in right here. You may have heard, because you're thinking I'm sure you are where we called. I believe it was. I don't have the title, but it was a pre-manufactured wood that used glue. This is not that. Who is rural America? The answer is not as straightforward as you think. We consider a white paper in the subject.
Speaker 2:Next, this is the Tech Mobility Show. Do you listen to podcasts? Seems that most people do. Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the Tech Mobility Show. If you've missed any of our weekly episodes on the radio, our podcast is a great way to listen. You can find the Tech Mobility Podcast just about anywhere you can enjoy podcasts. Be sure to follow us from Apple Podcasts, iheart Radio and many platforms in between. We are there. Just enter the Tech Mobility Podcast in the search bar. Wherever you listen to podcasts Social media it's the place to be. We're no exception. Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the Tech Mobility Show. Several times a week, I post to TikTok several of the topics that I cover on my weekly radio show. It's another way to keep up on mobility, technology news and information. I've built quite a library of short videos for your viewing pleasure, so be sure to watch, like and subscribe. That's the Tech Mobility Show on TikTok. Check it out.
Speaker 2:Here's a simple question with a complicated answer. Who is rural America? Researchers claim that there's little agreement on how to define it. As the US population has become more increasingly concentrated in urban centers, rural communities have at times been an afterthought. Yeah, they call us flyover country out here. Yeah, little they know. The myth perpetuated about its irreversible decline has little resemblance to reality. So what's going on out in the country? This is topic B.
Speaker 2:I am based in Des Moines, iowa. I am based in a state that would be categorized pretty much any kind of way, once you get outside our metropolitan areas, as rural. We've got 99 counties, We've got roughly 3.1 million residents. It's a lot of ground and not a lot of people. And once you get outside the cities, our densities are pretty low. But would you believe? Let me just give you an example. I'm looking at a McKinsey Institute for Economic Mobility white paper and they're pretty smart folks and they're trying to identify and I want to give you a reason why you would think that this is an issue. But before I do, some numbers. Rural areas account for one-seventh of the total US population and approximately $2.7 trillion of US GDP and, believe it or not, that's roughly 10%, but it's a lot still.
Speaker 2:They're trying to nail down this definition, which to me I mean I live in Iowa it's not that hard I can take you 10 minutes from where this studio is and show you rural, 10 minutes. At the most, any direction, pick one. But it's an issue. At the most, any direction, pick one. But it's an issue Across the federal government. Five agencies use five distinct definitions for rural different definitions and this lack of clarity has had a profound and lasting impact on rural communities and the individuals who live there.
Speaker 2:And this debate, it's not academic. Government stakeholders use different definitions. That can lead to inconsistent policies, obstacles to interagency, coordination and greater difficulty in effectively allocating and distributing resources. Here's an example the variance among federal agencies' definitions result in a population range of between 45 million to 50 million for rural America, and that's a 10% difference. That nonetheless represents a substantial portion of the US population. The United States as a whole is roughly 332 million.
Speaker 2:Just to give you some context, the US Department of Agriculture, better known around here as the USDA, the US Census Bureau and the Office of Management and Budget classify 1,570 counties. That's about 49% of the 3,233 counties across all US states and territories as rural. So almost half our country, county-wise, is rural. However, up to 846 counties roughly 26% of the total may be categorized as rural or urban, depending on a specific agency's criteria. A fluctuation especially common is certain eastern US regions. That would not be a problem in Iowa, minnesota, nebraska, kansas, north and South Dakota, oklahoma and even most of Missouri Wouldn't be a problem out here. That leaves county leaders to determine their eligibility under different definitions and navigate processes from multiple agencies. They could even be unaware of available resources and programs from relevant agencies.
Speaker 2:Now, to McKinley's credit and their wisdom, the rest of the story they're going to talk about. They're using numbers from the USDA, which the reason why I'm thrilled is that is kind of the predominant agency out here in rural America, particularly in Iowa, when it comes to planting, working with farmers, economic development, it's the USDA. For their research, they selected the USDA's definition of rural. According to the classification USDA, 61% of US counties that's 1,981, are considered rural, 39% 1,252, classified as urban. In 2023, they estimate, 46.3 million Americans resided in those rural counties. Resided in those rural counties In all 50 states and all US territories, including tribal lands.
Speaker 2:America's Samoa, guam, puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands have rural communities. Now check this out. In all, rural communities make up approximately 71% of the geographic area of the United States of America. Almost three-fourths of the landmass that makes up our great country is classified as rural. I want that to sink in. All those cities are crammed in a little bit more than one-fourth of the landmass. Yeah, what could possibly go wrong, right? 71%? I'm going to skip through some of this. I'm going to hop and skip here.
Speaker 2:They talk about rural America becoming more diverse, and they've experienced a gradual increase in racial diversity about 3%, still growing. They talked about education, and this is where stuff starts going in different directions, and what they're saying is basically, rural America is not a monolith. Everything is not happening the same way everywhere. In some cases, they're talking about GDP in rural counties. From 2010 to 2022 increased 15%. Median household income grew 43% to reach an all-time high of nearly $60,000 a year, which, by the way, is $10,000 more than the average income in America. They say, yes, rural America has shown consistent progress, but they lag their urban counterparts and they say that decreased labor force participation and lower levels of relative growth highlight opportunities to further unlock rural America's economic potential.
Speaker 2:Here's something you didn't know Rural America has a reputation as America's agricultural heartland, particularly here, particularly in Iowa. We're number one at corn, we're number one at soybeans, we grow a lot of hogs and beef and a whole lot of other really cool, amazing things. But across all those counties, farming only accounts for 7% of employment in rural communities, compared to 2% in urban counties, and I'm surprised 2% is that high in urban counties? Here's something else you didn't know the top industries by share of employment in rural areas are government, manufacturing and healthcare. Government and healthcare didn't surprise me. Manufacturing does, I think. But there are a lot of small mom-and-pop businesses. Farmers are very astute people and very ingenious and I can't tell you how many small businesses, if you drive around Iowa, that you would find that grew from a farm and may in fact still be on a farmer's property, employing people churning out cool stuff. Government manufacturing and healthcare the big three. They believe that there needs to be continued improvement.
Speaker 2:We talked about the availability of broadband and other things that will help rural America grow even more and attract more employment, attract more laborers, attract more workers. There's a lot of ground to cover here and we'll be covering it because this is just the start of their little paper. They're going to come out with more details and I will be sharing them with you. Of their little paper, they're going to come out with more details and I will be sharing them with you. In the last four years, iceland has built almost 1,800 wheelchair ramps. Why can't America? We are the Tech Mobility Show.
Speaker 2:To learn more about the Tech Mobility Show, start by visiting our website. Hi, I'm Ken Chester, host of the Tech Mobility Show. The website is a treasure trove of information about me and the show, as well as where to find it on the radio across the country. Keep up with the happenings of the Tech Mobility Show by visiting techmobilityshow. That's techmobilityshow. You can also drop us a line at talk at techmobilityshow. Few short videos of some of the hot topics that I cover during my weekly radio program. I've designed these videos to be informative and entertaining. It's another way to keep up on current mobility and technology news and information. Be sure to watch, like and subscribe to my channel.
Speaker 1:That's the Tech Mobin-one browser-based platform that does it all. With AONMeetings, you can effortlessly communicate with clients, host virtual meetings and webinars and stay in touch with family and friends all in one place and for one price. Here's the best part you can enjoy a 30-day free trial. It's time to simplify your life and boost your productivity. Aonmeetingscom, where innovation meets connection. Get started today and revolutionize the way you communicate.
Speaker 2:Social media is the place to be these days, and we're no exception. I'm Ken Chester of the Tech Mobility Show. If you enjoy my program, then you will also enjoy my weekly Instagram videos From the latest vehicle reviews to timely commentary on a variety of mobility and technology-related topics. These short features are designed to inform and delight you. Be sure to watch, like and follow us on Instagram. You can find us by typing the Tech Mobility Show in the search bar Wheelchairs.
Speaker 2:This is a mobility show. We talk about technology too, and that means everything. If it rolls, it's open for conversation. We've talked about a lot of things during our visits together over the years. We've talked about space hotels. We've talked about autonomous vehicles, probably more than you'd like EVs you name it, diesel engine everything but wheelchairs. When it comes to mobility, of which we talk about a lot, accessibility and accessibility barriers are real issues when it comes to public spaces, and in the United States, that is even as a result of legislation that was passed back in the 90s to alleviate that problem, better known as the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, that was passed in 1997. Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA. That was passed in 1997. And yet today, almost 30 years later. Accessibility for people who use wheelchairs or need wheelchairs to be mobile is an issue.
Speaker 2:An Icelandic designer who made his mark in Silicon Valley and is a wheelchair user himself, has developed ways to overcome the exclusion that is often built into a city. This is topic C. So what's the problem? Let's look at Iceland for a minute. Small country, he started in the last four years. He started in the last four years. He has built, or caused to be built, 1,756 wheelchair ramps. And the cool part about it, he says just to cut to the chase, it's easy, it's cheap and there's no excuse. What he was finding is because of the age of a lot of the buildings. In Reykjavik they go back to the 1800s. Very often it's one or two steps that prevent him from entering a building that he can't enter or a place of business. Because of those steps, he started planning, started working with a lot of people. And it's beautiful, because you see these pictures and you really almost don't realize that's a wheelchair ramp. In some cases it's just elevated a little bit to the door, eliminating the step. You don't even notice it. And this is even working with buildings that may be on the National Register of Historical Places or have that kind of historical value where they're reluctant to make changes. He's saying it's still possible. We've done it, and for a country is as rich and powerful and as innovative as the United States of America, there's no reason why we can't do the same thing. And that is exactly his point the man's words.
Speaker 2:As I was sitting outside, I kept looking at that one step. He was looking at getting into a store with his son. He couldn't do it and over the years, steps like that had stopped me from being able to go to cafes, meet friends, from going to the barber or going Christmas shopping with my family. That one step was the main obstacle between me and fully participating in society, and not just me, anyone who uses a mobility device to get around. I decided that this had to change and since nobody else seemed to be doing anything, I figured it was up to me.
Speaker 2:So four years ago, he created something called Ramped Up Reykjavik to fund the installation of 100 ramps in places with the most foot traffic across Iceland's capital cafes, restaurants and shops. Four years later, the project delivered far more ramps than initially promised and well beyond delivered. Far more ramps than initially promised and well beyond. Reykjavik and additional Icelandic cities have garnered a fitting name change to ramp up Iceland. And they're still at it. And he says it can happen in the United States and around the world, not a problem. The question is why hasn't this been done sooner and why do we have to make a big deal all the time of something like this? Here's part of the reason he said.
Speaker 2:Creating accessibility in any urban environment is often met with logistical and bureaucratic challenges, but in cities with historic buildings that predate modern accessibility standards by decades or even centuries, those challenges are even further amplified. 70% in a recent study, 70% of disabled people surveyed said they showed up at a building only to realize they couldn't get in. More than half of them 60% reported that they had to leave without completing their task because the building wasn't accessible. Now, I bet you thought that was probably done in Europe somewhere, right? No, no, no. That study, the one with the numbers I just quoted, the 70% of disabled people who shown up to a building to realize they couldn't get inside, that number that study was conducted in the United States of America, and I'm not talking about 30 years ago either. The words recent study, I'm talking in the last three to four years.
Speaker 2:This should not be people. The Americans with Disabilities Act is supposed to change that, trying to make it equitable Do I dare even use that word now For people with disabilities to have equal access to things. A wheelchair should not be a sentence, to be isolated period Just shouldn't be and doesn't have to be, and that's the point. Yet even with the ADA, there's still massive access and equities in our urban environments. Buildings, sidewalks and transportation systems often remain out of compliance or poorly maintained and the legal protections, such as the ADA, aren't universal. People 30 years, 30 years there's really no excuse for this.
Speaker 2:We talk about how big and successful we are. We talk about all of the changes and things we've invented, yet we can't do this for some of our more vulnerable citizens, some of our more challenged citizens. We can't do something as simple as facilitate wheelchair ramps. They don't have to be a big deal. The man shows pictures and some of these, literally, are raised ground which, if you didn't know it was a wheelchair ramp, you wouldn't have known. But it was and it makes all the difference in the world. You don't have to re-engineer an entire building to make it accessible. Just a little creative thinking and a little gumption and a little commitment. That's what he's talking about. If he would start four years ago and he had a modest goal in Iceland, a small country, to install 100 ramps and in four years installed almost 1,800, why can't that happen here? 70% of disabled people surveyed said they shown up to a building only to realize they couldn't get inside.
Speaker 2:In the United States of America, recent study. My friends, this should not be. This should not be. We have a responsibility. As the Bible used to say to much is given, much is required, and we should be looking out for those less fortunate than us. We've been blessed. We need to look out. It can be done. It is not impossible, it is not hard and it's not expensive. Regardless of what they will tell you, it's not. You just need to be creative about it and committed and this will happen. We can make this work.
