ATP Sassari presented on Friday 16 October “Tram di noi – Accessibility is also about relationships,” a training program developed with Progetto AlbatroSs and Ambulatorio Nursing Sassari. The initiative aims to make public transport more inclusive through direct interaction between company staff, Paralympic athletes and young people from the project.
The first phase will involve ATP’s inspectors, who come into contact with passengers every day. The program will not be limited to lessons or theoretical explanations: it will include practical experiences, Paralympic sports, games and exercises carried out together with athletes and young people from Progetto AlbatroSs.
The aim is to give participants the opportunity to test their own abilities and learn more about the needs of people with disabilities. The activities are intended to improve how staff interact with passengers and encourage reflection on prejudices and automatic assumptions that can shape encounters with passengers.
In the project, athletes are not seen merely as the recipients of an initiative focused on disability. They are invited to share their experience, pass on their skills and lead the activities, guiding staff through the exercises. The exchange also aims to bring to light less visible obstacles related to communication, embarrassment and a lack of understanding of other people’s needs.
The program will be led by Manolo Cattari, a sports psychologist and psychotherapist, as well as president of Progetto AlbatroSs. His contribution will connect the sporting experience with the psychological and relational aspects of inclusion, complementing the focus on the physical accessibility of transport.
The initiative sees public transport as an important condition for taking part in everyday life: it makes it possible to get to a place of study or work, meet other people and participate in the community. For this reason, the project’s focus extends beyond the ability to board a vehicle to include the quality of the relationships between passengers and the people who provide the service.
Those attending the presentation included ATP SpA president Alessandro Zara, managing director Roberto Mura, Porto Torres City Council’s councillor for social services Antonello Cabitta, Luca Porcu, head of Nursing, and Giovanni Carboni, ATP’s inspectors’ coordinator. Sassari mayor Giuseppe Mascia, who was unable to attend due to institutional commitments, sent a message of support for the initiative.