the art of parking 3: the full-on

Er - that means taking up the whole pavement. And an added interest (could easily be another mini-series) is the non-art of taking disability seriously; here an example of the ribbed, yellow-painted paving slabs which are placed here and there to indicate something or nothing to blind and partially sighted people.

Completely  randomly.
  

One-offs: number two

And this is the only disabled lift into an underpass I have seen (there is one on the other side of the street too which was both a relief and - in a way - a surprise.) Again, other sightings appreciated.

City bingo 5: actually, beyond a joke

Another relatively common sight - a disabled sticker prominently displayed in a completely incorrect situation (e.g. as here, with steps). What are they thinking? Also many, random, pavement markings in yellow, with no logic in any way connected to being visually impaired. As the guide book says, Moscow is not a place that makes things easy for disabled people.

Handy hints for travelers 6: toilets

Moscow is very well supplied with public toilets; most metro stations have ranks of prefab units outside, which cost 20 or 25 rubles. These are basic, but perfectly clean. What I like most is the way the attendants customise one of the cubicles as a 'little home' to sit in.

As most travel guides point out, there are almost no facilities for disabled people here, but there are now a couple of prefab disabled toilets near Red Square - which of course are the ones taken over by the attendant, since the space is bigger.

I was told by a colleague that these disabled facilities (and the quite absent-minded and random addition of yellow painted 'pimple' paving at some junctions) are the response to a campaign by writers and artists for the rights of disabled people, but have not been able to find out anything else - can anyone add some light on this?