The Transport Research Foundation* (the parent company to TRL Ltd), has been awarded a research grant by the Motability Foundation to understand the needs, perceptions and challenges faced by people with disabilities, relating specifically to the development of automated transport solutions for disabled people.
The UK disability charity the Motability Foundation is committed to improving inclusive travel, today and in the future. It manages a grant programme to provide support to other charities and organisations in areas where previous research and engagement have shown opportunities to have the greatest impact for disabled people. TRL is a social purpose enterprise, with inclusive and accessible transport a core part of its mission to make transport better.
Lisa Jones, Director of Charitable Operations at the Motability Foundation, said: “We are really pleased to award this grant to TRF, in partnership with RIDC, to bring the voice of disabled people into the thinking on automated transport and ensure truly accessible solutions to the future of transport. Through this grant and the work the of experienced organisations, TRF and RiDC, we can better understand the ways transport accessibility needs to change. We look forward to seeing the outcomes of this exciting research”.
Critical to success is direct engagement and co-development of solutions with disabled people, so TRL has partnered with the Research Institute for Disabled Consumers (RiDC) to ensure robust end-user engagement in the research. RiDC has extensive experience of carrying out user-centred research evaluating accessibility and usability of transport services and modes (including buses, taxis, and cars), assistance needs, and digital interfaces for passengers with various impairments and assistive technology. In addition, RiDC is able to provide access to their extensive panel of disabled people who will be asked to participate in the research tasks planned in this programme of work.
The research is focussed on understanding how to optimise automated mobility solutions to maximise benefits for disabled people. Key issues to be investigated include disabled peoples’ perceptions of new forms of mobility, the challenges faced by disabled people in interacting with new automated transport technologies, and the potential benefits they offer. The project will establish the extent to which inclusivity and accessibility is currently being considered in the design and development of new vehicles, interfaces and services, and how to ensure that the needs of disabled people are considered in the design and development process going forward. The research will present examples of good practice, and identify the requirements necessary to deliver the benefits of automation to all disabled people.
“An array of innovations are emerging which are set to reinvent how we transport people and goods, such as driverless or remotely operated passenger shuttles, fully and partially automated cars, buses and trucks – covering an array of use cases, technological maturities, benefits and challenges.” says Dr George Beard, Head of New Mobility at TRL. “One of the key potential benefits of automation – alongside safer, cleaner journeys – is to enable people who might previously have been excluded to travel or access goods or services in new ways. To best achieve that, accessibility has to be considered from the outset and that is what we’re aiming to achieve with this work”.
History has shown us that ensuring accessibility of new technologies and services can often slip down the agenda in favour of rapid deployment and the need to generate short-term return on investment. For example, there has historically been a lack of consideration of the accessibility requirements for EV charging stations. The Motability Foundation has been the driving force behind development of a new accessible EV charging standard (PAS 1899:2022) to address these issues going forward. Whilst this is a huge step forward, ultimately there is a need for expensive retrofitting of existing charging infrastructure that could have been avoided if accessibility had been considered from the outset. This project aims to tackle this issue by considering accessibility needs while automated transport technologies and services are still in their infancy - to ensure the same mistakes are not made again.
Gordon McCullough, CEO at RiDC said: “It is true that disabled people are usually left behind when new innovations are developed, and we have seen this happen time and again with transport. We know that accessible, reliable and economic transport options for disabled people are very much lacking, although work is now being done to improve this. That disabled people are being consulted at the beginning of this design process for automated transport is hugely encouraging. Our panel have already raised anxieties over automated transport - so involving and listening to them, their needs and experiences from the outset is essential in creating a final product and service that is useful and works for everyone in our population.”
The research will commence with a systematic evidence review and consultation with industry and experts to get a solid understanding of the current position. Engagement with charity organisations will provide the vital insight into the different needs of disabled people, the barriers that these groups face, and the opportunities presented by automated mobility.
End user focus groups will provide a rich base of qualitative data around accessibility needs, barriers, and opportunities with automated vehicles and services. This will be complemented by an end user survey using the RiDC Consumer Panel of 4,000 members to collect broader data from a wider sample of disabled people.
Finally, there will be a series of usability and accessibility trials in which disabled participants will be given opportunity to experience first-hand some new technologies and services, to evaluate their design. TRL and RiDC will make use of their connections with existing automated vehicle trials that are running across the UK during the same period, so disabled groups will be able to give feedback on the accessibility of vehicles and services currently being developed. In addition, TRL hope to be able to invite disabled people to participate in other innovation trials happening at its London testbed – the Smart Mobility Living Lab (SMLL) – where commercial companies are testing automation and smart city solutions.
_ENDS_
THIS RESEARCH IS NOW CONCLUDED AND CAN BE FOUND HERE
*The TRL group of companies is owned by the Transport Research Foundation: a non-profit distributing company that enables our experts to give independent advice without influence from shareholders or finance companies.
The image is of a RiDC Panel member using his car
