United Spinal Association is collaborating with the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center on Accessible Public Transportation (RERC-APT) on ways to empower consumers and transit service providers in the design and evaluation of accessible transportation equipment, information services, and physical environments.
The RERC-APT is a partnership between the Robotics Institute and the Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental Access (IDEA Center) at the University at Buffalo. The five year project was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR).
“One of the key aspects of the project is to get input from transit users,” said Carnegie Mellon’s Aaron Steinfeld. “We will be evaluating ways to enable transit users and providers to be citizen scientists to collect and utilize data about the transit experience.”
As part of the project, the team will be creating a public Web site where riders can report on their experiences and collaborate with transit providers on ways to improve the transportation system. It will also use advances in machine learning to develop software that can assist riders in reaching their destinations.
“Accessible and reliable public transportation is a fundamental element in maintaining and enhancing independence for persons with disabilities. Having access to the community, its services and resources, serves to promote inclusion and empower people.” said United Spinal’s CEO Paul Tobin. “United Spinal is honored to be playing a part in such an important and progressive undertaking.”
United Spinal Association’s Accessibility Services division will be working with program participants and lending their unique knowledge and extensive skills to this project. Accessibility Services is devoted exclusively to making our built environment accessible to people with disabilities. It is the cutting edge of United Spinal Association’s commitment to guaranteeing the civil rights of all citizens to fully participate in our culture and our society. Accessibility Services actively participates in writing building codes at the local, state, and federal level; and they helped make New York, the largest city in the country, provide fully accessible buses and subways, and curb cuts in all five boroughs to allow wheelchair access––an achievement that inspired dozens of other municipalities to follow suit.
