Facilitating independent commuting among individuals with autism – A design study in Singapore

Abstract

IntroductionIn the hope of designing concepts for future transport systems, we would like to understand more about the barriers and challenges faced by individuals with autism when taking public transport in Singapore. However, the limited research studies exploring this topic were all conducted abroad with different transport systems. This paper thus investigates the barriers to public transport in Singapore's context for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). MethodsIn collaboration with a special needs school, parents of students with ASD were invited to complete the questionnaire online about their children's travel experiences. From a total of 25 parents, details of their children's frequency of travel, independent public transport experiences (if any) and challenges of independent commuting were examined. Based on the survey findings, a requirement list was compiled as a basis for creating a design concept to address public transport barriers of individuals with ASD. ResultsKey requirements summarised from the survey include quiet environments, assistance in alighting, assistance in boarding, predictable travel routines, simplified ways to ask for help, supervision or support, more visual aids, emergency buttons, learning to ask for seats and priority seating. ViCo, a Virtual Companion at bus stops and in buses and trains is proposed in the current paper to address the requirement list of individuals with ASD as highlighted in the survey findings. ConclusionThe proposed implementation of ViCo is expected to improve the commuting experience of individuals with ASD, but can be extended to serve individuals with diverse disabilities as well as people without disabilities.