Disabled Passengers Research Articles

Occupational Encounters: The Interpersonal Impact of Bus Drivers' Engagement With Disabled Passengers.

Whether mundane or meaningful, interpersonal encounters are prerequisites for (and have a significant impact on) many occupations. This study sought to understand the interpersonal impact and occupational relevance of encounters, through exploring encounters between bus drivers and disabled passengers. The Person-Environment-Occupation-Performance (PEOP) Model was applied as part of a Framework Analysis, separately examining bus driver and disabled passenger data. The Interpersonal-Person-Environment-Occupation-Performance (I-PEOP) Model prototype was then developed to enable simultaneous exploration of the factors impacting such encounters. Application of the I-PEOP and PEOP Models found encounters between bus drivers and disabled passengers were pivotal to the exclusion or inclusion of disabled passengers in their communities. Understanding the occupational relevance of encounters, and the factors that determine their interpersonal impact, prompts occupational therapists to identify and address how intersectionality, power dynamics, occupational roles, and inter-perceptions impact an individual's community mobility and inclusion.

‘Getting in and going’: Access to onboard toilets for fat and disabled people on commercial aircraft

In this paper we explore the accessibility of toilets onboard commercial aircraft for passengers who identify as fat or fat and disabled. Drawing on qualitative survey and interview data, we discuss people’s experiences of inaccessible onboard toilet spaces including getting to and into the toilet, managing bodily matter, anticipating a lack of accessible toilets, and the (il)legitimacy of fat and disabled air passengers within commercial aircraft regulations. Our data illustrate that current provision of onboard toilets is wholly inadequate for fat and disabled passengers, requiring strategies to manage bodily matter which are detrimental to health. We further ‘fat geographies’ research and relational understandings of embodiment that attend to spatial and temporal contingency by drawing together insights from disability, crip, gender, queer and trans theory, in particular conceptualisations of ‘misfit(ting)’, crip time, and (il)legitimate lives.

GoComfort: Comfortable Navigation for Autonomous Vehicles Leveraging High-Precision Road Damage Crowdsensing

Recent years have witnessed rapid advances in autonomous driving technologies. Autonomous vehicles are more likely to be accepted if they drive comfortably to avoid potholes, bumps, and other road damage conditions, especially when there are elderly and disabled passengers on board. Traditionally, sensing road damage conditions is either labor-intensive by field investigation and reporting, or inaccurate by surveillance cameras and driving recorders due to limited perspective. In this paper, we propose GoComfort, a crowdsensing-based framework to provide low-cost and fine-grained comfortable navigation for autonomous vehicles with road damage identification leveraging high-precision road sensing data. First, we propose to exploit city-wide autonomous vehicle fleets as crowdsensing participants, and employ an edge-cloud-hybrid computing paradigm to efficiently collect high-precision road damage-related data, including 3D LiDAR point clouds and street view images. Second, we design an accurate road damage identification model fusing spatial structures of point clouds and texture features of street view images, and use an active learning-based method to address the sparse labels issue. Finally, we devise two comfortable navigation scenarios, i.e., fine-grained road damage avoidance and coarse-grained city-wide navigation, and propose a hierarchical road damage assessment diagram for comfortable route planning. Experiments using real-world road sensing data in Xiamen, China show that our approach identifies road damage conditions with an accuracy of 87.5%, and achieves a user acceptance rate of 93.8% in riding comfort evaluation, outperforming the state-of-the-art baselines.

Disabled and Romani passengers face similar levels of discrimination but different levels of open hostility in the sharing economy

This multimethod project investigates discrimination against members of two populous minority groups in the European Union: the Roma (numbering 6 million) and the disabled (numbering 100 million) on a leading Hungarian carpooling platform. In a field experiment, 1005 ride requests were sent to drivers, with passenger group membership (control, disabled, Roma) manipulated between participants. Widespread discrimination against both groups was apparent in significantly lower approval rates for disabled (56%) and Roma passengers (52%) relative to control (70%). Mechanisms driving anti-disabled and anti-Roma discrimination were probed using an experimental manipulation, natural language processing analysis of driver–passenger interactions, and an online survey (N = 398). Individuating information in the form of reviews did not mitigate unequal treatment, thus providing evidence against statistical (stereotype-based) discrimination. Militating against taste-based (attitudinal) discrimination, respondents reported negative attitudes toward Roma passengers but positive attitudes toward disabled passengers. Moreover, despite equivalent approval rates, disabled passengers were more likely to receive a response from drivers and received more polite responses than Roma passengers did. Overall, the observed patterns are most readily explained by intergroup emotions: Contempt toward Roma passengers likely engenders both passive and active harm, whereas pity toward disabled passengers likely engenders passive harm and active facilitation.

A Biometric Logic of Revelation: Zach Blas’s <em>SANCTUM</em> (2018)

A Biometric Logic of Revelation: Zach Blas’s <em>SANCTUM</em> (2018)

Improving Bus Transit Services for Disabled Individuals: Demand Clustering, Bus Assignment, and Route Optimization

Bus transit provides shorter-distance public transportation services, which are subject to various disability discrimination acts with various dedicated features. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that disabled individuals shall have equal rights to receive fare bus transit services, including fixed-route and door-to-door bus services. Most previous studies were mainly focused on policy aspects as part of the efforts of disability rights. The proper planning of demand requests from disabled individuals has been a critical issue but has gained insufficient attention. The existing methodologies in planning route for special transit buses for disabled individuals normally do not consider passengers' waiting time, lack sufficient flexibility, and have strict restrictions on the total number of served destinations. This paper proposes a four-module based methodology for the planning of bus transit, including demand information collection, demand clustering, transit bus assignment, and a linear programming-based route planning with different objective functions. Houston MetroLift bus transit service was employed as an example to illustrate the proposed method. Three scenarios during the route planning module were designed in this case study: (1) planning for pre-timed shortest distance, (2) planning for the pre-timed shortest waiting time of passengers, and (3) flexible planning. Results showed that scenario 1 obtained the shortest total travel time and the highest benefit for bus providers, scenario 2 is with the shortest average waiting time, while scenario 3 is real-time based with longer total travel time and longer waiting time. Scenarios 2 and 3 consider the special needs of disabled passengers.

Research and Design of Special Airport Ferry

With the rapid development of China’s air transport industry, the airport shuttle bus has become an indispensable part of the airport special vehicles. At present, disabled passengers in civil aviation airports have difficulty in getting on and off the shuttle bus, therefore, this design takes this as a starting point to design an airport ferry with special functions to assist disabled passengers boarding and disembarking functions and to improve the service level of airport barrier-free facilities while solving problems.

Examination of accessibility for disabled people at metro stations

According to World Health Organization (WHO), 10% of the population in developed countries and 12% of the population in developing countries are disabled people. And also researches by TUIK, in 2003, 12% of the population in our country are disabled. The problems that are faced in daily life, do not only affect disabled people but also their family. Therefore, it is said to be that half of our population have a disabled life. According to Scherrer, “Anyone, who has handicaps, is not a disabled person in an accessible place. But healthy person will become disabled in a place without accessibility.” (Scherrer 2001). Accessibility can be provided through the continuity of interrelated daily activities without any interruption. When the connection between the activities breaks off, we cannot mention about accessibility. Accessibility is not only plays an important role on disabled people by providing daily activities and physical requirements without any interruption but also by sustaining to live as independent individuals in society. Therefore, we have to re-design our urban accessibility to achieve uninterruptible and independent daily life in cities. In our country, disabled people also have difficulties to access indoors and outdoors and also have to face significant problems to be included in daily life despite the current regulations and laws. However, disabled people are entitled to have all social and cultural benefits independently as healthy people do. Realization of this act can be possible, if we re-design our buildings, transportation systems and the city life to achieve the accessibility requirements of disabled people. All around the world and also in our country, various laws, design rules and standards are tried to level the playing field on accessibility for public transportation systems with their service stations. However, despite of ensuring laws, regulations and standards on accessibility, lack of reglementation and enforcements, as well as insufficient user’s knowledge cause our cities inaccessible. Therefore, we have to increase the awareness of our community on accessible city life and transportation systems rather than make laws and hope for recovery. In this context, a case study is intended to examine the approaches on barrier-free design and level of accessibility at metro stations in Turkey. With the scope of this case study, current informative, stimulating and guiding regulations, vertical and horizontal implementations on circulation areas at metro stations are examined by an accessible design control list Accessible design control list consists of 28 questions that have been selected from Turkish Ministry of Family and Social Policies-People with Disabilities and Elderly General Service Accessibility check Lists and Turkish World Handicapped Foundation- Outdoors and Indoors Accessibility Check Lists. With the help of question we can examine the passengers’ expectations on the quality of informative, stimulating and guiding signboards at entrance, circulations and surroundings of metro stations; except the legislations related to the product sizes and constraints that designers or professionals have to obey The questions are answered by disabled passengers who use Kadikoy Ayrilik Cesme main transmission metro station. Disabled passengers are divided into two subject groups. First subject group consist of 5 visually impaired and partially impaired people. The second subject group consist of 7 wheelchair users. Experimentally, asked all the subject groups to make a journey beginning from the entrance of metro station to the train platforms without getting any help. After they completed their journey, they were requested to answer the questions of control list and describe the positive and negative situations from their experiences. According to the result of examining the approaches on barrier-free design and the level of accessibility at Ayrilikcesme main transmission metro station, there are distinctive data detected which are inacceptable accessible solutions for wheelchair users and/or visually impaired people. In this context, to realize an accessible city life in our country, we have to take some significant decisions on training well-informed professionals, constituting the common shares on standardization of buildings, increasing the community awareness on accessibility and innovating technologies for all disabled groups

UK: No exception to the exclusivity of the Montreal Convention with regard to disabled passengers

UK: No exception to the exclusivity of the Montreal Convention with regard to disabled passengers

“Move! You’re in the Way”: Disability and Age Meet on Screen

Dans l’imaginaire populaire, l’invalidité et la vieillesse sont deux états distincts, et ce même si la seconde n’échappe pas aux stigmas et restrictions imposés à la première. Au cinéma, l’image de la normalité chez les aînés se développe en relation avec l’anormalité de cette partie de la population âgée qui est handicapée. Le handicape chez le vieillard amplifie le caractère ingérable de la vieillesse. Deux films. Iris et Pauline et Paulette, différencient la vieillesse avec handicape de la vieillesse décrépite normale. Ces œuvres présentent ainsi la meilleure et la pire des éventualités, qui sont toutes les deux plutôt navrantes. Bien que les deux films célèbrent le formidable entrain qui brille à travers l’esprit idiosyncratique des personnages handicapés, et dépeignent le sentiment d’accomplissement éprouvé par les thérapeutes, ils suggèrent aussi que lorsque l’invalidité rencontre l’âge (dans le cas de Pauline) et que l’âge rencontre l’invalidité (dans le cas de Iris), celle-ci devient une métaphore de la solitude inévitable de la vieillesse.

Ship Safety Issues Involving Elderly or Disabled Passengers

The aim of the Investigation into the Employment of Handicapped Persons in the Maritime Industry (the HANDIAMI project funded by the European Commission DG VII Task 38 Waterborne Transport) is to produce a number of concrete recommendations concerning the safety (evacuation procedures) of passengers on board car ferries who are elderly or have disabilities, and the accessibility available to them. A discussion is presented on issues concerning the main differences between high-speed and traditional ferries and the safety management of passengers in an emergency situation. There is a concentration on how an evacuation of elderly or disabled passengers is carried out. The approach used was based on focus groups, interviews, and observations. That led to a cross analysis of ship equipment and passengers’ functional abilities to highlight situations in which the crew will have to help compensate. Results are presented in tables that identify the independent relationship between functional disabilities and the ship’s infrastructure. The study undertaken showed that the safe evacuation of elderly and disabled passengers can be achieved through coordination of design, deployments, and training. Means of evacuation should be considered at the concept design stage, deployments should include representative sample populations including elderly and disabled passengers, and dedicated staff should be trained to specifically meet the needs of these passengers and to provide for their safe evacuation.

Equilibrium Model Based on a Microfoundation for Forecasting Dial-a-Ride Ridership

The demand and capacity of a van dial-a-ride service for elderly and disabled passengers are analyzed together. The service demand is based on a survey of an advanced public transit system for an elderly and disabled persons van service. Demand is estimated by the Poisson regression on individual demand and by aggregating over individuals in the market. Service supply is modeled in two ways—a deterministic queuing model and a regression model—and is estimated by using drivers’ manifest data. Market demand is compared with market supply derived from each method to identify the equilibrium level of ridership and travel time, which are used to measure the service quality. The model is used to predict a trade-off between ridership and travel time and to present this trade-off conveniently on a simple tabulation form. The service provider can use this form to determine combinations that maximize the management objective without engaging in simulation or estimation for all possible choices.

Boarding Aid Devices for Disabled Passengers on Heavy Rail: Evaluation of Accessibility

Because railway networks are widely developed in Europe, facilitating access to disabled passengers is a pressing issue. Steps and gaps at the entrance doors are barriers to people in wheelchairs and to people with walking difficulties. Because of the difference between platform and car floor heights, level access is not available, and boarding aid devices are necessary for disabled passengers to bridge steps or gaps. A literature survey is presented, the practices of European railways are discussed, and relevant factors for choosing the most appropriate and convenient devices for boarding and alighting train cars are analyzed. Recommendations are suggested for near-term enhancements.

The design of entrances of taxis for elderly and disabled passengers: An experimental study

This paper presents an experimental study with the aim of finding suitable dimensions of the entrances of cars used in taxi service for disabled people. Ambulant disabled people and wheelchair users who were entitled to travel with the special transportation service and were used to travel by taxi participated in the trials. An investigation of the taxi service showed that taxis transport both ambulant disabled people and people using wheelchairs, who can move from the wheelchair to a car seat. The disabled travellers found it difficult to enter and leave the cars due to the narrow doorways. The most difficult action was the lifting of their feet into and out of the cars. In the experimental study the subjects had to get into and out of a mock-up car where the entrance could be altered by changes to the width and height of the doorway, the height of the sill, the location of the seat and the angle to which the door opens. The registration was made by video-filming, observation and interviews. The actions and duration of the different phases during the entering and exiting were analysed from the video-films. The results show that much the same entrance dimensions are required both by people confined to wheelchairs and ambulant disabled people. The paper presents suitable dimensions for the front entrances of cars in order to suit people with mobility impairments.

Ergonomics of a safe within-terminal shuttle for elderly and disabled passengers : Heron, R.M., and Rutemberg, U. In: Proc 20th Ann Conf Human Factors Assoc of Canada, Montreal, Quebec, 14–17 Oct 1987. Human Factors Assoc of Canada, Mississauga, Ontario, 1987, pp 191–194

Ergonomics of a safe within-terminal shuttle for elderly and disabled passengers : Heron, R.M., and Rutemberg, U. In: Proc 20th Ann Conf Human Factors Assoc of Canada, Montreal, Quebec, 14–17 Oct 1987. Human Factors Assoc of Canada, Mississauga, Ontario, 1987, pp 191–194

Air Transporation and the Disabled

Air transportation is becoming increasingly more accessible to the disabled traveller. This is due to many reasons. The disabled themselves are now very much a part of twentieth century society in which air travel plays a large role. To this end, several international organizations representing the disabled have been pressuring for increased accessibility. As well, the airlines have realized that the disabled represent a sizable market potential and thus they have begun accessibility and staff sensitization programs. This article will first provide a summary of the current situation for disabled travellers and will discuss such things as architectural barriers and other limitations both in the airport and on-board the aircraft. The second section will discuss the current research into improving the comsort of the disabled passenger. Topics such as modification of on-board washroom facilities, adapted aids kits and on-board wheelchairs will be presented. Part three will be a short discussion of resources and organizations available to the disabled traveller. It is hoped that occupational therapists will gain a better understanding of the resources and developments in this area.