Training

Project lead: Jordana Maisel

Continuing Education:

As part of the IDeA Center's online continuing education program, and in partnership with United Spinal Association, the RERC-APT will be offering a series of transportation related online courses. The first course will introduce participants to the minimum requirements for accessibility at transportation facilities covered under the US Department of Transportation regulations using the recently revised ADA/ABA Accessibility Guidelines. It provides an overview of the accessibility requirements that affect transportation facilities that fall under US DOT jurisdiction, including basic “building blocks” of accessibility (i.e. reach ranges, accessible routes, ramps, etc) as well as bus boarding and alighting areas,  bus shelters, bus signs and detectable warnings.

The course will run from January 18, 2010 thru February 19, 2010.

Student Projects:

Individual students and groups from project-based classes are an integral part of the RERC APT. Some students work directly on R&D projects as part of class activities while others explore related issues in the area of accessible transportation. Students involved in significant R&D efforts within the RERC APT are listed on the Team page. Some sample projects are shown below.

Bus Stop/Shelter Design

This design built project will focus on bus stops and shelters. Although a great deal is known about the design of stops and shelters, there has been little effort to produce innovative designs for cold weather. The project will encourage students to incorporate a suite of universal design features to improve weather protection, comfort, safety, increase security, improve information services, and reduce maintenance. Innovations to be explored include inflatable or fabric structures to reduce snow accumulation, heated seating elements that can be operated on demand by passengers, and shelter designs that shield passengers from splashing water and slush and that also allow rapid and unimpeded boarding of vehicles. Grimshaw Architects will be a partner. One of the shelters will be fabricated and assembled at the University of Buffalo.

Information Needs

Projects will address the information needs of people with disabilities in public transportation. Considerable research and development has occurred on supporting the information needs of people with disabilities in transportation systems. Examples of successful solutions include annunciators, variable message signs in vehicles, and web based information on elevator, repair and construction status. Real time information on estimated vehicle arrival and departure times using the GPS is now often displayed at stops and terminals. However, there are many more issues that have yet to be studied. Students will conduct research to document and understand customer needs and identify technologies to solve critical problems. Examples could include improving public service information and delivery methods, seat back video screens (Goldstein, 2006) and other in-vehicle services, and interactive system maps and schedules for planning trips and adjusting to unexpected events like construction or breaks in service. This area of research draws from several courses at Carnegie Mellon.

BlindAid: An Electronic Travel Aid for the Blind

The goal of BlindAid project is to develop navigational assistance technology for the blind or visually impaired. Specifically, we seek to develop a portable Electronic Travel Aid (ETA) for visually impaired users, along with the accompanying radio frequency identification (RFID) localization infrastructure used to equip buildings. This project was completed prior to the RERC APT.

Project Publication >>

External Resources:

UD Education:

Our goal is to increase the capacity for professions in the field of universal design through traditional and online continuing education, a comprehensive source for educational resources in universal design, and opportunities for advanced study in this field.