Research
R1 - Empowering the User to Improve the Travel Chain
Project leads: Aaron Steinfeld, PhD & Ellen Ayoob, MDes
This research will identify effective "citizen science" methods to engage riders with disabilities and others in improving public transportation accessibility by documenting and assessing problems and good solutions throughout the system. The goal is to empower riders, resulting in a greater understanding of the transportation system, and improve the feedback loop between rider and provider. These benefits of the citizen science model have been demonstrated in other contexts. The long-range goal of this project is to apply emerging information technology to establish self-sustaining communities of practice that engage in the continuous improvement of transportation technologies and related transit operations. The laboratory experiments (R1.1) and initial community field test (R1.2) within this project will evaluate a demonstration deployment of an accessible prototype system (DV1.1).
R2 - Human Factors of Boarding and Disembarking Vehicles
Project leads: Victor Paquet, PhD, James Lenker, PhD, & Edward Steinfeld, ArchD
This project will organize and develop a comprehensive evidence base on boarding and disembarking public transit vehicles, complete research to address key policy and design issues, and identify new research needs. A multi-method approach will be implemented including a systematic review, focused laboratory experiments, and targeted usability studies. The data collected in this project will be used to develop user requirements for design and evaluation of vehicle features, boarding technologies and products, and design of stops and stations. It will also establish a model for evidence-based practice in this field for the development of policies and standards, design tools, and a demonstration application in Project DV2.
Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University
IDeA Center at SUNY Buffalo