Carnegie Mellon announced in January that it received a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to study the use of autonomous vehicles for people with disabilities. John Tague, Consortium founding member and chairman of the Pennsylvania Transportation Alliance, is among the people with disabilities who are providing ground-level input to the CMU team working to develop a prototype system for autonomous vehicles controlled via smartphones. All of the grant-funded projects will be submitted for additional judging slated for March of 2022. You can read the full article here.
In March and April, the U.S. Access Board, in partnership with other federal agencies, is hosting a series of virtual meetings on making autonomous vehicles accessible to passengers with disabilities.
The series covers accessibility for passengers with mobility disabilities (sessions 1 and 2) and accessibility for passengers with sensory or cognitive disabilities (sessions 3 and 4). Each 90-minute session features presentations by agency representatives and invited speakers who review relevant sources and research and outline issues and questions for discussion. These presentations are followed by an open dialogue where attendees pose questions or share comments or information.
Visit the Board’s website for further details or to register. Direct questions to Randall Duchesneau III at events@access-board.gov or (202) 272-0044.
