Implications of vehicle automation for accessibility and social inclusion of people on low income, people with physical and sensory disabilities, and older people
Vehicle automation and vehicle sharing are frequently presented as key
factors towards a more inclusive transport system.
In our new book chapter, we argue that we should not take this statement
for granted. We suggest that the requirements for digital access and
online payment for those services, vehicle custom-design, operating
complexities, and uncertainties, insecurity and distrust in adoption of
new vehicle technologies could compromise possible accessibility gains
and thus negatively influence social inclusion levels of people on low
income, people with physical and sensory disabilities, and older people.
Book chapter available here.
Many thanks for the nice collaboration to my co-author Bert Van Wee and
the editors of the book volume “Demand for Emerging Transportation Systems. Modeling Adoption, Satisfaction and Mobility Patterns”
Constantinos Antoniou, Dimitrios Efthymiou, Emmanouil Chaniotakis
Abstract
We analyze the implications of vehicle automation for the accessibility
of vulnerable social groups (i.e., people on low income, people with
physical and sensory disabilities, older people) and consequently for
their transport-related social exclusion. First, we show that the
accessibility component influenced by automated vehicles, the vehicle
automation level, and the mobility service model (i.e., private or
shared vehicles) would likely determine the magnitude and direction of
social inclusion implications for these social groups. Positive
implications for accessibility and thus social inclusion are expected to
increase with the level of vehicle automation and vehicle sharing. Yet,
the requirements for digital access and online payment for those
services, vehicle custom-design, operating complexities, and
uncertainties, insecurity and distrust in adoption new vehicle
technologies could compromise possible accessibility gains and thus
negatively influence social inclusion levels.
Keywords: Accessibility; Automated vehicles; Social inclusion;
Vulnerable social groups
