Mobility on Demand in the United States

The growth of shared mobility services and enabling technologies, such as smartphone apps, is contributing to the commodification and aggregation of transportation services. This chapter reviews terms and definitions related to Mobility on Demand (MOD) and Mobility as a Service (MaaS), the mobility marketplace, stakeholders, and enablers. This chapter also reviews the U.S. Department of Transportation’s MOD Sandbox Program, including common opportunities and challenges, partnerships, and case studies for employing on-demand mobility pilots and programs. The chapter concludes with a discussion of vehicle automation and on-demand mobility including pilot projects and the potential transformative impacts of shared automated vehicles on parking, land use, and the built environment

Crashed Software: Assessing Product Liability for Software Defects in Automated Vehicles

Automated vehicles will not only redefine the role of drivers, but also present new challenges in assessing product liability. In light of the increased risks of software defects in automated vehicles, this Note will review the current legal and regulatory framework related to product liability and assess the challenges in addressing on-board software defects and cybersecurity breaches from both the consumer and manufacturer perspective. While manufacturers are expected to assume more responsibility for accidents as vehicles become fully automated, it can be difficult to determine the scope of liability regarding unexpected software defects. On the other hand, consumers face new challenges in bringing product liability claims against manufacturers and developers

Loopholes, Licensing, and Legislation: Considering the Needs of People with Disabilities in the Autonomous Vehicle Revolution

Self-driving vehicles have the potential to revolutionize transportation for all Americans and will be especially beneficial for the more than fifty-seven million Americans with a disability. This Note offers a primer on a rapidly-developing area of law and policy that will permanently alter how Americans interact with transportation. While public availability of autonomous vehicles is anticipated as early as next year, widespread use of these vehicles is likely at least a decade away. The lag between current-day prototypes and future widespread public availability provides lawmakers, self-driving vehicle manufacturers, and the disability community an important opportunity to work together to shape policy, vehicle design, and public opinion about the autonomous vehicle revolution. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) “assure[s] equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for” people with disabilities. Almost three decades later, however, inaccessible transportation and lack of transportation options still remain significant barriers to full, equal access to and enjoyment of educational, employment, civic, social, and community opportunities by people with disabilities. This Note begins by describing the basics of autonomous vehicle technologies, how these technologies are progressing, and how they can be utilized by people with disabilities. Considering the needs of people with disabilities at every step of the way to full vehicle autonomy is crucial to ensuring an accessible transportation future. This Note explores some of the barriers to access of autonomous vehicles, such as the reluctance of transportation network companies Uber and Lyft to offer accessible transportation to riders with disabilities, as well as potentially discriminatory state licensing schemes for autonomous vehicle operation. The Note concludes by outlining the ways that state and federal regulation of autonomous vehicles could affect people with disabilities, assesses the impact of these regulations, and discusses proposed federal legislation and agency regulations that could reduce barriers to access considerably. Implicated in each of these issues and opportunities is the ADA, since it is the bedrock of disability civil rights in the United States and the primary means of enforcement against discrimination and exclusion. As the United States enters a new age of transportation with the autonomous vehicle revolution, it is imperative that stakeholders in the disability community, the manufacturing sector, and the government work together to create a transportation future accessible to all Americans. The current U.S. transportation infrastructure is premised on an able-bodied, human driver approach to mobility, and laws and design standards reflect this. Autonomous vehicles, which require no human monitoring, can break away from this normative approach and offer accessible transportation options for the many Americans with disabilities unable to fully access the current transportation system and the opportunities it facilitates, but not without the concerted efforts of relevant stakeholders. Therefore, in order to enable access for Americans with disabilities, the laws and standards created within the next decade must be intentionally devised to ensure that self-driving vehicles are available to as many people as possible and accommodate the widest range of abilities possible. Though it is impossible to predict what America’s autonomous transportation future will look like, with intentional, inclusive collaboration by the government, manufacturers, and people with disabilities, this future can and should be accessible to all Americans

Regulations to Respond to the Potential Benefits and Perils of SelfDriving Cars Analysis and Recommendations for Advancing Equity and Environmental Sustainability

The mobility system in the United States is unsafe, inequitable, and environmentally destructive. Most Americans rely on personally owned, individually occupied, and gas-powered cars—a status quo that leads to tens of thousands of people dying each year in collisions, creates barriers to employment and other opportunities for people of color and people with low incomes, and maintains a resource intensive transportation system that contributes to climate change and spurs sprawling land uses that destroy ecologies. Autonomous vehicles (AVs)—self-driving cars that can travel along publicly accessible streets some or all of the time without human involvement—could help mitigate these problems, if they are implemented in a thoughtful, well-regulated manner. However, if deployed haphazardly with inadequate oversight and regulation, they could produce even worse inequities than those caused by the current system.To evaluate the current landscape for AV deployment and use in the United States, we conducted a study focusing on automobile-sized AVs designed for passenger use as opposed to other types of AVs that could be used for public transit service or freight. Through a scholarship review, a scan of legislation nationwide, and interviews with stakeholders, we examine key potential benefits that AVs could generate, as well as the problems they could exacerbate. Carefully designed regulations could help ensure that these new technologies improve access to mobility and reduce pollution

Mobile Interface for a Smart Wheelchair

Smart wheelchairs are designed for severely motor impaired people that have difficulties to drive standard -manual or electric poweredwheelchairs. Their goal is to automate driving tasks as much as possible in order to minimize user intervention. Nevertheless, human involvement is still necessary to maintain high level task control. Therefore in the interface design it is necessary to take into account the restrictions imposed by the system (mobile and small), by the type of users (people with severe motor restrictions) and by the task (to select a destination among a number of choices in a structured environment). This paper describes the structure of an adaptive mobile interface for smart wheelchairs that is driven by the context.Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología TER96-2056-C02-0