Technical Paper
Vehicle Performance Analysis of a Wheelchair Accessible Autonomous Electric Shuttle
2022-05-13
2022-01-5037
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) have the potential to vastly improve independent, safe, and cost-effective mobility options for individuals with disabilities. However, accessibility considerations are often overlooked in the early stages of design, resulting in AVs that are inaccessible to people with disabilities. Vehicles serving people with disabilities typically require costly aftermarket modifications for accessibility, which may have unforeseen impacts on vehicle performance and safety, particularly in the case of automated vehicles. In this research, we investigate the performance of three autonomous shuttle design configurations: an off-the-shelf shuttle that is not wheelchair accessible, the campus pilot shuttle that is wheelchair accessible, and a new design using wheelchair accessibility foresight.