I Corp Teams: Travel Assistant Device (TAD)

University Of South Florida, Tampa FL

Investigators

Abstract

Transportation is essential for independent living in today's society. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires transit agencies to provide complementary paratransit origin-to-destination service to ADA eligible individuals. The average number of annual ADA paratransit trips provided by a transit agency increased by 7% from 2007 to 2010 and the average cost per trip was $29.30 in 2010 compared to $8.15 for a fixed-route trip. Since transit agencies are not allowed to pass the majority of the additional costs of a paratransit trip to the rider, the transit agency must either absorb the costs (approximately $4 million per year) or find ways to make the fixed-route service usable by those individuals currently using paratransit service. About 55% of the 145 transit agencies surveyed are using travel training to help transition paratransit riders to fixed-route services. The proposed technology (Travel Assistant Device, TAD) is a GPS-enabled mobile phone technology to help individuals who need assistance navigating bus and train routes, such as persons with disabilities or tourists. TAD provides timely auditory and visual cues for two of the hardest skills that transit users must master to travel independently (1) watching for landmarks in unfamiliar territory and (2) recognizing the landmark near the desired bus stop in time to signal the need to alight. A desired travel route, including bus or train numbers and schedules, is input into the system. The system provides step-by-step instructions for the transit rider. The technology has the potential to improve the quality of life for individuals with disabilities, increase the efficiency of exiting travel training programs, and reduce overall transit agency costs. The immediate goal of the project is to identify potential customers while studying the possibility of using TAD in different markets. The main product of this initial phase will be a business value proposition to find interested investors in the technology. The long term vision is to license the technology or create a startup company to host the software and market the technology to transit agencies. Primary functions of the company will be to update the software to be used with current smartphones, upgrade the bus and train routes of subscribing transit agencies and provide travel training services to the transit agencies, their paratransit riders, and care givers. Finally, the modification of TAD to meet the needs of other markets, such as tourists and people having long commutes, will also be included.