Exploring the Impact of Autonomous Taxis on People with Disabilities

Over the past two decades, transportation has become more accessible, but people with disabilities still face significant barriers to accessing these services. This research focuses on the impact of autonomous taxis on people with disabilities, an area that has seen limited improvement. The study aims to answer two research questions: 1) How do traditional taxi experiences shape expectations of autonomous taxis in terms of disability accessibility? 2) To what extent does the autonomy of self-driving taxis contribute to a perceived increase in travel freedom? Thirty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with administrative staff from disability organizations, and the perspectives of 39,079 organization members were included. Thematic and sentiment analyses were applied to analyse the findings, which revealed three main themes: onboarding, in-vehicle conditions, and offboarding. The absence of a driver was strongly correlated with a positive sentiment of increased travel freedom, indicating that autonomous taxis could provide enhanced accessibility without the limitations or biases associated with traditional taxis. Participants expressed concerns about driver attitudes and behaviour as negative experiences with traditional taxis. In contrast, with autonomous taxis, their main concern was the availability of human assistance to meet specific user needs throughout the journey. This study emphasizes the necessity for further research into the diverse and intricate spectrum of disabilities, as well as the importance of user-centric market research in the design process. Such research is crucial in achieving the overarching goal of improved accessibility.