Assistive technologies in public transport: meeting the needs of elderly and disabled passengers

This work presents the investigation of the functional specification and content development of in vehicle systems for road public passenger vehicles for elderly and disabled people. User requirement analysis is also proposed in this paper. User requirement analysis is vital in the design of public passenger services. Elderly and disabled passengers should not be treated as a homogenous group. They have different need and wants and their lifestyle is varied. As such, analysing their needs is crucial in order for public transport services to be functional and practical to them. The investigation concludes by stating that vehicle systems must be robust and forgiving especially in meeting the needs of elderly and disabled people. This research focuses on the development of a framework to assist the manufacturers in identifying and specifying inclusive designs for elderly and disabled passengers. As such the need for the methodology presented in this paper is vital in order to meet the demands of the elderly and disabled travellers.