PITTSBURGH, Dec 02, 2008 (ASCRIBE NEWS via COMTEX) --
Researchers at
Carnegie Mellon University and the University at Buffalo
(UB), State University of New York, are collaborating on a
five-year, $4.7 million effort to advance public
transportation for people with disabilities by bringing
together computer science technology and the principles of
universal design.
Their grant from the U.S. Department of Education's
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research
(NIDRR) is funding a new Rehabilitation Engineering Research
Center (RERC) on Accessible Public Transportation. The
center will develop ways to empower consumers and transit
service providers in the design and evaluation of accessible
transportation equipment, information services and physical
environments.
The center's principal investigator and co-director is
Aaron Steinfeld, a systems scientist at Carnegie Mellon's
Robotics Institute who works on human-robot interaction and
intelligent transportation systems in the university's
Quality of Life Technology Engineering Research Center.
Steinfeld will be co-directing the new center with his
father Edward Steinfeld, a professor of architecture at UB
who heads the Center for Inclusive Design and Environmental
Access (IDEA). The IDEA Center improves the design of
environments and products by making them more usable, safe
and appealing to people with a wide range of abilities. The
center is a world leader in universal design, an important
component of the new RERC's work. The team also includes the
United Spinal Association, an organization that focuses on
improving the quality of life of Americans with spinal cord
injuries and disorders, which will focus on developing
transportation regulations and standards.
"This grant establishes a partnership between the IDEA
Center at UB, known internationally as a center of
excellence in universal design, with the Robotics Institute
at Carnegie Mellon University, known internationally as a
center of excellence in robotics," said Edward
Steinfeld. "We expect this partnership to make a significant
impact on the usability of public transportation for all
riders. We will be completing research that is extremely
timely and needed by the industry. We have business
partners, including manufacturers and consumer advocacy
organizations, that will help to implement research findings
and disseminate information that directly improve
transportation services, vehicles and facilities."
The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) in
Buffalo and the Port Authority of Allegheny County in
Pittsburgh will assist the researchers as they develop new
technologies and concepts. An important area of research
will be the design of access and interiors for buses.
California-based Gillig Corp., the nation's largest
manufacturer of heavy- duty mass transit buses, will
incorporate, at their own expense, the modifications
designed by the RERC into a new NFTA bus. The bus will be a
prototype containing new interior concepts that are ready
for commercialization.
"One of the key aspects of the project is to get input
from transit users," said Carnegie Mellon's Aaron
Steinfeld. "We will be evaluating ways to enable transit
users and providers to be citizen scientists to collect and
utilize data about the transit experience."
The team will create a public Web site where riders can
report on their experiences and collaborate with transit
providers on ways to improve the transportation system. The
team also will use advances in machine learning to develop
software that can assist riders in reaching their

destinations.
For more information on the new RERC on Accessible Public
Transportation, see http://www.rercapt.org/ .
ABOUT CARNEGIE MELLON
Carnegie Mellon is a private research university with a
distinctive mix of programs in engineering, computer
science, robotics, business, public policy, science and
social science, fine arts and the humanities. More than
10,000 undergraduate and graduate students receive an
education characterized by its focus on creating and
implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary
collaboration, and innovation. A small student-to-faculty
ratio provides an opportunity for close interaction between
students and professors. While technology is pervasive on
its 144-acre Pittsburgh campus, Carnegie Mellon is also
distinctive among leading research universities for the
world-renowned programs in its College of Fine Arts. A
global university, Carnegie Mellon has campuses in Silicon
Valley, Calif., and Qatar, and programs in Asia, Australia
and Europe. For more, see http://www.cmu.edu .
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO'S IDEA CENTER
The IDEA Center at SUNY Buffalo is dedicated to improving
the design of environments and products by making them more
usable, safer and appealing to people with a wide range of
abilities throughout their life spans. Originating in the
practices of accessible or "barrier free" design and
"normalization," the concept of universal design seeks to
make the everyday world more accessible and usable to a
broad range of people, including people with disabilities
and other often overlooked groups. The IDEA Center provides
resources and technical expertise in architecture, product
design, facilities management, and the social and behavioral
sciences to further these agendas.
ABOUT THE NIDRR
Created in 1978, the National Institute on Disability and
Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) in Washington, D.C., is one
of three components of the Office of Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) in the U.S. Department of
Education. The NIDRR operates in concert with the
Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) and the Office
of Special Education Programs (OSEP). The mission of the
NIDRR is to generate new knowledge and promote its effective
use to improve the abilities of people with disabilities to
perform activities of their choice in the community, and
also to expand society's capacity to provide full
opportunities and accommodations for its citizens with
disabilities.
- - - -
CONTACTS: Anne Watzman, Carnegie Mellon, 412-268-3830,
aw16@andrew.cmu.edu
Patricia Donovan, U at Buffalo, 716-645-5000 x1414,
pdonovan@buffalo.edu
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