I Corp Teams: Travel Assistant Device (TAD)

交通对于当今社会的独立生活至关重要。《美国残疾人法案》（ADA）要求运输机构为符合ADA条件的个人提供补充的辅助运输起点到目的地服务。从2007年到2010年，运输机构提供的ADA辅助运输旅行的平均数量增加了7%，2010年每次旅行的平均成本为29.30美元，而固定路线旅行的平均成本为8.15美元。 由于不允许运输机构将辅助运输旅行的大部分额外费用转嫁给乘客，运输机构必须承担费用（每年约400万美元），或者设法使目前使用辅助运输服务的个人能够使用固定路线服务。 在接受调查的145家交通机构中，约有55%正在使用旅行培训来帮助辅助乘客过渡到固定路线服务。拟议的技术（旅行辅助设备，TAD）是一种支持GPS的移动的电话技术，可帮助需要帮助的个人（例如残疾人或游客）导航公共汽车和火车路线。公交车乘客必须掌握两项最难的技能，即独立出行时的听觉和视觉提示：（1）在不熟悉的区域观察地标;（2）及时识别所需公交车站附近的地标，以发出需要下车的信号。 所需的旅行路线，包括公共汽车或火车号码和时间表，被输入到系统中。 该系统为公交乘客提供了分步说明。该技术有可能提高残疾人的生活质量，提高现有旅行培训计划的效率，并降低整体运输机构的成本。 该项目的近期目标是确定潜在客户，同时研究在不同市场使用可再生能源的可能性。这个初始阶段的主要产品将是一个商业价值主张，以寻找对该技术感兴趣的投资者。长期愿景是许可该技术或创建一家初创公司来托管软件并将该技术推向运输机构。该公司的主要功能将是更新与当前智能手机一起使用的软件，升级订阅运输机构的公共汽车和火车路线，并为运输机构，其辅助乘客和护理人员提供旅行培训服务。最后，我们亦会考虑修改巴士服务，以配合其他市场的需要，例如旅客和需要长途通勤的人士。

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.