I Corp Teams: Travel Assistant Device (TAD)

在当今社会，交通对于独立生活是必不可少的。《美国残疾人法》(ADA)要求运输机构向符合ADA资格的个人提供辅助运输起点到目的地的服务。从2007年到2010年，运输机构每年提供的ADA辅助旅行的平均次数增加了7%，2010年的平均每次旅行成本为29.30美元，而固定路线旅行的平均成本为8.15美元。由于公共交通机构不被允许将公共交通旅行的大部分额外费用转嫁给乘客，公共交通机构必须承担这些费用(每年大约400万美元)，或者想方设法使目前使用公共交通服务的个人能够使用固定路线服务。在接受调查的145家公交机构中，约55%的机构正在使用旅行培训来帮助辅助运输乘客过渡到固定路线的服务。拟议的技术(旅行助理设备，TAD)是一种具备GPS功能的移动电话技术，可帮助需要帮助的个人在公共汽车和火车路线上导航，例如残疾人士或游客。TAD为交通用户独立旅行必须掌握的两项最困难的技能提供了及时的听觉和视觉提示：(1)在不熟悉的地区观察地标；(2)及时识别所需公交站点附近的地标，以发出需要下车的信号。需要的旅行路线，包括公共汽车或火车号码和时刻表，被输入到系统中。系统为公交乘客提供循序渐进的说明。这项技术有可能改善残疾人的生活质量，提高退出旅行培训计划的效率，并降低整体运输机构成本。该项目的直接目标是在研究在不同市场使用TAD的可能性的同时，确定潜在客户。这一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。长远的愿景是许可这项技术，或者创建一家初创公司来托管软件，并向运输机构推销这项技术。该公司的主要功能将是更新用于当前智能手机的软件，升级订阅公交机构的公交车和火车路线，并为公交机构、他们的辅助乘客和照顾者提供旅行培训服务。最后，为配合其他市场的需要，例如旅客和通勤时间较长的人士，当局亦会修订机场客运营业税。

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.