Accessible Transportation Technologies Research Initiative’s Traveler-Centered Evaluation Framework

The Accessible Transportation Technologies Research Initiative (ATTRI) led efforts to develop and implement transformative applications to improve mobility options for all travelers, particularly those with disabilities. Working with the University of Washington, ATTRI developed a framework for the evaluation of technology applications designed to remove barriers to transportation for people with visual, hearing, cognitive, and mobility disabilities. The framework specifically accounts for—and provides guidance for—evaluations of a wide variety of accessibility development projects (ADP) and is designed to focus evaluation efforts on the key outcomes of importance for each ADP being studied, while also keeping in mind the need to understand the effect the ADP has on the Complete Trip.  

The Complete Trip concept is intended to shift focus in travel innovation from narrow-targeted technology development to a holistic approach to travel that puts the traveler and traveler outcomes at the center. High quality traveler-centered evaluations are part of the roadmap to building more equitable, universally accessible transportation networks.  The transportation evaluation literature contains many guides on methods and techniques to quantify transportation services and infrastructure. To a lesser extent, does the literature provide guides to thinking about the nature of traveler-centered evaluations and the actual human impact delivered through transportation innovation. 

This webinar will discuss the ATTRI Evaluation Framework, a guide to the planning, stages, performance metrics, and steps required to provide evaluations for new transportation technologies with a focus on traveler outcomes. The discussion will guide the audience through a highly organized, sequenced, and methodical approach intended to debunk the claim that traveler-centered evaluations are necessarily an art drawing on the insight and experience of the evaluators.