Mobility is one of the key requirements for the inclusion of people - with or without disabilities or impairments. Specifically people with disabilities are often confronted with restricted mobility options. To be able to exercise their rights equally, people with disabilities must be able to access different areas of life without hindrance (e.g. home, workplace, educational institutions, shopping, medical and rehabilitation facilities and other places of social life). An infrastructure without barriers is a fundamental requirement for equal participation of people in social life. In this context, adequate individual means of transport plays an essential role.

On behalf of Aktion Mensch, fka GmbH, in cooperation with the research areas Traffic Psychology & Acceptance and Vehicle Concepts & HMI of ika (Institute for Automotive Engineering, RWTH Aachen University) and the department of Health Psychology of IfP (Institute of Psychology, RWTH Aachen University), has developed an inclusive mobility concept to meet this challenge within the project ENABLE. People with and without disabilities should benefit equally from the inclusive mobility concept. It aims at representing an added value compared to already existing individual technical solutions, in that the modular technical approaches envisaged in the concept should be adaptable depending on the target group.

As part of the project, the target groups with particularly high needs in this topic area were first identified through an online survey of experts in the field of disability work. These target groups then worked out in workshops what specific difficulties they face and what they would like to see in their mobility experience. From this, we were able to derive overarching needs, the fulfillment of which we compared with existing solutions in order to identify and prioritize possible needs for action. With a focus on mobility-on-demand, we were able to develop specific requirements for an inclusive mobility concept and develop a concept version based on the previously derived needs. This concept supports users in planning their routes via an ability-based HMI and guarantees a seamless, self-determined mobility experience by incorporating current mobility offers and filling existing gaps via a barrier-free vehicle concept.

The ENABLE research project provided the foundation for the planned realization and testing of an adaptive and inclusive mobility concept.