Multi-modal Disruption Travel Companion for Autistic People

Our project aims to address the barriers faced by autistic and neurodiverse passengers when rail journeys are disrupted.

Many autistic adults report that fear of disruption or delays on their journey deter them from using public transport. Our solution will provide autistic passengers with a tool to notify them in real time if their journey is disrupted and offer options to reroute their journey or return home based on their personalised travel preferences.

Our solution integrates numerous industry data feeds into a single information source, covering the entire journey life cycle. It is designed to reduce stress, and instil confidence in public transport for autistic travellers.

The social model of disability states that people are more disabled by societal barriers, rather than their impairment. By removing these barriers, we can promote equality and greater independence.

Our project seeks to provide autistic passengers with a multi-functional travel companion to help them manage journeys and focus on more than just the route from A to B. Most of the widely used travel apps focus on a specific purpose, such as journey planning or ticket sales, and are designed to cater for a broad section of the population and therefore do not sufficiently address specific accessibility needs. However, accessibility adjustments disadvantage no-one, and can often be beneficial to a much broader spectrum of people than the intended audience.