Autonomous Vehicles and People with Disabilities: A Scientometric and Integrative Analysis of the Literature

Abstract

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) promise a new mobility reality for People with Disabilities (PWDs) by offering more possibilities for their inclusion into modern transport systems. When considering AVs’ dissemination for PWDs is related to different types and features of disabilities. Via a scientometric and integrative review, this paper proposes a research agenda on the field of AVs and PWDs. The search and analyses were based on papers indexed on Scopus, having resulted in a total of 294 articles. This database was chosen since it contains a larger number of records when compared to other academic databases, but mainly by yielding more complete metadata to be used on bibliometric analytical software. The articles were collected in a single search. As for the main results, research on AVs and PWDs is concentrated in Europe (mainly in the Netherlands), Asia, and United States. The research agenda provides a guidance for researchers in AVs, human disabilities, and transport inclusion. It was possible to envisage some principles: proper communication with PWDs about transport technologies along with the industry; engagement with users or PWDs consumers with interactive technologies, and adequate regulations of accessibility and safety. The main contributions of this study were: to delineate a landscape of the past research on AVs and PWDs, and to envision a research agenda on this subject. Another important contribution was to observe that some benefits of AVs applicable for PWDs could be also applied to the elderly. Therefore, the elaboration of new technologies on transport must be inclusive and interactive.