Promoting Inclusive Design and Deployment of Connected and Automated Vehicles for Older Adults Through Education of Engineering Students

Molnar, Lisa J; Zhou, Feng; Eby, David W; Zakrajsek, Jennifer; St. Louis, Renee M.; Zanier, Nicole; Yi, Ping · 2023 · ROSA P / University of Michigan. Center for Connected and Automated Transportation

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Summary

This report details a project aimed at promoting the inclusive design and deployment of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) for older adults by integrating these issues into the education of engineering students. The research was motivated by the potential of CAVs to maintain mobility for aging populations, who face increasing barriers to driving due to perceptual, psychomotor, and cognitive declines. However, challenges regarding accessibility, acceptability, and affordability persist. The project sought to increase graduate students’ awareness and sensitivity to these issues using an experiential learning framework, leveraging a previous grant focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion in transportation. The study employed a multi-task approach involving University of Michigan students enrolled in a graduate course on human-centered design. The methodology included four primary phases: first, the project team conducted a comprehensive research synthesis on older adults and CAVs, reviewing literature on aging demographics, functional declines, and ADS design. Second, the team engaged in community discussions with older adults to identify specific benefits and barriers to CAV adoption. Third, the team presented these findings to students, who then completed classroom projects addressing older adult needs in CAV design. Finally, students developed and presented posters summarizing their work at a formal session attended by faculty, industry representatives, and peers. The project’s effectiveness was evaluated using pre- and post-surveys to measure changes in student knowledge and perceptions. Findings from the research synthesis highlighted that while older adults recognize the value of CAVs, they exhibit mixed feelings and reluctance to relinquish vehicle control, influenced by trust and prior experience. The synthesis detailed specific age-related declines in vision, hearing, reaction time, and cognitive processing that impact driving and vehicle interaction. Community engagement revealed that older adults perceive significant benefits in CAVs, such as maintained independence, but also identify barriers including cost, complexity, and lack of trust in technology. The student projects applied human-centered design principles to address these specific concerns. Evaluation data indicated that the experiential learning approach successfully increased students’ knowledge regarding the accessibility and inclusivity needs of older adults in the context of CAVs. The significance of this work lies in its demonstration of how engineering education can be structured to foster empathy and technical sensitivity toward vulnerable user groups. The report concludes with recommendations for future educational efforts, suggesting that integrating direct community engagement and reflective practice into engineering curricula enhances student competency in inclusive design. Additionally, the findings provide actionable insights for industry stakeholders, emphasizing the need to address older adults’ specific functional limitations and trust issues in the design and deployment of automated driving systems to ensure equitable mobility solutions.

Key finding

An experiential learning curriculum involving research synthesis, community engagement, and student design projects effectively increased engineering students' knowledge and sensitivity regarding the inclusive design of connected and automated vehicles for older adults.

Methodology

mixed_methods

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via bulk_ingest_rosap on 2026-05-23 (6 acquisition events logged).

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

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• acceptance adoption
• older driver retraining
• older drivers