Comprehensive mobility support system for people with physical disabilities based on the Auto Mobility Centre (AMC-2)

Project title

Name of Beneficiary/Beneficiaries

Instytut Transportu Samochodowego (Motor Transport Institute), Wojskowa Akademia Techniczna im. Jarosława Dąbrowskiego (Military University of Technology), Instytut Odlewnictwa (Foundry Research Institute), AMZ BIS Sp. z o. o. (AMZ BIS Ltd.)

Name of programme

INNOTECH

Competition

INNOTECH II, IN-TECH programme path

Project value

PLN 5 136 489.86

Funding value

PLN 4 406 236.47

Project delivery period

from 1/02/2013 until 31/08/2015

Have a look at the outcome of our work

Video

Footage of the activities of the Automotive Services Centre for the Disabled Persons. The Motor Transport Institute is a partner of the Accessibility Plus Programme. The film was financed by the European Social Fund. More information at website.

What problem does our project solve?

Automotive Services Centre for the Disabled Persons (CUM) was established in 2015 by order of Prof. Marcin Ślęzak, PhD. Eng., Director of the Motor Transport Institute (ITS). The initiative continues the assumptions of the project entitled Comprehensive Mobility Support System for Persons with Mobility Disabilities (AMC-2), implemented over the years 2013-2015 and funded by the National Centre for Research and Development under the INNOTECH Programme. The subject of the project was the development of a mobility support system for people with mobility disabilities, thanks to a pilot car fleet adapted - for the needs of nine types of mobility dysfunction groups. The objective of the project was to solve the transport needs of people with disabilities. The Centre was founded out of concern for drivers, driver candidates and passengers with disabilities, for whom the vehicle is an important tool, essential for proper functioning. The consultants of the Centre are also people with disabilities carrying out the following initiatives:

1. Running a National Automotive Service Information Point using social media and a website.

2. Managing a car rental service for drivers and passengers with disabilities.

3. Initiating functional tests for the benefit of individual customers on the adaptation of cars intended for drivers and passengers with disabilities.

4. Preparing opinions and expert reports commissioned by government institutions and local authorities

5. Creating new trends in the implementation of scientific research in the field of individual transport of persons with disabilities (e.g. the Centre of Knowledge on Accessibility project).

6. Promoting innovative technological solutions using the results of scientific research or development works.

Who will benefit from the outcomes of the project?

The target group of the project beneficiaries are people with mobility impairments: driver candidates, drivers and passengers. The intermediate group is primarily people employed in the governmental institutions, local authorities and non-governmental organisations.

In addition to the aforementioned groups, support and advisory services are also available to carers of people with disabilities, medical examiners examining driver candidates, driver training centres, voivodeship road traffic centres, adaptors, insurers.

What was the most challenging aspect of the implementation of the project for us?

The issues included in the assumptions of the system support for the transport of people with disabilities became the arena for many substantive and organisational challenges, as it was the first initiative of this kind in Poland. The greatest challenge was to get decision-makers interested in the issues of training, testing and adaptation of vehicles for this group of stakeholders. The community of people with disabilities perceived the project and its continuation, in the form of the Automotive Services Centre for the Disabled Persons, as an important initiative to address the personal transport needs of people with special needs.