TRCLC 14-11

Travel in Adverse Winter Weather Conditions by Blind Pedestrians

• PIs: Kim, Guth, Emerson, Long – Western Michigan University
• Project Period: July 1, 2014 – June 30, 2015 (12 months)

Winter weather creates many orientation and mobility (O&M) challenges for people who are visually impaired. This proposal addresses two major O&M challenges that affect the efficiency and safety of blind pedestrians who are traveling on snow-covered public rights-of-way. The objectives of this project are (1) to produce immediate knowledge about the effectiveness of available cane tips in adverse weather as well as information about how to improve the design of long cane tips and (2) to determine the extent to which recent developments in APS technology may improve the safety and efficiency of visually impaired pedestrians at snow-covered signalized intersections.

Functionally blind independent travelers with no other disabilities will be recruited. In Study 1, using four different commercially available cane tips, each participant will walk around a rectangular block. Travel efficiency will be measured by the duration of the trip around the block and the frequency of cane sticking on the snow-covered sidewalk surface. In Study 2, on a snow-covered pavement, participants will be aligned to face the opposite end of a simulated 20 m (approximately 5 lane) crosswalk and will “cross” 15 times with the beaconing APS system and 15 times without it.

The proposed project is expected to produce the following outcomes. First, with the knowledge obtained from Study 1, it will become possible to recommend (or possibly redesign) long cane tips to allow more efficient travel by blind pedestrians on snow-covered surfaces. Second, with the knowledge gained from Study 2, we expect to be able to further educate federal decision makers and stakeholders such as the U.S. Access Board and the Institute of Transportation Engineers on the general issue of veering (and the specific issue of straying from the crosswalk) by blind pedestrians, particularly in winter weather, as well as the effectiveness of treatments to address such problems.