On 12 May 2026, the ULTIMO project hosted the seventh webinar of its series, bringing together experts in accessibility, user centred design, and automated mobility. The session explored a central question for the future of autonomous public transport: how can we design inclusive autonomous vehicle (AV) services that people trust, accept, and want to use?
Moderated by Dr Güzin Akyıldız Alçura (Yıldız Technical University), the webinar highlighted that accessibility is not a technical add on but a prerequisite for social inclusion and acceptance. As autonomous mobility moves from pilots to large scale deployment, ensuring that people with disabilities, reduced mobility, or other access needs can use these services safely and smoothly is essential.
“Public transport exists to serve people, not to showcase technology.” — Linda Mathé and Markus Dubielzig
Linda Mathé (User Experience Researcher at SIEMENS and ULTIMO WP2 Lead) and Markus Dubielzig (Senior Key Expert Consultant for Accessibility at SIEMENS) opened the session with a clear message: technology alone will not make autonomous mobility successful — people will.
Drawing on more than 25 years of user centred design experience, Linda Mathé explained that ULTIMO’s vision of large scale AV fleets in cities and rural areas requires more than Level 4 vehicles and HD maps. It requires a deep understanding of user needs, especially those of persons with reduced mobility (PRMs), who stand to benefit the most from reliable, flexible, and accessible autonomous services.
They both presented findings from interviews, focus groups, on site observations, and real world AV deployments undertaken in the frame of the ULTIMO project. These participatory methods highlighted critical pain points such as the Pick Up and Drop Off Points (PUDOs) and the boarding phase, proving at the same time the importance of end to end accessibility and trust. Markus Dubielzig concluded by emphasizing that autonomous mobility will fail first at human touchpoints, not technical ones.
“Successful social implementation of automated buses will depend on designing systems that ensure coexistence with vulnerable road users and AVs.” — Dr. Takashi Hikasa
Dr. Takashi Hikasa (Associate Professor at Tama University) presented the results of his interdisciplinary research on the ethical, legal, and psychological factors shaping public acceptance of automated mobility. His work examines users’ behaviours in mixed traffic environments and how they share the space with new mobility systems including AVs.
Using scenario based surveys and statistical analysis, Dr. Takashi Hikasa’s studies reveal that acceptance of automated buses is driven less by technical factors than by how strongly people prioritise vulnerable users and by their awareness of autonomous technologies. In this regard, normative support — understood as cooperative attitudes toward public transport — emerges as the strongest indicator for automated mobility related behaviours.
In other words, the successful implementation of an automated mobility system depends not only on technological performance but also on normative values and social engagement. Overall, acceptance requires governance frameworks that ensure coexistence with vulnerable users and build public trust through transparency, safety, and inclusive design.
“Universal mobility and designing ‘the right way’ means continuously designing with users through collaboration methods and processes.” — Andrea Isaachsen Olvin
Andrea Isaachsen Olvin (Project Manager for Accessibility at Ruter) closed the webinar with a practical perspective on implementing inclusive mobility in real transport systems. Her work focuses on equitable and universal design for public transport, and while working on the self driving pilot in Groruddalen (one of the three ULTIMO pilot sites), she has discovered that physical and digital infrastructures do not necessarily always align — for instance, transitions breaking the journey and small barriers becoming quickly critical.
In this context, the “Mind the Gap” approach proposes tests in real world conditions built on real user insights. Re designing mobility means using cross disciplinary methods such as user co creation and real world testing, including solution design workshops and iterative testing with diverse user groups and experts. Overall, Andrea Olvin stressed that infrastructure, vehicles, and digital services must work together to create seamless, predictable, and safe journeys for all passengers.
Across the session, a clear consensus emerged: inclusive design is not optional. It is the foundation of successful automated mobility services implementation.
To achieve large scale deployment and public acceptance, AV services must address real user needs from the start, ensure accessibility across the entire journey, integrate governance, ethics, and social acceptance, and be co designed with the communities they serve.
As ULTIMO continues to advance autonomous mobility in Europe, these insights will guide the project toward solutions that are not only technologically advanced but also equitable, human centred, and socially sustainable. You can view the recording of the webinar below.