University of Washington

In our most recent funding cycle, PacTrans funded some state-of-the-art research by OSU Associate Professor, Katharine M. Hunter-Zaworski. Dr. Hunter-Zaworski has been utilizing 3-D modeling, anthropometric digital human models, and virtual reality to perform spatial analyses of accessible seating areas for future passenger rail interior design. Her work for PacTrans extends her work that was conducted for the US Access Board and the Federal Railroad Administration. The initial project conducted a preliminary spatial analysis to determine if two or more wheeled mobility devices (WhMD) could be accommodated in the seating compartment on the next generation passenger trains. That project identifi ed that it is possible to spatially accommodate two WhMD. Additional analysis is necessary to develop detailed layouts for the accessible seating area to accommodate two WhMD and also provide for containment of both occupied and unoccupied WhMD to optimize occupant protection of people who use WhMD and other passengers. The original project showed that it is possible to accommodate two WhMD with the loss of one or two revenue seats. The signifi cant concern is that occupant protection and containment of WhMD is severely compromised. By itself, 3-D modeling provides a means of digitally evaluating design feasibility of potential accommodations. Including anthropometric human models into early phases of design then accounts for human factors and ergonomic factors as well, however a physical mockup would still be required to access validity and target user opinion. Dr. Hunter- Zaworski believes that creating a virtual reality environment based on evaluated 3-D models and using it for human subject evaluation will create a framework that eliminates the need for a potentially expensive and time-consuming physical mockup. Using digital evaluation also permits the inclusion of analysis for many different types of WhMD, design scenarios, and anthropometric users within the same space. While the fi nal technical report for this work will not be published on the PacTrans website for several months, Dr. Hunter-Zaworski's fi ndings illustrate the challenge of providing space for maneuverability of WhMDs and controlling for the loss of revenue seating. The project examined a number of different scenarios for accommodating one or two WhMD. This project outcomes fi rstly make several recommends with regard to the use of rear facing seating to provide containment for WhMDs and the use of personal restraint devices such as seat belts to control the amount of free fl ight and limit the secondary impact velocity that is associated with severe braking conditions. The project secondly proposes a framework for 3-D modeling to evaluate and test spatial consumption, feasibility, human factors, and human-environment interaction, and this framework could be used on other modes of passenger rail travel and transit. SPATIAL ANALYSIS OF ACCESSIBLE SEATING AREA ON THE NEXT GENERATION PASSENGER RAIL CARS USING 3-D MODELING AND VIRTUAL REALITY 10 Pacifi c Northwest Transportation Consortium

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