Autonomous cars could help millions of disabled Americans find jobs, study finds

• Public transit services often fail to adequately meet their needs.

By the numbers: Only 21% of Americans with disabilities participated in the labor force in 2021, compared to 67% of those without disabilities.

• And the unemployment rate for people with disabilities was 10% that year — twice that of able-bodied people.

Details: The study, by the National Disability Institute, claims to be the first to look at AVs' potential macroeconomic impact.

• If reliable, affordable self-driving cars were widely available, around 9.2 million more Americans would join the workforce, the researchers found.
• That includes 4.4 million direct jobs for Americans with a disability, plus many more indirect jobs.
• The federal government would see $120.7 billion in benefits, including $93 billion in additional tax revenues and a $28 billion reduction in spending on social safety net programs.

Of note: The study was commissioned by General Motors-owned Cruise, which is developing a robotaxi service and has a vested interest in seeing more AVs on the road.

What to watch: GM is seeking regulatory approval for its driverless Origin robotaxi, which has no steering wheel or pedals.

• It wants the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to increase the cap on the number of vehicles it can deploy.
• GM and Cruise are designing a version of the taxi to serve people in wheelchairs and those who otherwise need extra assistance.