Transport digitalisation: Navigating futures of hypercognitive disablement.

Area of Science:

• Sociology of disability
• Bioethics
• Transport studies

Background:

• Digital transformation in transport disproportionately affects individuals with cognitive impairments.
• Rail ticket office closures highlight emergent disablement issues.
• Sociological analyses of cognitive disability often lack theoretical depth.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how transport digitalization creates new forms of disablement for people with cognitive impairments.
• To apply bioethical concepts of hypercognitivism to understand digital disablement.
• To advocate for a more robust sociology of cognitive disability.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis drawing on bioethics and sociology.
• Examination of digitalization's impact on mobility for individuals with dementia.
• Critique of hypercognitive values in transport policy.

Main Results:

• Digital transport solutions can exacerbate existing disabilities due to a focus on cognitive acuity (hypercognitivism).
• Disablement is intensified by value commitments in digitalization implementation, not inherent to technology.
• Current digitalization trends risk spreading new forms of disability.

Conclusions:

• A hypercognitive lens reveals how transport digitalization can be disabling.
• A stronger sociological framework is needed to represent and protect individuals with cognitive impairments.
• Inclusive transport strategies must address the societal veneration of cognitive acuity.