Driving Communities Forward with Michele Lee

For our latest Driving Communities Forward feature, I’m pleased to highlight Michele Lee, a dedicated advocate and leader in the disability community, Chicago Transit Authority board member, and senior public affairs manager for accessibility at Cruise. I'm personally grateful to Michele for her service on our Cruise for Good Advisory Board. Read on to hear Michele's insights and journey that inspires us all to find innovative ways to make a more inclusive society.?

What gets you up in the morning and what's a typical day in your role?

What gets me up in the morning is my work’s immense potential for positive impact.?

I’m so glad to be joining you for National Disability Employment Awareness Month (#NDEAM). At this point in time, we have the opportunity to reinvent the landscape of how we move from place to place. Driverless vehicles will change society, and including accessibility at the forefront of this technology is really critical.?

Last year we worked closely with the National Disability Institute to publish a landmark study on the economic impact of adoption of fully-accessible autonomous vehicles. The numbers are staggering. People with disabilities are a largely underrepresented component of the United States labor market. Individuals with disabilities have nearly double the unemployment rate (10% vs. 5%). The study also found that with the adoption of driverless vehicles, there would be 4.4 million more jobs for people with disabilities (and 9.2 million total jobs across the U.S.) and an increase of $867 billion in U.S. GDP. That’s huge.

With regard to my typical day, I prioritize meeting with and listening to disability advocacy and community organizations to understand their goals and needs. These conversations then inform my work with product and engineering teams at Cruise on how we can design our products and services to best serve these communities.

Who inspires you?

Professionally, my colleagues and the leaders across both Cruise and GM inspire me. It is incredible to be surrounded by empathetic individuals who are committed to making transportation more inclusive and breaking down inherent systemic transportation barriers. Together, we are building a future where everyone has access to a safe, reliable, and affordable way to get around.

Personally, my mother, Patricia Tam, inspires me. She is such a strong, resilient person who is absolutely fearless. Everyday I am reminded to fight for what matters — my mom taught me how.?

What do you wish people knew about your field?

“Nothing about us, without us” is a powerful motto that drives my work at Cruise. In the field of social impact and accessibility, it's crucial for people to understand that inclusivity should always be at the forefront of innovation. Cruise is working to make transportation accessible for more people including those with disabilities. This means listening to people with disabilities and inviting collaboration at every stage of product development.?

One example of how autonomous rides are changing lives is Paralympian Matt Scott’s experience with autonomous vehicles. "It just rolls up. It doesn't judge me," Scott explained. "It sees where I'm going. It takes me there. I feel safe. I feel happy that I'm there and nobody's challenged me in the experience."?

Matt Scott’s testimony reflects the profound impact autonomous transportation can have on the lives of individuals with disabilities. It’s not just about getting from point A to point B; it's about providing independence, freedom, and a sense of dignity to those who may have faced barriers in traditional transportation options.

What is your vision for the future?

The transportation status quo is not only unsafe, it is inaccessible. 41 million Americans live with disabilities, and everyone deserves a better transportation option that prioritizes their needs.?

This month marked a significant milestone for Cruise, the disability community, and the AV industry at large, as we unveiled our wheelchair accessible vehicle, the Cruise WAV. This first-of-its-kind vehicle has been purpose-built from the ground up, and the result of years of product design, development, and testing. This is a groundbreaking and historic moment.

Cruise continues to work alongside the disability community on future iterations of the WAV, including members of our own Cruise Accessibility Council to make sure it's accessible to even more users in future generations.

Autonomous vehicles are a game-changer, allowing individuals with mobility disabilities to have reliable and on-demand transportation, ultimately enabling greater independence and freedom in their lives. With almost 6 million Americans who use wheelchairs, including myself, I envision a world where people with disabilities have the same freedom to move as anyone else.

How can we support your work?

We appreciate the support of everyone who believes in our mission to build a more accessible future. There are several ways to support our work. First and foremost, we value feedback and collaboration. Raising awareness about the importance of accessibility and advocating for inclusive transportation solutions can make a significant difference.

If you’re interested in learning more about our accessibility work at Cruise, you can follow me on LinkedIn or check out our website. If interested, you can join our community of riders with disabilities to get notified of paid research opportunities (both in-person and virtual) that will inform our product development. Sign up here to share your experiences, test our latest technology, and help build the future of transportation.

You can also follow along with our Cruise Accessibility Council which is built of members that hail from across the country, and bring a wide range of disciplines and lived experiences to the table. Feel free to follow council members like Brad Duerstock, Daniel Van Sant, and Erin Gildner on LinkedIn or Twitter to learn even more!

Together, we can create a more accessible, equitable, and inclusive future.