People with disabilities and use of public transit: The role of neighborhood walkability

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2022

Subject Area

place - north america, place - urban, planning - surveys, land use - impacts, land use - urban density, ridership - behaviour

Keywords

Public transit use, Disabled individuals, Walkability index, Negative binomial regression model

Abstract

This study examines the links between neighborhood walkability and transit use with a focus on the differences between disabled individuals and others. Using the detailed individual-level data from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey-California Add-on (2017 NHTS-CA), we develop a walkability index using the z-scores of net residential density, street connectivity, and land use mix within a ¼ mile radius of one's residential location. We employ a negative binomial regression model to analyze the determinants of individuals' transit use with consideration of a travel-limiting disability. Some key findings are as follows. First, disabled individuals tend to have more frequencies of transit use than their non-disabled counterparts. Second, individuals living in walkable neighborhoods are more likely to use transit in general. Third, after controlling for various other factors, non-worker disabled individuals are less likely to use public transit than others. Lastly, higher levels of walkability are positively associated with transit use of disabled individuals than others. This indicates that enhancing neighborhood walkability has a much larger effect on disabled individuals than their non-disabled counterparts.

Rights

Permission to publish the abstract has been given by Elsevier, copyright remains with them.

Comments

Journal of Transport Geography home Page:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/09666923

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