Factors affecting personal autonomy and perceived accessibility of people with mobility impairments in an urban transportation choice context

Abstract

IntroductionThis paper studies factors affecting personal autonomy and perceived accessibility of people with mobility impairments in an urban transportation choice context, taking the city of Tunja, Colombia, as a case study. MethodsIn the context of our research, mobility impairments refer to a person's inability to use one or more of his/her extremities, or a lack of strength to walk. We conducted a survey in February 2018, using a face-to-face questionnaire consisted of three parts that were relevant to our study: facing a discrete choice experiment, rating a set of indicators of latent variables, and reporting the main socioeconomic characteristics. We estimated a hybrid discrete choice (HDC) model to identify the socioeconomic characteristics affecting personal autonomy and perceived accessibility and also test the hypothesis that these latent variables are determinants in the choice process of urban transportation mode for people with mobility impairments. ResultsThe empirical results demonstrate that perceived accessibility is different for travelers with a low income, wheelchair users, mobility impairments caused by aging and transit dependents. We also find that personal autonomy varies depending on car owners, permanent mobility impairments, wheelchair users, and workers in comparison with other people. The population heterogeneity we obtained through the latent variables allows us to identify policies to improve the quality of life for people with mobility impairments. ConclusionsThis paper advances the knowledge of how tangible and latent attributes affect the transportation choice process for people with mobility impairments by estimating an HDC model that integrates waiting time, travel time, urban transportation costs, personal autonomy, and perceived accessibility. Our results also contribute to a better understanding of the transportation needs of people with mobility impairments in developing countries.