Abstract
This study analyzed the operation-related historical data of the call taxi service for disabled people in Seoul, South Korea. The study investigated how unevenly distributed the accessibility of disabled people to transportation is in terms of time and space. In addition, the reasons that cause imbalanced accessibility were investigated in areas with good and poor accessibility. Accessibility was defined as how quickly call taxi services for the disabled are available at specific times and locations. For the analysis, the log data for tracking the status of taxis in time and space were processed to calculate their availability, an index that reflects the dwelling time and the number of taxis available at a specific time and in a specific area. This index was divided into time and space and used as a surrogate measure to assess accessibility. The results showed that there were spatial and temporal accessibility imbalances in demand responsive transit (DRT) service. The insufficient supply during the night resulting from the current DRT operating schedule has reduced the accessibility of call taxis for the disabled, and the concentration of drivers’ breaks also affected the accessibility of service during the daytime. This suggests the need for (1) an increase in supply and (2) evenly distributed breaks for the drivers. In terms of space, the outer areas of Seoul generally were found to be more accessible than the central areas. In addition, areas near depots that serve as hubs and resting places for taxi drivers, areas with excellent medical infrastructures for people with disabilities, and areas with good traffic environments tended to have good accessibility; this suggests the need to reallocate garages and improve the traffic environments to improve accessibility.
Highlights
An index called “availability,” which is defined as a surrogate measure for assessing the accessibility to transportation services, was used in this study because this index indicates how and quickly demand responsive transport (DRT) services for the disabled are available at a specific time and area. e results of this analysis might be expected to contribute to the establishment of policies related to the mobility of disabled people
E Seoul metropolitan government provides a DRT service for the disabled. is service operates according to the needs of passengers rather than on fixed routes or timetables, so the accessibility to use the service is not guaranteed in time and space, resulting in imbalances in the distribution of access in specific areas and periods
Is study attempted to identify the spatial and temporal imbalance of the DRT service for the disabled and suggested ways to improve the accessibility to DRT service
Summary
All people should be guaranteed the right to free and safe mobility in order to conduct social and economic activities as members of society. is right is called the right to mobility, and it is one of the fundamental human rights that people deserve and exercise as members of society. e Universal Declaration of Human Rights states the following, i.e., “Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state” [1]. Is act was enacted as a part of the efforts to create a safe and convenient transportation environment for mobility-disadvantaged people Among these efforts, DRT services have been provided as a special means of transportation to ensure the mobility rights of disabled people. Access to transportation is considered very good if people with disabilities can use transportation services at any time, and it is very important to guarantee the right to mobility without discrimination regardless of where people live. E aim of this study was to investigate how unevenly distributed the accessibility to transportation means for disabled people is over time and space by analyzing the operation-related historical data of call taxi services for the disabled in Seoul, South Korea.
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