Transportation Demands of Low-Mobility Individuals: Case Study in Wenling, China

Abstract

Generally, low-mobility individuals, those with less access to transportation options and who are often marginalized in the social environment, can be divided into three groups: older adults, low-income individuals, and individuals with disabilities. This article analyzes the transportation demands of low-mobility individuals in China using travel characteristics and accessibility of public transportation. A mixed survey procedure, including a large-scale investigation and a supplementary investigation was used. The findings show that (1) there are different results regarding the transportation demands of the three low-mobility groups; (2) as a single entity, low-mobility individuals have similar transportation demands, which are inferior to those of the general public; and (3) the transportation demands of low-mobility individuals in China are not identical to those obtained by other researchers. The above results indicate that the analysis of the transportation demands of low-mobility individuals should not only consider the transportation demands of distinct groups of low-mobility individuals but should also consider all of them as a single entity in comparison to the general public. Furthermore, planners in developing countries who make policies for the improvement of transportation conditions for low-mobility individuals should gain advanced experience from developed countries and take the particular conditions of their own country into account in order to meet the demands of low-mobility individuals.