DOI: 10.3886/e207768v1
title: Transportation Patterns of Adults With Travel-Limiting Disabilities in Rural and Urban America

description: Lack
 of transportation is a significant barrier to community participation for
 many disabled adults. Living in a rural area introduces additional
 transportation barriers, such as having to travel long distances to access
 services or socialize, and limited public transit options. While the
 importance of transportation access is clear, the mix of different
 transportation options used by people with disabilities to participate in
 their communities is less understood, particularly among those who do not or cannot
 drive. This study used 2017 data from the National Household Travel Survey to
 explore transportation behaviors among disabled adults in rural and urban
 areas. Several geographic differences emerged among non-drivers. Rural
 non-drivers were less likely to take any trip, particularly for social
 activities, and reported using less public transportation or walking/rolling
 than urban non-drivers. Overall, disabled rural adults reported lower odds of
 giving up driving, even after controlling for socio-demographic and health
 characteristics.
description: <b>Disability
 and Assistive Technology- </b>
 The
 NHTS asks respondents if they have “a condition or handicap that makes it
 difficult to travel outside of the home” (i.e., travel-limiting disability).
 For this paper, we consider an affirmative response to this question as
 someone with a disability. However, disability is not a static
 characteristic, and several analyses describe changes in disability status
 over relatively short time frames, between 4 months and 1 year, which may
 reflect temporary injuries. The NHTS also asks respondents if their condition
 has lasted for &lt;6 months, more than 6 months, or their entire life. To
 focus on individuals with long-term or enduring disabilities, we excluded
 those with a disability lasting &lt;6 months. The NHTS also asks if they use
 any of the following: cane, walker, white cane, seeing-eye dog, crutches,
 motorized scooter, motorized wheelchair, manual wheelchair, or other.
 Individuals who reported using any of these items were coded as using
 assistive devices.<br><br>
 <b>Non-driver
 status- </b>
 The NHTS
 asks all respondents how many vehicles they have in their household. We
 defined “non-driver” status as including all individuals who reported giving
 up driving as well as individuals who can drive but do not have a vehicle in
 their household.<br><br><br><b>Trips- </b>
 Respondents
 to the NHTS report every trip they take throughout their travel diary day. We
 used information about the main purpose for each trip to analyze the types of
 trips that individuals took. Each trip was assigned one purpose. “Social
 trips” includes recreational activities, exercise, visiting friends, and
 religious/community activities. “Independent Living trips” includes dropping
 off/picking someone up, errands, and buying meals. “Work trips” includes any
 trip for work or employment related activities among employed individuals.
 “Health trips” includes trips to the doctor’s office, dentist or therapy. We
 excluded return trips to home and trips between different transportation
 modes (i.e., walking to bus stop). Types of trips were informed by another
 NHTS-focused study; however, we classified trips for healthcare purposes as a
 distinct category.<br><br>
 <b>Transportation
 modes- </b>
 Trip
 records also include information about the type of transportation that was
 used. “Driver, personal vehicle” includes driving a car, SUV, van, truck or
 motorcycle. “Passenger, personal vehicle” includes riding in car, SUV, van,
 truck or motorcycle as a passenger. “Public transportation” includes
 public/commuter bus, paratransit/dial-a-ride, commuter rail, and
 subway/streetcar. “Taxi/rideshare” includes taxi, limo, and Uber/Lyft.
 “Walk/roll” includes walking and bicycle.
description: Response Rates: NA
description: Presence of Common Scales: NA
description: The NHTS
 is a cross-sectional survey conducted every 5–7 years to collect information
 about the types of trips and transportation modes used by the American
 public. It uses an address-based sampling frame designed to produce an equal
 probability sample of households, excluding group housing and institutional
 settings (e.g., prisons, dormitories).<br><br>
 22,716
 (unweighted)/22,827,651 (weighted)
description: United
 States. Smallest Geographic Unit: Rural/Urban counties and Regions
description: other;