01698169

Component

The purpose of this paper is to explore evidence about why people with mental disabilities travel less than other people and how this can be addressed. A person has a disability if he or she has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. The paper starts by examining the legislative context in Great Britain. Then, using the example of bus travel, it is shown that people with mental impairments travel by bus less than the general public and people with physical and sensory impairments. The main reason for this is anxiety because of lack of confidence. Evidence about the decisions that need to be made at each stage of the journey and the nature of the various mental impairments suggests that the main causes of anxiety are concerns about navigating the way without becoming lost and difficulties interacting with other people, both staff and other travelers, plus poor behavior by other travelers. Various ways of increasing confidence about finding the way are identified: enhancing the skills of the traveler, providing clear information before and during travel, making the local area easier to understand and providing support when lost. Similarly, interventions can help to improve communication between staff and travelers with mental impairments. Improving the behavior of other travelers so that it causes less anxiety is difficult but there are schemes and campaigns that may help.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ABE60 Standing Committee on Accessible Transportation and Mobility.

19-00182

English

8p

2019

Transportation Research Board 98th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; References; Tables

Anxiety; Bus travel; Persons with disabilities; Travel behavior

United Kingdom

Passenger Transportation; Public Transportation; Society

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2019 Paper #19-00182

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Dec 7 2018 9:47AM