An Evaluation of the Safety Perceptions of Transportation Network Companies as a Mobility Option for the Visually Impaired Community

By Chris Simek, Ipek Nese Sener, and Maarit Moran

Preferred Citation

Simek, C., Sener, I.N., & Moran, M. (2020). An evaluation of the safety perceptions of transportation network companies as a mobility option for the visually impaired community. Journal of Blindness Innovation & Research, 10(2). https://nfb.org/images/nfb/publications/jbir/jbir20/jbir100202.html. doi: http://dx.doi/10.5241/10-175

Abstract

For blind individuals, access to safe and reliable transportation can be a challenge. Limited mobility options can culminate in a reduced quality of life and difficulty accessing housing and employment. Transportation network companies (TNCs) have emerged as a new mode of travel that has the potential to increase access to transportation for this segment of the population. The opportunities and challenges for TNC use by this population have not been widely studied. Through qualitative and quantitative methods, this study focused on gaining a better understanding of blind individuals’ safety perceptions of TNCs relative to other travel modes. The findings suggest that a significant proportion of blind individuals may use TNCs, and direct TNC experience strongly influences their safety perceptions of this travel mode. While TNCs present an opportunity for blind riders to become more engaged in myriad activities, these companies can still make improvements in many areas.

Keywords

Visual impairment, blind, safety, TNC, mobility


Full Text:

HTML BRF


DOI: http://dx.doi/10.5241/10-175

The Journal of Blindness Innovation and Research is copyright (c) 2020 to the National Federation of the Blind.