Safety Perceptions of Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) by the Blind and Visually Impaired (BVI) (02-010)

Project Description: Many of the 10 million individuals who are visually impaired in the United States cannot drive and face significant challenges trying to access safe and reliable transportation. This can lead to additional consequences for mobility, quality of life and access to 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. However, the opportunities and challenges for TNC use by individuals with blindness or visual impairment have not been widely studied. This research attempts to better understand how persons that are visually impaired perceive the safety of TNCs relative to other travel modes and how they utilize TNCs for safe travel. More specifically, the goal of this research was to address the following questions: What factors are used to assess the safety of transportation options by individuals with visual impairment? Relative to other modes of transportation available to individuals with visual impairment, how safe or unsafe are TNCs perceived to be? What TNC characteristics contribution to the perception of safety as compared to more traditional transit and paratransit services? What technologies mitigate the perceived safety risks for individuals with visual impairment? Do TNCs offer a service that can address some of the above-mentioned transportation challenges? Data Scope: The data analyzed for this project was collected via a self-administered web survey. Survey participants included individuals that are blind or visually impaired. The final dataset includes 283 records. Of these, 12 represent ineligible respondents, 79 are partially completed and 192 are complete and usable. These 192 complete and usable records were the basis for the analysis. The data is in an Excel file, and is accompanied by several other Excel tabs and a MS Word file that provides further explanation for the data and variables.