Public Transit, Disability Access, and Time Poverty
Accessible public transit is essential for employment, health care access, and social participation for people with disabilities, yet reliability failures and inaccessible infrastructure create time poverty and exclusion. This mixed‑methods study combines paratransit logs, elevator outage records, ride‑along observations, and interviews with disabled riders across three cities to quantify delays, lost hours, and impacts on employment and care access. We document frequent elevator outages, paratransit delays, and inaccessible stops that produce hours of lost time per week for many riders, and we analyze how these reliability failures compound socioeconomic disadvantage. The paper recommends disability‑centered transit planning, reliability metrics tied to funding, and prioritized maintenance to reduce time poverty and improve equitable access.
Introduction
Transit accessibility is not only about physical infrastructure but also about reliability. Elevator outages and paratransit delays create time poverty that disproportionately affects disabled riders. This study quantifies the time costs and proposes accountability metrics to improve service.
Methods
We analyzed paratransit logs and elevator outage records, conducted ride‑along observations, and interviewed disabled riders in three cities. Time‑use analysis estimated lost hours and impacts on employment and care access.
Results
Frequent elevator outages and paratransit delays produced hours of lost time per week for many riders, reducing employment opportunities and access to care. Reliability failures were concentrated in older infrastructure and underfunded systems.
Discussion
Adopt reliability metrics for accessibility, invest in elevator maintenance, and prioritize on‑time paratransit service. Funding and accountability tied to accessibility outcomes can reduce time poverty and improve equity.
References
- Gleeson B. Disability and the open city. Urban Studies. 2001.
- Imrie R. Disability, space and society. Routledge. 2000.
- Lucas K. Transport and social exclusion. J Transp Geogr. 2012.