Unraveling the interplay between individual characteristics and perceived accessibility

Introduction

The subjective perceptions of accessibility profoundly influence mobility and travel decisions and represent the lived reality regarding travel experiences. Thus, it is essential to understand the factors that shape these perceptions.

According to the literature, personal characteristics and socio-economic factors such as age, gender, socio-economic status, and perceived safety are among the main determinants of perceived accessibility and the way individuals interact with their built environment.

Methods

Research in this area has collectively called for examining perceived accessibility across the broader population, in different geographic contexts, and among different travel modes to gain a deeper understanding of this subjective measure of accessibility. In response, the study central in this paper makes use of a comprehensive community survey (n = 4262) that incorporates the Perceived Accessibility Scale (PAC) (Lättman, Olsson and Friman, 2015) alongside a wide range of questions related to well-being and individual characteristics. The integration of the PAC within this survey thus allows for the testing of individual characteristic variables previously reported in the literature as well as the analysis of new variable options.

The variables chosen for analysis in this paper are primarily informed by previous research and guided by Pot et al.'s (2021) conceptual framework, which depicts a set of individual characteristics that shape people's perceived accessibility. These variables are selected from a large community survey which is primarily intended to measure several domains of the quality of life in Canadian communities -the Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW, 2023). This paper examines both traditional and less-explored variables in relation to perceived accessibility; for example, the latter including self-reported mental health, self-reported physical health, and the period of residence in host communities. Incorporating these additional factors potentially provides a more comprehensive understanding of the link between individual characteristics and perceived accessibility. Both descriptive analysis and statistical modelling are employed to understand how this large array of individual factors relates to perceived accessibility across various population groups.

Results

Our findings include that lower income people, having a college diploma, or trade/apprenticeship, using public transit as a main mode of transportation, being young adults (25–34) or in the middle-aged cohort (35–44), or people having children living at home are all factors associated with significantly lower perceived accessibility. Additionally, lower perceived accessibility is also significantly associated with low self-reported mental and physical health, as well as a lower scores on sense of safety. In general statistical analysis shows that women have higher perceived accessibility than men; Anova analysis shows that younger female cohorts typically have higher levels of perceived accessibility than younger male cohorts, while the opposite is true in older cohorts.

Conclusion

These nuanced findings about the relationship between individual characteristics and accessibility perceptions enrich the already established understanding about the relationship between individual characteristics and perceived accessibility and provide insightful information that may be used to develop more inclusive and effective transportation planning policy and strategies.