Public Transportation Travel Behavior Analysis of Low-Mobility Individuals Before and During COVID-19: A Case Study in Taiyuan City, China

The Coronavirus Disease 2019(COVID-19) pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to urban transportation. During the pandemic, public transportation, as an integral part of urban transportation, must ensure the safety of passengers, particularly low-mobility individuals(LMIs): older people, individuals with disabilities, and low-income individuals who prefer getting around by it. Based on passengers’ travel behavior and psychological characteristics, this paper analyzes the public transportation travel of LMIs before and during the pandemic using a hybrid survey method that combines a face-to-face survey and a supplementary telephone interview. The results show that LMIs differ from the general public in public transportation travel characteristics, and the three subgroups also differ from each other. Accordingly, the conditions in the context of the pandemic should be fully considered to meet LMIs’ demand for public transportation and ensure their safety when relevant policies are formulated.