Travel Chain Enabler: Development of a pilot instrument for assessment of urban public bus transport accessibility

Abstract

Among the issues relating to the needs of citizens with reduced functional capacity, accessibility problems throughout society are gaining interest. The focus of this paper is on methodology for assessment of urban public bus transport accessibility. The aims are to describe the development of a pilot version of a new instrument, the Travel Chain Enabler, and to identify problems to target for further research. Based on the previously developed Housing Enabler instrument and a literature review, the development of a pilot instrument was initiated. In several steps, three different raters recorded accessibility on site while traveling by public bus transport in a Swedish city. The results showed the relevance of the assessment approach, but definition problems, difficulties as regards reliable measurements, and/or paucity of administration instructions were demonstrated in 32% of the items of the instrument. The results of a minor inter-rater reliability analysis indicated moderate agreement. The detailed specification of the different kinds of problems and assessment difficulties is of the outermost importance for further research in the field. With current results as a new point of departure, major methodological challenges will be more constructively dealt with.