Exploring the relationship between neighborhood environment and transport disadvantage during the COVID-19 lockdown

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely restricted residents' access to services and participation in socio-economic activities, aggravating transport disadvantage. Environmental intervention strategies are expected to alleviate the disadvantage, but relevant knowledge is limited. Based on a self-administered survey data collected in Melbourne, Australia during the COVID-19 lockdown, we investigated the impact of neighborhood environments on transport disadvantage. We hypothesized that neighborhood environments influence transport disadvantage by affecting neighborhood satisfaction and perceived discrimination, and then used a structural equation model to test the hypotheses. The results show that accessibility, neighborhood aesthetics, active transport facilities, and neighborhood cohesion were negatively associated with residents' transport disadvantage during the lockdown. The neighborhood's capability to meet household needs and residents' perceived discrimination were two pathways by which the neighborhood characteristics alleviated transport disadvantage. These findings suggest that improving neighborhood satisfaction and mitigating discrimination are promising environmental intervention strategies to enhance neighborhood resilience.