Travel behavior of visually impaired people before and during COVID-19

COVID-19 has imposed significant changes to the daily routines of urban residents, significantly impacting travel behaviors. Visually impaired people are a disadvantaged group in transportation, and may be more vulnerable to disproportionate impacts due to COVID-19. This study explores the travel behavior of visually impaired people before and during COVID-19. It applies the ordered logistic regression model and a structural equation model to investigate whether satisfaction with travel condition (including bus voice prompts, blind guidance systems, intersection navigability, and urban blind-tracks) and whether willingness to travel (related to using blind-tracks, traveling by bus, and going to active places), respectively. It also uses a correlation analysis to compare the effects of travel condition satisfaction and psychological state on travel willingness. A multiform questionnaire survey was conducted to collect travel data from 218 visually impaired people in Taiyuan, China. The results indicate that the extent of impacts of related variables on travel condition satisfaction and travel willingness of visually impaired people did differ before and during COVID-19. Psychological state plays an important role in analyzing the travel willingness of visually impaired people, particularly during COVID-19. Our findings provide a reference for developing travel policies that can positively impact the travel behavior of visually impaired people, particularly during public health crisis.