How vision-impaired riders navigate public transit disruptions: Challenges and opportunities

Advancements in technologies such as GPS tracking and data sharing have led to rapid expansions in access to information about public transportation. However, journeys are still not immune to disruptions despite the widespread benefits of this information, and much remains needed to ensure consistently smooth trips. Construction, delays, accidents, weather, full vehicles, complicated transfers, sidewalk issues, and vehicle problems all contribute to last-minute changes in routes and schedules. Disabled riders often have difficulties adapting to unexpected shifts in their travel plans, but little research has explicitly examined their lived experiences. To learn about how people with vision disabilities experience and recover from disruptions, we performed a qualitative research study with twelve blind and low vision riders of the local transit system. Using semi-structured interviews, we gathered information about what technologies they use to plan and monitor trips, what types of disruptions they encounter on their journeys, how they adapt their behaviors to recover from disruptions, and what shortcomings they find in current transit technologies. By performing thematic analysis, we identified five themes around disruptive events: persistent, predictable problems exist; unpredictable situations can disrupt journeys; operators and other riders play a role in a journey’s success; participants account for potential problems when planning; and participants have developed techniques to recover from disruptions. Additionally, they discussed shortcomings in services, potential improvements, and their envisioned futures. These data can be used to design future technologies that respond to both mundane and extreme navigational needs of all transit users and help advance mobility justice.