Accessibility is commonly defined and operationalised through objective measurements,such as travel time and physical distance to destinations; however, there is a lack of empirical studiescapturing perceived accessibility from individual perspectives. With the aim of sustainable transportfor inclusive communities, it is crucial to investigate the impact of socio-economy and travel modeon perceived accessibility and key driving factors of perceived safety and service quality. Throughthe collection of primary data from one of the fastest-growing suburbs in Melbourne, this studyexamined variation of perceptions towards accessibility, safety, and service quality among diversesocial groups and travellers using different modes of transport. The findings of this study wouldassist transport planners in making informed decisions in creating inclusive transport networks thatcan improve community health and well-being.

This study explores the concept of transport justice through the lens of perceived accessibility, highlighting the importance of individual experiences in transport planning and evaluation. It reveals that both gender- and age-based disparities exist in perceived accessibility and travel satisfaction, with women and the young experiencing lower accessibility and satisfaction due to a greater reliance on public transport. The study suggests that improving public transport quality and reducing car use attractiveness could address these inequalities. It also notes that increasing local activity hubs could enhance transport justice by reducing the need for frequent travel. The findings underscore the potential of perceived accessibility as a tool to unveil transport injustices and guide future research and policy-making toward a more equitable transport system.

For decades, accessibility – i.e. the ease of reaching destinations – has been an important concept in transport planning, resulting in many studies trying to measure it and put it into practice. Also walkability, a mode-specific type of accessibility referring to how easy it is to walk (to destinations) received increased attention in the last two decades. In recent years, a new focus has been on how people perceive their accessibility as this may be a stronger predictor of travel behaviour than objective elements of accessibility (such as built environment characteristics). Perceived walkability, i.e. how walk-friendly people experience a certain area, however, has only been explored by a limited number of studies. In this review paper, we give an overview of existing studies analysing perceived walkability, which mostly have focused on its effects on walking frequency/duration, physical activity and various aspects of mental well-being. Based on this literature review, a conceptual model is created, emphasising the determinants and effects of perceived walkability and how it is related to objective walkability. We end this paper by providing avenues for further research, including the introduction of a Short Perceived Walkability Scale (SPWS) and recommendations for data collection and analysis. Doing so can create new insights into perceived walkability and links with related elements, and therefore can contribute to stimulating walking trips and improving the experience of these trips.

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented numerous, significant challenges for elderlyin their daily life. In order to reach a deeper understanding of the feelings andthoughts of the elderly related to their possibilities to travel and engage in activitiesduring the pandemic, this study takes a qualitative approach to exploring the viewsof the elderly themselves. The study focuses on experiences during the COVID-19pandemic. A number of in-depth semi-structured interviews with elderly aged 70and above, were conducted in June 2020. Applied Thematic Analysis (ATA) wasapplied, as a first stage, to investigate meaningful segments of data. In a second stagethese identified segments were combined into a number of themes. This studyreports the outcome of the ATA analysis. More specifically we report experiences,motivations and barriers for travel and activity participation, and discuss how theserelate to the health and well-being of elderly, and vice versa. These findings highlight the strong need to develop a transport system that to a higher extent addresses thephysical as well as the mental health of old people, with a particular focus onfacilitating social interactions.

Background: Changes in modal choice is argued to be one way to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. Increasing modal choices in favour ofmore environmentally friendly travel modes requires a better understanding of how these choices are actually made. The first aim of this study istherefore to examine how modal choice is related to subjective experiences as perceived accessibility, perceived satisfaction, and habit, both beforeand after an intervention promoting public transport. The second aim is to examine how modal choice is affected by the intervention. Finally, thethird aim is to examine how subjective experiences as perceived accessibility, perceived satisfaction, and habit are affected by the intervention.Method: The design used is a before- and after-study with free public travel passes as the intervention (30- or 14-days free travel pass). Altogether, 52travelers – distributed on two intervention groups and one control group – participated in the study. The 30-days free travel pass group constitutes18 participants, the 14-days free travel pass group constitutes 19 participants while the control group constitutes 15 participants. During the beforeperiodthe participants were asked to register their modal choice using a digitalized application downloaded on their smart phones (the TravelVuapp), to complete a short app-based questionnaire, and a web-based questionnaire. During the after-period, they were once again asked to registertheir modal choice and to complete a web-based questionnaire. All data collected were analyzed by variance or correlation analyses using thechange between before- and after period as the dependent variable.Results: The results show that walking was more common than the use of public transport and car, which in turn were more common than the use ofbicycle. Perceived accessibility, perceived satisfaction, general health, life quality as well as habit were all rated fairly high. Over time, the use ofpublic transport increased while the use of car decreased overall. With increased use of public transport, the perceived accessibility decreased, buton the other hand, the life quality increased. There was no difference in perceived accessibility, perceived satisfaction, or habit between the threegroups, but the participants became overall more satisfied with the standard of their experiences of their everyday travel (cognitive evaluation). Atthe same time, they became less reflective of their choice of travel mode and less interested in trying out new alternative travel modes during theafter- compared to the before period.Conclusion: The intervention did not affect the modal choice or the subjective experiences. Over time, the participants did however increase their useof public transport and their cognitive evaluation of their everyday travel overall, while they decreased their use of car and became less reflectiveand less interested in trying out new alternative travel modes. These changes might be attributed to their participation in the present study.