Journal of Korean Society of Transportation ISSN:1229-1366(Print) 2234-4217(Online) 대한교통학회지

This research is a basic study for the introduction of the current government’s wheelchairs-enabled express/intercity buses to improve the long-distance mobility of wheelchair users. Therefore, it aims to estimate the demand for long-distance travel for wheelchair users and uses it to identify the long-distance traffic patterns of wheelchair users. In detail, the demand for wheelchair-enabled express/intercity buses was estimated based on a wheelchair user survey by using an O/D expansion method. According to the analysis of the predicted demand, there is a lot of long-distance travel connecting big cities, such as Seoul, Busan, and Daejeon. While train usage is relatively high in some areas where train routes are well developed, more traffic using a private car occurs in other areas. Moreover, visiting relatives typically accounts for most of the purpose of long-distance travel by wheelchair users, except for tourist traffic to Gangwon. Lastly, the rate of long-distance traffic over time is mainly concentrated in the morning/afternoon peak hour (9－10 AM. and 4－6 PM). Based on these results, it will be possible to provide the necessary information for the route planning and time scheduling of wheelchair-enabled express/intercity buses. In the following study, stated preference survey will be applied to consider changes in the transport mode decision of wheelchair users.