top of page

PRIVATE VS. PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

In 1994, four federal agencies jointly undertook a supplemental survey (NHIS-D) to the annual National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).

Private Vehicles –

Among the respondent under 65:

  • 2/3 of the respondents drive a car often or occasionally.

  • Among the 29% who report never driving, 45% say they do so because of health problems.

  • Only 13 percent of those with disabilities report living in a house without a car;

  • 20 percent report having three or more cars in the household.

  • Over 3/4 of the respondents said they either drove or rode in a car in the past month;

  • Over 2/3 of the same population drove at least once.

 

The dependency of both drivers and non-drivers on private vehicles is clear. This dependency on private vehicles extends to taxis.

Silver Volxwagon car
Martz Bus

Public transportation –

  • 1/3 of NHIS-D respondents say there is no public transportation available in the area, or that they do not use it.

  • For the respondents who have public transit in the area, over 3/4 said that they had not used it during the past 12 months, only 6 percent reported using a regular bus, 1.3 percent using a subway, and 0.9 percent using an accessible bus at least once in the previous week.

  • Only 16 percent of those respondents who had not used available public transit reported that their failure to do so was related to their impairment or health problem.  

  • Out of the small percentage of people who use such public transportations, only 13 percent reported difficulty in doing so.

​

Less than 20 percent of those aged 25 to 64 used general public transportation and only 8 percent over 65 did.

bottom of page