Leveraging App Technology to Measure the Impact of Transportation Disadvantage: The Development of MyAmble

Abstract

Widely used data-collection methods fail to fully capture the lived experiences and un-met travel demands of marginalized populations and those at disproportionate risk of experiencing transportation disadvantage (TD). This study describes an interdisciplinary collaboration between social work, civil ­engineering, and computer science on the development of a transportation data collection tool, MyAmble. The theoretical framework of social exclusion was used as part of the study design in order to better understand the process of marginalization as a result of inability to participate in wider society, in part through lack of transportation. Thus, MyAmble augments the best practices in transportation daily diary research using features designed to characterize and quantify latent travel demand among individuals experiencing TD, as well as the subjective impact of lack of transportation on quality of life and well-being. MyAmble includes several innovations – a daily digital trip planning that captures latent demand, a text-messaging based qualitative interview tool, a self-guided travel history survey, and a challenge logger. We describe the design process and implementation that occurred during a five-day pilot test and present a case study. Finally, findings from the case study suggest that MyAmble was able to successfully capture planned, unplanned, and unserved trips as well as the lived experiences of TD.

Keywords:

• Transportation
• social exclusion
• app-based travel diary
• transportation disadvantage
• latent demand

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge Professor David Levine, Ziaur Rahman, and Meenakshi Balasubramanian for their expert assistance and support during the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Transportation Research Center for Livable Communities under Grant [2016-405] and the North Central Texas Council of Governments under Grant [2017-273].

Notes on contributors

Noelle L. Fields

Noelle L. Fields, PhD, LCSW is an associate professor and the Roy E. Dulak Professor of Community Practice Research at the School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Arlington. Her research interests include gerontology, transportation equity, livable communities, and family caregiving.

Courtney Cronley

Courtney Cronley, PhD, is an associate Professor at the College of Social Work, The University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Her research interests include transportation equity and the experiences of women, youth, and families in situations of homelessness and housing insecurity.

Stephen P. Mattingly

Stephen P. Mattingly, PhD, is a professor in the College of Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, the University of Texas at Arlington. His research focuses on Decision and Risk Analysis (AHP, Multiattribute, Multiobjective techniques), Transportation and Public Health, Transportation Equity, Institutional Studies and Analysis, Transportation Planning, Public Transit, and Transportation Safety.

Vivian J. Miller

Vivian J. Miller, PhD, MSSA, LSW is an assistant professor in the Department of Human Services, College of Health and Human Services, Bowling Green State University. Her research focuses on gerontology, transportation, and social policy.

Saeed Reza Ramezanpour Nargesi

Saeed Reza Ramezanpour Nargesi, PhD, is was affiliated with the Department of Civil Engineering, the University of Texas at Arlington and is currently a transportation systems modeler.

Ebrahim I. Bharmal

Ebrahim I. Bharmal, B.S., is was affiliated with the Department of Computer Science, the University of Texas at Arlington and is currently a software engineering at Presidio.

Moriah Chace

Moriah Chase, BA, was affiliated with Thryv and is currently a freelance writer.