Travel Patterns, Needs, and Barriers of Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Although autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has received a substantial amount of attention in other fields, very little appears in the transportation literature about people with ASD. Because the National Household Travel Survey and metropolitan travel surveys do not classify people with ASD as a separate category of persons with disabilities, very little information is available about their travel patterns, needs, or barriers. To bridge the existing information gap, this paper provides results from a recent survey that focused exclusively on adults with ASD in New Jersey to learn about their travel patterns, the importance of the various types of trips they make, and the barriers they encounter regarding the use of different transportation modes. The survey, distributed through various organizations throughout the state, was completed by or for 703 adults. Because the objective of the paper is to provide as much information as possible from the survey, no attempt has been made to compare the travel patterns, needs, and barriers of the survey respondents with those of the general population. However, other researchers can easily compare the survey results provided in this paper with data from other sources. Although the survey generated other valuable information, the most revealing information pertained to barriers to walking, driving, taking public transit, and even taking rides from others. The information collected through this research is being shared through outreach efforts with agencies that provide or fund transportation to persons with disabilities in New Jersey.