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Study reveals a gap between willingness and actual use among people with poor health

Demand responsive transportation in Senboku New Town, Osaka

Closing the mobility gap for the people with poor health

Credit: Haruka Kato, Osaka Metropolitan University

Demand-responsive transport (DRT) is promoted as an inclusive solution to first- and last-mile mobility challenges, but little is known about the barriers to adoption among people with poor health.

Dr. Haruka Kato, a junior associate professor at Osaka Metropolitan University, examined the factors shaping this population's acceptance and use of DRT in Senboku New Town, Osaka. The study applied the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology-3 (UTAUT-3) to assess the opportunities and challenges for using DRT.

The findings reveal that community involvement is a powerful driver of acceptance. The study showed that residents' intention to use DRT was strongly linked to citizen engagement, alongside personal habits and innovativeness. However, the research uncovered a critical gap for people with poor health: the willingness to use the service did not automatically lead to actual use. Many potential users faced practical barriers despite their high interest. The most significant hurdles were a lack of convenient mobility points near their homes and difficulties navigating smartphone-based booking systems. The findings strongly suggest that increasing the density of stops in residential areas is crucial to making DRT truly accessible.

“In Senboku New Town, DRT services operate through a cross-sector partnership program, where the DRT administrator and operator is partnered with 15 local commercial, amenity, and healthcare facilities to establish on-site mobility points and offer discounts to DRT users,” said Dr. Kato. “These cross-sector partnerships significantly strengthen the intention to use DRT by increasing citizen engagement.”

The findings were published in Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives.

Funding

This work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Japan (grant number 24K17421), the JST COI-Next, Japan (grant number JPMJPF2115), the Obayashi Foundation Research Program, Japan (grant number 2024-27-28), and the Osaka Metropolitan University Strategic Research Promotion Project, Japan (grant number OMU-SRPP2025_YR05). The opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this manuscript are those of the author.

Paper information

Journal: Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Title: Acceptance and Usage of Demand-Responsive Transport among People in Poor Health: Evidence from Senboku New Town
DOI: 10.1016/j.trip.2025.101632
Authors: Haruka Kato
Published: 16 September 2025
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2025.101632

Contact

Haruka Kato
Graduate School of Human Life and Ecology
E-mail: haruka-kato[at]omu.ac.jp

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