Abstract
Caregivers, especially those living in rural areas, often face unique challenges due to the responsibility of managing the mobility needs of the people in their care. While most transportation research focuses on individual travelers, mobility-of-care trips remain underexplored, despite their importance to public health. This study aims to assess the determinants of mode choice and trip-making behaviors among caregivers in California, focusing on mobility-of-care trips both for healthcare and social recreation. Collaborating with the nonprofit organization Ohana Center, this Community Based Participatory Research applies a mixed methods approach. First, using stated preference survey data from 349 caregivers (4188 observations) in California, collected in May 2025, we estimate an integrated choice and latent variable (ICLV) model to examine determinants of mode choice and trip-skipping behavior. Then, we conduct a series of three workshops with community leaders with caregiving expertise in semirural Antelope Valley to gain deeper insights into place-based transportation barriers and potential solutions. Our findings reveal that travel cost, travel time, and wait time significantly affect decision-making across all modes, while walk time, cleanliness, and ADA accessibility exhibit significant mode-specific effects. Caregivers who are women or nonbinary or belong to households that earn less than $15k in gross annual income are more likely to forgo mobility-of-care trips. Social recreation trips are more likely to be skipped than healthcare trips. Caregivers under the age of 35 and those who do not have a disability exhibit relatively higher wellbeing (measured as a 5-item latent variable), and those with higher wellbeing are less likely to forgo mobility-of-care trips. Based on these findings, this study offers recommendations for community-based transportation solutions tailored to the specific needs of caregivers and their recipients.
