Wheelchair securement designs for fixed route, large accessible transit vehicles (LATVs) often create difficulties for passengers who use wheelchairs and operational inefficiencies for public transit agencies. Recent innovations in wheelchair securement technology for LATVs may reduce these challenges. This field study builds on a recent lab study that used a full-scale LATV simulation apparatus to address similar knowledge gaps. The current study used a mixed-methods approach to explore the usability of two newer wheelchair securement systems currently installed in LATVs in Buffalo, NY: a 3-point, forward-facing (3P-FF) securement system and a semi-automated, rear-facing (SA-RF) securement system. Three groups of wheelchair users (manual wheelchair [MWC], power wheelchair [PWC], and scooter [SC] users; n = 40) completed a pre-study interview, four trips on the LATVs and accompanying surveys, and a final interview. Using multiple usability rating scales, findings indicated clear differences in ratings of difficulty and acceptability between securement systems by wheelchair user group, with the SA-RF outperforming the 3P-FF on most usability measures for MWC and PWC users. SC users consistently rated both securement systems as more difficult to use and the SA-RF securement as less acceptable than MWC and PWC users.

固定路线，大型无障碍运输工具（LATV）的轮椅固定设计通常给使用轮椅的乘客带来困难，而公共交通机构的运营效率低下。用于LATV的轮椅固定技术的最新创新可能会减少这些挑战。该现场研究基于最近的实验室研究，该研究使用了完整的LATV模拟设备来解决类似的知识鸿沟。当前的研究使用一种混合方法来探讨目前在纽约州布法罗市的LATV中安装的两种新型轮椅固定系统的可用性：三点，前向（3P-FF）固定系统和半自动后排面向（SA-RF）的安全系统。三组轮椅使用者（手动轮椅[MWC]，电动轮椅[PWC]和踏板车[SC]用户；n = 40）完成了研究前访谈，在LATV上进行了四次旅行和随附的调查以及最后的访谈。使用多个可用性等级量表，研究结果表明，轮椅使用者群体在固定系统之间的难度和可接受性等级之间存在明显差异，在MWC和PWC用户的大多数可用性指标上，SA-RF的性能优于3P-FF。与MWC和PWC用户相比，SC用户一致认为这两个安全系统更难使用，而SA-RF安全则较差。