Resilience of Specialized Transportation Systems for People with Disabilities Under Extreme Weather Conditions

Climate change is increasing the frequency of extreme weather events, posing critical challenges for the resilience of specialized transportation services (STSs) that provide essential mobility for people with disabilities. In the South Korean context, heatwaves, cold spells, and heavy rainfall are particularly relevant because they directly affect health risks, trip demand, and operational reliability, making them central stressors for evaluating STS resilience in Busan. This study examines STS resilience in Busan, South Korea, focusing on three weather stressors: heatwaves, cold spells, and heavy rainfall. Large-scale operational data from the STSs of Busan were analyzed using the 4R (robustness, rapidity, redundancy, and resourcefulness) framework to classify daily service performance into distinct profiles. The analysis revealed that heatwaves coincided with reduced trip demand and shorter waiting times, yet this apparent stability reflected demand suppression rather than genuine robustness. Heavy rainfall produced the most severe disruptions, with longer and more variable waiting times that exacerbated inequities across users. Cold spells were associated with rapid recovery and the preservation of critical trips, although the small number of cases limits broader interpretation. These findings indicate that resilience in STSs is not uniform but event-specific, offering policy insights for strengthening operational stability and promoting equity in accessible transport.