Table 1.

Patients with cancer are an especially vulnerable population to transportation insecurity

Predisposing factors	Examples
Cancer care is episodic in nature, occurs over a prolonged period, is marked by frequent clinical encounters, and requires intense treatments, resulting in many opportunities for transportation insecurity.	Need for inpatient and outpatient care resulting in diverse transportation requirements
	Need for (and/or lack of) coordinated multidisciplinary clinical appointments
	Need for imaging, lab draws, and other services in advance of appointments for treatment resulting in multiple clinical encounters
	Need for protracted, recurring, daily treatments (eg, radiation therapy, which is usually prescribed daily for 1-6 weeks)
The physical and psychological toxicity of cancer and its treatment precludes certain modes of transportation and creates additional logistical transportation challenges.	Physical difficulty utilizing certain transportation modalities
	Concerns about safety of public transportation in setting of weakened immune system
	Need for informal caregiver to physically travel with the patient results in challenges coordinating with caregiver’s work and other responsibilities
	Stress and worry about life-threatening illness
Financial toxicity is increasingly prevalent among patients with cancer, amplifying transportation insecurity.	High patient out-of-pocket costs during treatment
	Lasting effects of new debt during treatment
	Changes in employment, income loss, and access to employer-sponsored health insurance coverage for patients and informal caregivers
	Prevalence of delaying care because of cost more common among cancer survivors than counterparts without a cancer history
Highly specialized care at regionalized centers of excellence necessitates a greater travel burden relative to other chronic conditions.	Increased travel distance or time results in increased transportation challenges
	Need for temporary lodging
	Greater time away from work for patients and informal caregivers
The inability to deliver cancer-directed therapy virtually precludes some potential telemedicine-based interventions.	Need for specialized equipment for radiation therapy
	Monitoring for reactions during infusion therapy