Social exclusion, location and transport disadvantage amongst non-driving seniors in a Melbourne municipality, Australia

Over the past decade, researchers have refocused their attention upon the interconnection between locationally disadvantaged communities and poor transport services in order to better understand social exclusion. Limited access to private and public transport has often been identified as a major contributing factor to social isolation and economic poverty that certain groups in the community experience. To date, an insufficient amount of research attention has focused on the elderly or seniors, who are often identified as being subject to social exclusion because of difficulties associated with travelling outside their homes to access services and facilities especially for non-car drivers. Moreover, a disproportionate amount of research undertaken on transport related forms of social exclusion in Australia has understandably looked towards the outskirts of its major urban centres, where services and facilities are sparsely located and generally only accessible by car. This paper provides a different insight by analysing a middle distant municipality where large spatial concentrations of seniors are to be found, some of whom do not have ready access to a car or have difficulty accessing the public bus service. Using a variety of data sources for a municipality in Melbourne, this case study reveals that social exclusion of non-car driving seniors is reinforced by a regional public transport system that cannot adequately service the entire municipality. For now, the incidence of locational and transport related disadvantage is restricted to small pockets of the municipality, but as seniors age and surrender their car driving licences this problem could become more serious. The study concludes by calling for more analyses to be undertaken into transport engendered social exclusion if this problem is to be contained as the post-war baby-boomers generation ages across most of the middle suburbs of Australian cities.     

Transport problems that matter - social and psychological links to transport disadvantage

This paper presents an analysis exploring self-reported measures of transport disadvantage and how these relate to social exclusion and well-being in Melbourne, Australia. A sample of 535 individuals sourced from a household survey explores ratings of 18 types of transport problems. The questionnaire also measured social exclusion represented in five dimensions including income, unemployment, political engagement, participation in activities and social support networks. Well-being was also measured adopting standard psychological measures of ‘Satisfaction with Life’, ‘Personal Well-being Index,’ ‘Positive Affect’ and ‘Negative Affect’.A factor analysis of self-reported transport difficulties identified four statistically significant sub-scales (‘transport disadvantage’, ‘transit disadvantage’, ‘Vulnerable/Impaired’ and ‘rely on others’) which together account for 57% of the variance in the responses.Analysis established that those with high self-reported transport problems were more likely to be located in fringe and remote parts of the city and lived in areas where it was not possible to walk to a local shop. However all groups made an average number of trips per day (except the ‘Vulnerable/Impaired’ group which make fewer trips) suggesting that self-reported transport disadvantage is unrelated to realised mobility. Analysis further established that only the ‘Vulnerable/Impaired’ group was associated with social exclusion and that they also had the lowest values of well-being compared to other groups.Overall findings confirm the methodological concerns associated with the use of self-reported measures of transport problems as a basis for defining transport disadvantage. The majority of those with high self-reported transport problems did not travel less than the survey sample as a whole and they were not associated with social exclusion. However the ‘Vulnerable/Impaired’ group was the exception, displaying a significantly higher association with social exclusion and lower well-being.The findings suggest which aspects of transport disadvantage are likely to be of greater concern for social policy. A concentration of research and policy on issues and social groups associated with the ‘Vulnerable/Impaired’ factor would be more effective in reducing social exclusion. Transport problems associated with this group including physical access to transport, knowing where to go and feeling safe from theft or attack when travelling may deserve higher priorities for attention. In addition those associated with the ‘Vulnerable/Impaired’ factor including older retired females and those who are more likely to be looking after someone with an illness or disability are clearly a high risk group and should warrant positive discrimination in transport and social policy.     

Exploring the relative influences of transport disadvantage and social exclusion on well-being

This paper explores the separate and combined effects of transport disadvantage and social exclusion on well-being using an empirical analysis of data from a travel and disadvantage survey in Victoria, Australia. Previous research explores the impact of transport on social exclusion but does not study the downstream impacts on well-being. To explore this relationship measures of subjective well-being are compared across four groups: (i) people who are neither transport disadvantaged nor socially excluded, (ii) transport disadvantaged only, (iii) socially excluded only and (iv) both transport disadvantaged and socially excluded. The paper explores which component aspects of social exclusion and transport disadvantage have the greatest impact on well-being and which social groups are most likely to face transport disadvantage and social exclusion together. The paper concludes with a commentary on how the findings might be used to better target policy interventions meant to improve well-being.     

Transport and social exclusion in London

Few studies explicitly link transport and social exclusion and yet there is increasing pressure from policy-makers in the UK to do so. We propose a conceptual framework which links the two and examine a selection of indicators which might be used in assessing the outcomes of policies designed to use increased mobility to reduce exclusion. An illustrative example of the use of London Transport's CAPITAL model is demonstrated to assess access to regeneration sites. We conclude that increasing access to activities and services requires combating individuals’ constraints at either end of their journey in addition to transport system improvements.     

Night-time mobilities and (in)justice in London: Constructing mobile subjects and the politics of difference in policy-making

The growing interest in urban night-time economies and night-time transport policies presents an important context in which to examine how mobility justice is conceived and operationalised in policy-making. Literature on transport exclusion and transport justice documents the disadvantages experienced by different social groups and advances theoretical frameworks for distributive justice and transport accessibility. However, this literature has rarely considered the politics of whether and how mobility difference is recognised and planned for in transport policy, including issues of deliberative justice (participation) and epistemic justice (knowledge production). To address these research gaps, this paper engages with Sheller's (2018) theorisation of mobility justice and critically analyses the construction of mobile subjects in policy discourse on night-time mobility. We analyse policy documents part of night-time policy for Greater London to examine the extent to which the differentiated night-time mobilities across social categories (gender, age, ethnicity, income, etc.) are recognised – in other words, how the ‘politics of difference’ play out in transport policy-making. Findings show that the discursive construction of mobile subjects in London's night-time policy distinguishes between workers, consumers, and transport users, yet, these broad categories poorly account for differentiated mobility needs and practices. Publicly available data on differentiated night-time mobilities in London does not inform current policy discourse, obscuring disadvantages experienced by different groups of people moving through the city at night, and thus limits the capacity of existing policy interventions to address mobility injustices. These findings reaffirm the need for transport research to move beyond distributive justice and accessibility analysis, towards exploring the potential of thinking about distributive and epistemic justice for challenging the status quo of transport policy.     

Mobilities of the periphery: Informality,access and social exclusion in the urban fringe in Colombia

The relationship between transport, poverty and social exclusion has increasingly held an important place in both research and policy agendas, particularly in industrialised countries. While this has helped consolidate an emerging body of theory concerned with the social consequences of mobility, our understanding of these dynamics in the context of high vulnerability and poverty in the Global South is still relatively undeveloped. Through the case of Soacha, a municipality adjacent to Colombia's capital, Bogotá, this paper explores travel strategies in a context of scarce provision of transport which, when combined with acute conditions of low-income and segregation, limit vulnerable populations' access to the city. The travel practices, perceptions and priorities of low-income populations in deprived areas of the Global South are analysed, using a framework of transport-related social exclusion, to critically examine the elements that play a role in gaining access to the city. The emergence of adaptable methods, relations and transactions between demand and supply that allows deprived populations to reduce their risk of becoming socially excluded show potential for conceptual and practical development in addressing and analysing transport-related social exclusion.     

Dynamics of transport and social exclusion: Effects of expensive driver's license

This study explores the interface between the theme of “transport-related social exclusion” and resource allocation in a household. The study posits the “license to drive” as a skill which affects the family as a whole. The consequences of expensive driver's license (DL) within the domain of family structure, gender and its implications for the non-western immigrants in Norway are discussed. Further we analyse how decision-making within a family and the tenets of social exclusion are therefore affected both by the availability of public transport and price of procuring a driving license in the Norwegian context. Through assessing the linkages between expensive driver's license and its substitution elasticity by public transport, we arrive at a surprising possibility that for high values on both factors, an additional increase to the substitution elasticity (improved public transport) may lead to further social exclusion for certain groups through a denied access to driver's license.     

Identifying dimensions of exclusion from a BRT system in a developing country: a content analysis approach

To date, transport exclusion has largely been approached from an accessibility perspective, developing place- and individual-based measures. However, these measures present a weakness in that they typically capture aggregate patterns. To address this disadvantage, in this paper, social-based measures to transport exclusion from a media perspective are explored. The objective is to analyze the content of a transport-related blog initiated by a local newspaper in the city of Cali, Colombia to determine if any potential indicators of social exclusion can be gleaned from this source. A two-step content analysis is performed on the entries to determine if indicators are present that may be a current source of exclusion, or that may potentially cause individuals to exclude themselves from the system. Findings reveal that bloggers made reference to geographic, time, and fear-based exclusionary dimensions, as well as personal and societal. Such a forum thus holds the potential to inform policy makers of enhancements that can be made to the system that help make it more socially inclusive. The study is unique in its developing country setting where public participation in transport planning is rare.     

The impact of transport on social exclusion processes with specific emphasis on road user charging

This paper looks at the ways in which transport can impact on social exclusion processes by examining how the introduction of road user charging may affect residents of Bristol. It gives an overview of the concept of transport and social inclusion/exclusion, describes key themes emerging from DfT-funded research conducted in the city and reflects on the importance of consideration of these themes to the policy's successful implementation. By exploring road user charging from both collective and individual perspectives, the paper illustrates how this congestion charging policy could promote social inclusion.     

Making the connections between transport disadvantage and the social exclusion of low income populations in the Tshwane Region of South Africa

To date, the majority of studies which consider transport from a social exclusion perspective have been conducted in the context of the developed world where both income poverty and lack of transport are relative rather absolute states. In a unique departure from these previous studies, this paper explores the relationship between transport and social disadvantage in the development context, the key difference being that income poverty is absolute and where there is much lower access to both private and public transportation generally. Thus, it seeks to explore whether the concept of social exclusion remains valid, when it is the majority of the population that is experiencing transport and income poverty compared with the minority who do so in advanced economies.The paper is based on a scoping study for the Republic of South Africa Department of Transport (RSA DOT), which primarily involved focus group discussions with a range of socially deprived urban and peri-urban population groups living in the Tshwane region of South Africa. In a second departure from previous studies which consider transport and social disadvantage in the development context, the study takes a primarily urban focus. The rationale for this is that theoretically low income urban settlements do not suffer from the lack of transport infrastructure and motorised transport services in the way that more remote rural areas do. The policy issue is therefore less a question of addressing a deficit in supply and more one of addressing particular aspects of public transit service failure, which are more readily amenable to relatively low cost, manageable, small-scale national and local policy interventions.A primary aim for the study was to reinvigorate cross-government debate of these issues in the hope of breaking South African government’s long-standing and persistent policy inertia in the delivery of equitable and socially sustainable urban transport systems.     

Accessibility,mobility and transport-related social exclusion

This paper briefly reviews the inexorable rise of the social exclusion policy paradigm and uses an adaptation of Amartya Sen’s theory of entitlement to determine appropriate policy responses. In particular, the promotion by the UK Department for Transport of accessibility planning is examined. Although this initiative is not totally without merit, the resulting analysis may be too aggregate, both spatially and socially. The weakness of such an approach is that transport-related social exclusion is not always a socially and spatially concentrated process. Instead we suggest a matrix of area accessibility, area mobility and individual mobility as a possible schema for identifying concentrated and scattered manifestations of social exclusion and inclusion and for suggesting appropriate policy responses. This schema helps produce a more spatially and socially differentiated conceptualisation of social exclusion, helps identify policy responses and most critically highlights that the problems of the socially excluded immobile should not be analysed in isolation from the socially included mobile.     

Scatters and clusters in time and space: implications for delivering integrated and inclusive transport

This paper calls for a refinement in the literature on social exclusion/inclusion, and an alteration in the counterpart policy practices, in order to take account of ‘scatter’ and ‘cluster’ dimensions in the patterning of transport deprivation. Disaggregating social exclusion and inclusion data to enable the identification of scatters and clusters is key to the development of appropriate transport planning strategies. The degree to which lack of mobility is scattered or clustered can have profound implications for the ways in which time and space are treated by policy.     

An evaluation of the transport to employment (T2E) scheme in Highland Scotland using social return on investment (SROI)

This paper presents findings from an evaluation of transport to employment (T2E) in rural Highland Scotland. T2E is a centrally co-ordinated shared transport service which provides access to workplace, training and childcare where no alternative transport is available. The paper assesses the social as well as economic impacts on the local community through social return on investment (SROI) analysis. Measurable social benefits were found to outweigh the investment by 3:1 suggesting the concept to be a viable solution in a climate where public transport options are limited and typically restricted by low density and dispersed populations and challenging conditions for delivery.     

Citizen participation for sustainable transport: the case of “Living City” in Santiago,Chile (1997–2012)

Twentieth century citizen “revolts” against urban highway projects have influenced thinking about public transport (Toronto, Vancouver, New York), governance (Portland), and cycling (The Netherlands) to this day. Less is known, however, about how these emerge in developing countries, and what they can tell us about citizens’ role in innovation to achieve more sustainable transport systems. This case study examines a social movement that emerged in opposition to the country’s first major highway concession, in Santiago, Chile (1997), challenging and changing urban planning paradigms. In 2000, the anti-highway campaign founded a citizen institution, Living City (Ciudad Viva). Twelve years later, it has become a prize-winning, citizen-led planning institution.Although the role of citizen participation in improving transport systems has become increasingly recognized in recent years, it still tends to be rather ritualistic. This experience offers insight into how strategic approaches to participation can reinforce the role of self-organizing civil society organizations in introducing innovation into existing systems. Findings suggest that traditional large movements, which are mainly useful for one-way communication of information, require support from small groups able to deliberate in a transformative sense, with more attention paid to how new consensuses can be transmitted through the relational networks of those involved. Moreover, this experience suggests that thinking about citizens as planners in their own right, rather than as mere participants at specific points in a planning process, opens the way to more effective strategies for innovating in transport, to address the social, environmental, and other challenges humanity faces today.     

Assessing transport related social exclusion using a capabilities approach to accessibility framework: A dynamic Bayesian network approach

Accessibility is considered to be a valuable concept that can be used to generate insights on issues related to social exclusion due to limited access to transport options. Recently, researchers have attempted to link accessibility with popular theories of social justice such as Amartya Sen's Capabilities Approach (CA). Such studies have set the theoretical foundations on the way accessibility can be expressed through the CA, however, attempts to operationalise this approach remain fragmented and predominantly qualitative in nature. In this study, a novel framework of expressing accessibility at the level of an individual is proposed, based on the basic elements of the CA. In particular, dynamic Bayesian networks are used to express the causal relationship between capabilities, functionings, personal and environmental characteristics. This is done by introducing informative Dirichlet prior distributions constructed using data from traditional mobility surveys, modelling the transition probabilities with data related to place based characteristics and defining an observation model from unlabelled mobility data and places of interest (POI). We demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed framework by assessing the equality levels and their link to transport related social exclusion of different population groups in London, using unlabelled, service provider generated mobility data.     

Investigating links between transport disadvantage,social exclusion and well-being in Melbourne—Preliminary results

This paper summarises preliminary results of a study to extend knowledge associated with social exclusion and transport by quantifying social and behavioural implications of lack of public transport and the nature of the social well-being benefits associated with improving services. Metropolitan results are outlined including methodologies exploring the distribution of transport disadvantage in Melbourne, Australia and how this relates to public transport services. An exploration of high car ownership for groups on low income is also presented. Gaps in coverage of public transport are identified and future research outlined.     

Access to the city: Mobility patterns,transport and accessibility in peripheral settlements of Dar es Salaam

This paper is concerned with access to the city for urban residents living in the periphery of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The paper presents an analysis of the mobility practices of residents and investigates the mobility constraints they experience in relation to the limited accessibility provided by the urban transport system. The paper draws upon qualitative interviews with residents in the periphery as well as recently collected travel speed data and offers a unique combination of testimony with GIS-based modelling of overall accessibility. A central finding is the overall importance of regular mobility and access to the city for residents in the periphery. Regular mobility is an ingrained part of residents' livelihood strategies. The majority of households rely on one or more members regularly travelling to central parts of the city in relation to their livelihood activities. The analysis reveals a widespread, near-to-universal, dependence on motorized transportation, with the vast majority depending on public transport. Raster-based modelling of overall accessibility provides an indication of the very high travel times endured by residents in the periphery. The analysis identifies and distinguishes between three overall mode types: 1) Private car, 2) public transport and 3) motorcycle/car combined with public transport. While private cars appear marginally faster, differences in travel times are actually limited. This suggests that travel times are less influenced by mode of transport than by road and traffic conditions and highlights how accessibility problems of peripheral settlements are not easily understood separately from the general dysfunctions of the overall mobility system of city.     

Spatial and socio-demographic determinants of South East Queensland students’ school cycling

The low prevalence of Australian students’ utilitarian school cycling could be attributed to the varied and context specific demographic, socio-economic and spatial school travel mode choice determinants. Travel distance is universally important for school cycling and is reliant amongst related home and school spatial proximity factors on a student’s choice of schools. This paper, primarily based on school students’ travel data extracted from the 2009 South East Queensland Household Travel Survey (SEQHTS), examines comparative school cycling travel patterns, school catchment choices and the significant analytical determinants of cycling mode choices from within an urban regional Australian context. Students’ choice of a school external to that located within their designated State school catchment zone was associated with household attributes of parent/guardian employment location, number of income earners and ownership of private vehicles coupled with State school and catchment attributes. Noteworthy variations in school travel distances and modal splits were allied with school catchment choices. Adolescent male students from two parent households owning fewer than two cars and more than two bicycles, with parents/guardians commuting using non-motorised travel modes and resident in Census Collection Districts with conducive cycling environments, contributed largely to the one-way bi-directional primary and secondary school cycling mode shares. This prevalent student cyclist profile indicates the need for enhancements in student school cycling participation, through policies addressing both the spatial (built) and social environment which impact students’ personal and traffic safety coupled with utilitarian cycling image enhancements. Concerted efforts to bolster cycling amongst student segments with current low cycling participation inclusive of females, students from single parent households and those with adequate access to private motorised travel modes may be necessary to further enhance school cycling mode shares. The paper makes a case for individualised targeted travel interventions informed by segregated mode choice determinant analysis for respective primary and secondary school types and directions of school travel.     

Transport shaping space: differential collapse in time–space

Although the tyranny of distance has been reduced by cheaper and faster transport, important geographical differences remain. Transport provision varies enormously. Globalization is uneven. Location remains all-important as time/space relationships collapse differentially. Nodal situations change and the spatial qualities of centrality and intermediacy enhance the importance of strategically located hubs. There is growing recognition of transport’s environmental externalities. Access to transport remains unequal and restricted by income, disability, age and gender as well as by location.This paper re-examines the role of transport in shaping space and considers the differential collapse in time–space resulting from a succession of transport innovations over 200 years. It assesses effects of cheaper and faster transport on spatial development at local, national and international levels, effects of intermodality on land/sea transport systems and impacts of fixed links in removing transport barriers. It considers whether time/space relationships have been encapsulated accurately in abstract models of spatial development. The paper examines how cheaper and faster transport has increased environmental externalities in increasingly mobile societies. It also considers aspects of social exclusion resulting from restricted access to transport.     

Walking towards a happy city

This paper aims to pursue and to strengthen a paradigm shift in transport. It offers a fresh perspective on how the vehicle-oriented paradigm has been translated into specific biased practices and priorities in transport policy and research that jeopardized walkability. Then, it examines the transformational role of walking in the sustainable urban mobility transition. By considering walking as an experience, the paper shares a people-oriented and place-based framework for measuring and promoting walkable cities based on the local context of Hong Kong. On the way forward, it highlights the irreplaceable and leading role of governments in promoting walkability. Finally, it suggests two strategic directions of quantifying and fully integrating walking-related variables in transport design manuals, and ensuring a seamless transport experience for people using sustainable transport modes.