INTRODUCTORY LECTURE

TRANSPORT AND SOCIAL INCLUSION

Dr Karen Lucas
Institute of Transport Studies
University of Leeds, UK
Training on Designing Socially Inclusive Transport
Session 3
Aims for this lecture
1. To offer some early insights on the
transportation and accessibility needs of low
income and deprived population groups
2. To understand the relevance of unequal
mobility to social development goals
3. To begin to appreciate the importance of
understanding local context
4. To introduce some case study evidence and
background readings for your future
reference
Travel is now an essential part of
peoples everyday lives
Travel is part of the way we live our lives and this must be
taken into account as we look ahead to consider the options
open to us for how we live within and as part of our
environment
(County Surveyors Service Transport Futures Group , 2008: 4)
Everyone needs to travel more
Towns and cities are being increasingly designed around
car ownership and use
People need to travel further:
Home and work locations are no longer co-located
Key amenities and services are no longer local
Peoples lives and working patterns are more complex and
fragmented
But not everyone has a car or can drive and so many
people still rely on walking and other non-motorised
modes
Public transport is expensive and is often poorly
connected with people activity needs
So the informal transport sector remains very important
to people in poverty
Global Cities
1. Population growth rates
2. Global environmental risks
3. Urban planning and provision of
infrastructure
a) Density and sprawl
b) Polycentric development or
concentrated decentralisation
c) Car growth as investment
1900
2000
2030
2050
13%
47%
60%
70%
0.25 Billion
2.8 Billion
4.3 Billion
6.0 Billion
1.8 Billion
6.0 Billion
7.2 Billion
9.0 Billion
And it is a very unequal playing field
Womens travel patterns characterized by deep and
persistent inequalities less access to private and public
transport, whilst assuming higher responsibility for burden
of travel
Children and young people overlooked by transport policy
and made vulnerable by transport system 27% and 47%
of population
Needs of older and disabled people (1/3 of pop. by 2050)
not considered by transport providers
Travel opportunity diminishes by income
(UN Habitat Report, 2010
UK STUDY FINDINGS
Background context
Around 85% of all British households own at least 1
car and 33% have 2 or more
80% of males and 66% of females hold a full car
driving licence (35 million people)
Trips by car (as a driver or passenger) account for
64% of all trips and 78% of distance travelled
But 49% of lowest 5
th
income households do not own
a private motor vehicle but this gap is narrowing
23% of households approx. 13.5 million people live in absolute
poverty in UK
They make about 1/3 of the trips and only travel 1/2 as far per
year as people living in car-owning households.
They mostly walk, use public transport or get lifts from others
Joseph Rowntree Foundation study
2000
Key concerns:
Lack of local amenities and
activities
Inadequate public transport
services
Timing and frequency
Inappropriate routing
Cost of fares
Poor disabled access and
supporting infrastructure
Lack of timetable and routing
information
Exposure to traffic and busy
roads
Unwillingness to travel
outside local area
Personal safety issues
Lack of knowledge of areas
Cant afford activities
Focus groups with 14
different deprived groups in
6 different communities
Inner city, urban, peri-
urban, ex-industrial,
suburban and rural
locations
Jobseekers, low-skilled
workers, unemployed, lone
parents, children, disabled
people, ethnic minorities,
young ex-offenders, single
parents, older people.
If youve got to go and sign on you have to make
sure youve got the money and the petrol to get
there
You got to have a car, man, if you want a job -
one that pays. There aint no decent work round
here. Im going to get me a car and then Im off
to London to look for a proper job
The buses go all round the world and takes too long when youre
waiting and on most of the bus stops it doesnt tell you what time the
bus is going to come so you are waiting for ages.
I used to nick cars because theres nothing else to do.
Youre just walking around at two in the morning and
theres a car and why not? Its better than just walking
around
Why does it matter Social Exclusion
Unit study 2003
40% of jobseekers say transport is a problem getting to
jobs
1/2 of 16-18 year olds in education find their transport
costs hard to meet
1.4 million people either miss or turn down hospital
appointments because of problems with transport
People without cars find it more difficult to access
healthy affordable food
Child are 5 times more likely to be in traffic accidents in
low income households
Individual isolation for older people
Communities become cut off and isolated from
mainstream activities
SOUTH AFRICAN STUDY 2006
Background context
72% of people live in households that are income and/or
materially deprived.
37.8% of the relevant working age population are unemployed or unable
to work due to sickness/disability.
27.4% of the adult population aged 1865 are educationally deprived
(have had no secondary schooling).
67.2% of the population experience environmental deprivation.
Levels of deprivation vary greatly by province but that levels of
deprivation also vary greatly within provinces.
Only 26% of low income h/hshave access to a car and 75%
have no access to a train station
65% h/h in lowest income quintile did not use any form of
motorised transport in 7 day diary period
40% of low income workers walk to work and 76% of learners walk to
their place of education
80% households undertake their food shopping trips on foot and 40%
access health care this way
Transport is expensive ...
Its cheaper to live in the
township [on the outskirts of
the city centre]. The problem
is transport. You have to use
taxis to come to town on a
daily basis and we cannot
afford that money. If we are
here, at least we can walk or
use a train and therefore we
spend less on transport
Journeys are long and difficult ...
I walk to the taxi for 10
minutes and I wait for the
taxi to get full and its takes
the taxi 35 minutes to get to
the taxi rank and then I get
another taxi, but I dont wait
for the taxi because it gets
full fast. Then it drops me
near to the clinic. Then I
walk to the clinic for 35
minutes.
Taxis are often the only way ...
If you want to take your child
to the clinic, there is no other
way you will have to use a
taxi and it is expensive there
are many taxis available but
the buses are only available to
transport people who are
going to work and students
But they are unsafe and expensive ...
The taxis speed a lot
and they dont care
about our lives
It costs me R12 for a one
way trip
New perspectives on transport and
social exclusion?
Transport did matter and was an important part of
peoples lives even for those on lowest incomes
Motorised transport was characterised as a basic need
alongside food, shelter and clothing
Travel is very expensive relative to incomes largely due to
over-dependence on minibus taxis
Lack of transport led to similar social consequences as in
the UK but with more sever outcomes
Journeys are longer, more arduous and less safe
numerous reported rapes, killings and thefts
Government seems unwilling or is incapable to act
BRAZILIAN STUDY 2010/12
Cabo de
Sto. Agostinho
Paulista
Olinda
Igarassu
Camaragibe
S. Loureno
da Mata
Abreu e Lima
Itapissuma
Itamarac
Moreno
Ipojuca
J aboato dos
Guararapes
Recife
Araoiaba
1. Rapidly urbanising cities and new employment
opportunities
>80% of the population living in urban areas
Complex and fragmented urban structures
High density +suburbanization
Poor physical infrastructure
2. Demographic changes in the structure of population,
household composition and lifestyle
Population getting older and probably travelling
more (1996: 4,0 people/hh 2006: 3,3 people/hh)
3. Expanding economy but grwoth in GDP has not been
evenly distributed or led to social development for many
4. Car ownership levels currently at about 40%
Background context
Study areas 2 communities
Coque - inner city Recife
Santa Terezinha (hillside
altos)
Focus groups 4 in each area
1 x student males
- Coque
1 x student females
Alto Santa Terezhina
2 x women carers
2 x employed women
2 x unemployed men
in each area
Plus 5 x semi-
structured
interviews with
older people
in each area
Coque- a no go area
The taxi does not come here, it just doesnt. Its scared.
And in the matter of work here if you are looking for work
do not put your name not here, otherwise you wont get
it. (Employed womans group, Coque)
Access is bad here, you can see the bias, the ambulance
does not enter here, no one comes here ... (Unemployed
males group, Coque)
The Altos getting back up is the
problem
The Samurai (bus) takes too long to arrive, the buses are
always crowded and slow, but there is an additional van that
serves the community well.
(Unemployed male, AST)
Traders have invaded the sidewalks and we have to walk down
the [middle of] the street, but near where I live has no trade and
have to walk far.
(Female carer AST)
Some concluding remarks
Unequal mobility is not a problem in itself
The broader social and spatial context is needed to understand
and articulate its unequal social consequences
Transport-related social disadvantage is universal problem
which is universally overlooked by indices of social wellbeing
and thus social policy-makers
Qualitative evidence shows it is experienced to different
degrees and with differential consequences in different
geographical contexts and by different social groups
Research needs to move beyond qualitative evidence to
quantify and compare its incidence and intensity
It is only in this way that the social consequences of transport
can be factored into the decision-making process
Communicating the social
consequences
Many (but not all) people living on low incomes in the UK
alsoexperiencesignificant degreesof transport disadvantage
There is evidence of a link between their lack of transport
andother aspectsof their social disadvantage
Transport is a key cited reason given for unemployed not
takingupjoboffersandtrainingopportunities
Lack of mobility and low travel horizons can be associated
withreducedsocial learninginearlyyearsandsocial isolation
inlater life
Peoplearelesslikelytoseekmedical attentionif they livein
areasof poor transport andlowaccessibility
Deprived communities are more likely to experience crime
andanti-social behaviour
People on low incomes are more exposed to traffic and so
suffer more pedestrian deaths/casualties and pollution-
relatedillnesses
Further reading
Bryceson, D.F., Bradbury, A. and Bradbury, T. (2008) Roads to Poverty Reduction? Exploring Rural Roads Impact on
Mobility In Africa and Asia Development Policy Review 26: 4: 459-482
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-7679.2008.00418.x/abstract
Currie G., Stanley J. and Stanley J. (2007) No Way To Go: Transport and social disadvantage in Australian
CommunitiesMelbourne: Monash University ePress.
http://books.publishing.monash.edu/apps/bookworm/view/No+Way+To+Go%3A+Transport+and+Social+Disadvan
tage+in+Australian+Communities/133/xhtml/chapter01.html
Lucas K., Grosvenor T. and Simpson R. (2001) Transport, the Environment and Social Exclusion York: Joseph
Rowntree Foundation/ York Publishing Ltd. http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/environment-and-equity-concerns-
about-transport
McCray, T. (2004) An issue of culture: the effects of daily activities on prenatal care utilization patterns in rural
South Africa Social Science and Medicine 59: 1843-1855
http://www.google.co.uk/url?url=http://soa.utexas.edu/file/2124/download&rct=j&frm=1&q=&esrc=s&sa=U&ei=
mpbrU-zMKsvH7Aat_oHABA&ved=0CB8QFjAC&usg=AFQjCNH0ib9KpgL7pZdBGU6kqjZJ9DnpUg
Porter, G. (2002) Living in a Walking World: Rural Mobility and Social Equity Issues in Sub-Saharan Africa World
Development 30: 2: 285-300 http://r4d.dfid.gov.uk/PDF/Outputs/R7575038.pdf
Rose, E., Whitten, K. and McCreanor T. (2009) Transport Transport related social exclusion in New Zealand:
evidence and challenges New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1177083X.2009.9522454
Salon, D. and Gulyani, S. (2010) Mobility, Poverty and Gender: Travel Choices of Slum Residents in Nairobi,
Kenya Transport Reviews 30: 5: 641-657. http://www.africafiles.org/printableversion.asp?id=24650
Social Exclusion Unit (2003) Making the Connections: Final report on Transport and Social Exclusion London: Office
of the Deputy Prime Minister. http://assets.dft.gov.uk/statistics/series/accessibility/making-the-connections.pdf