Addressing transport related social exclusion through transportation policy

Abstract

Recent literature has given increasing attention to the different ways in which people can be excluded from transportation systems, with a reduction in economic, social, and recreational opportunities as a result. These theoretical insights into how transport poverty and transport accessibility can be measured and understood do not always relate directly to actual planning processes. Different government agencies have authority over different policy and infrastructure elements and within a transportation authority, different departments have different actors, goals, and approaches. An important first step in making advances in social inclusion is for transportation authorities to be able to evaluate their current approach as a starting point for policy improvements. Presently, however, no systematic method exists for conducting that evaluation. This article refines an existing Transportation Related Social Exclusion (TRSE) framework and develops a method for comprehensively evaluating existing TRSE reduction efforts in transportation policy. It applies this method to the operating agreements for the three public transportation concession areas in the Amsterdam Transport Region, using textual analysis to develop a policy overview for ten dimensions of TRSE. The application of the method reveals that different forms of TRSE receive substantially different levels of attention within the Amsterdam Transport Region. The evaluation serves as a tool for systematically understanding how different dimensions of social exclusion are being addressed, allowing for a starting point for discussing whether or not existing policy is adequate and creating opportunities for incorporating new theoretical concepts into practice.