Social Research in Transport (SORT) Clearinghouse

Section 5310 Transportation State Management Plans: A Baseline Review

Alexandra Enders et al. — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:22:53 PST

The Federal Transit Administration's Elderly and Persons with Disabilities Program (§5310), in place since 1975, has been particularly important for states trying to fill gaps in accessible transportation services where existing transportation is “unavailable, insufficient, or inappropriate.” This article provides a baseline review and analysis of §5310 State Management Plans. It shows the similarities and differences in the approaches states have taken in the kinds of policies they enact, what they emphasize, and how transportation services are organized, planned, designed, and carried out to meet the special needs of elderly individuals and people with disabilities.

Using Lorenz curves to assess public transport equity

Alexa Delbosc et al. — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:22:47 PST

Equity has been a major concern of public transport provision and is required by legislation in many countries. Several approaches measure equity in transit supply however none produce a simple system-wide measure of equity performance. A new approach is presented using Lorenz curves to measure the relative supply of transit to the population. Gini coefficients provide a single measure of overall equity using this method. A system-wide assessment of overall transit supply to the population in Melbourne, Australia shows that 70% of the population shares only 19% of the supply (Gini coefficient = .68). When employment is also taken into account, the situation is not much different; 70% of jobs and population share 23% of service (G = .62). In order to gain some understanding of vertical equity, the transit supply was compared between different age, income and vehicle ownership groups. There is some evidence of higher supply for youth and low-income groups in inner Melbourne, and in all parts of Melbourne no-vehicle households lived in areas of higher transit supply. Overall it is unclear how “fair” these distributions are compared to equity in other cities since this is the first time this method has been undertaken. Projects using similar approaches should provide a good basis for establishing comparative equity between cities.

Social impacts and social equity issues in transport: Two day framing event workshop report

Karen Lucas et al. — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:22:40 PST

The overall aim of this workshop series is to promote interdisciplinary collaboration and capacity building; to better equip researchers, policymakers and practitioners across the different social science and transport disciplines to address the social challenges of providing transport and access, and to maximise the social benefits of the transport system within the UK context, now and in the future. The series is designed to explore various theoretical, policy and practical perspectives through a number of themed events. This will facilitate a broad-based discussion of the subject amongst transport and non-transport professionals and to draw on the capacity and skills of those who may have not previously contributed to this debate to bring their different approaches, knowledge and experiences to the subject. In this way, we will be able to generate a network of interest from across a range of disciplines which is capable of advising on policy issues and participating in future collaborative research in this area. In particular, the series will: • Establish a network of interdisciplinary scientists, policymakers and practitioners concerned with addressing various social factors in transport; • Review and synthesise state-of-the-art in social scientific understandings of transport and transport behaviours and how these map onto the delivery of current Department for Transport and related departmental strategies, policies and programmes; • Ensure that social objectives are factored into transport and related policy decision-making and are appropriately balanced against economic (and environmental) objectives. • Promote the exchange of information about current research both within the UK and with selected international colleges; • Improve the conceptual, theoretical and methodological basis for future blue-sky, applied and policy research to ensure that the drivers of, scale and scope of transport/accessibility related exclusion are better understood and how this might change in future in response to different policy levers and wider societal trends; • Identify opportunities for strengthening research in this area through future interdisciplinary collaboration, improved data sources and capacity building. • Draw out lessons for practice, at national, regional and local levels.

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

Karen Lucas — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:22:33 PST

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.

Determining the welfare effects of introducing a cap-and-share scheme on rural commuters

David McNamara et al. — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:22:27 PST

This paper evaluates the welfare effects of introducing a cap-and-share scheme on the end users of transport in rural Ireland focusing on individuals who undertake daily commute trips. Two regions are studied; the urbanised Dublin Metropolitan Region and the rural Western and Border Region. Economic welfare analysis determine the effects of the scheme on each region. The findings show a significantly higher welfare loss to commuters residing in sparsely populated rural areas in comparison to urban commuters. This finding is also true of commuters living in relatively deprived areas which frequently are also rural regions where the more affluent areas bear less of the welfare loss than deprived areas.

Social efficiency benchmarking of Japanese domestic transport services: A comparison of rail and air

Hun-Koo Ha et al. — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:22:20 PST

The environmental impact of CO₂ emissions has attracted increasing attention in recent years, which has redefined the modal choice between air and rail transport. Transport service provision via railway involves less marginal environmental damage than air transport, yet it entails a higher emissions burden in its infrastructure construction stage. This paper empirically investigates the environmental burden of these two transport modes by taking into account the CO₂ emissions from both transport service provision and infrastructure construction. Using a panel data set from 1999 to 2007 for three Japanese railway companies and the Japanese air transport industry, which are treated as decision-making units (DMUs), this paper estimates the social efficiency of these DMUs via a nonparametric productivity measurement method that incorporates economic bads as undesirable outputs. The aviation industry is shown to be efficient, whereas results for the railway industry are mixed: JR East is efficient, JR West is inefficient throughout the observation period, and JR Tokai substantially improved its efficiency during the period to become an efficient company in 2007.

Is there a gender gap in school travel? An examination of US children and adolescents

Noreen C. McDonald — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:22:14 PST

Previous research on school travel showed an inconsistent relationship between sex and the prevalence of walking or biking to school. Some studies found that males were more likely to use active transport modes, but other research found no association between sex and school travel. This study used data from the 1977, 1983, 1990, 1995, 2001, and 2009 US National Household Travel Surveys to examine sex differences in school travel and how they have changed over time. The analysis showed that males walked to and from school more than females, though differences were modest – between 1% and 2% points – and were statistically significant only in 1990. In contrast, males biked to school two to three times more than females. These modal differences may result from females’ observed lower levels of independent mobility. Policy interventions, such as the Safe Routes to School program, can address gender differences by providing programs such as the Walking School Bus that provide adult supervision on the school trip. Bicycle interventions should ensure that females are participating in the programs.

Incorporating equity into the transit frequency-setting problem

Erin M. Ferguson et al. — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:22:07 PST

This paper and the proposed formulation contribute to an apparent gap in transit research design by integrating equity considerations into the transit frequency-setting problem. The proposed approach provides a means to design transit service such that equitable access to basic amenities (e.g., employment, supermarkets, medical services) is provided for low-income populations or disadvantaged populations. The overarching purpose is to improve access via transit to basic amenities to: (1) reduce the disproportionate burden faced by transit dependent populations; and (2) create a more feasible transportation option for low-income households as an opportunity to increase financial security by reducing dependence on personal autos. The formulation is applied to data from a mid-sized US metropolitan area. The example application illustrates the formulation successfully increases access to employment opportunities for residents in areas with high percentages of low-income persons, as well as demonstrates the importance of considering uncertainty in the locations of populations and employment.

Engaging disadvantaged populations in transport studies: Linking modal use and perceptions of safety to activity patterns

Talia McCray — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:22:00 PST

Accessibility measures are important tools in planning. However, if the data are not available to adequately capture the mobility and accessibility challenges of disadvantaged populations, than the results of the model provide little to no direction for policy makers. This paper explores data collection techniques that have the potential to address the “why” underlining the activity behavior, especially linking personal safety perceptions to activities. The first study comes from a series of focus groups with low-income women in Quebec City, Canada. Self-mapping of individual spaces creates a framework to address spatial and temporal challenges that negatively impact transit dependent populations. The second study focuses on the activity patterns of low-income immigrant youth in Providence, RI. A technique is presented to elicit formatted responses concerning perceptions of personal safety. With the help of GIS, this technique has the potential to link together activities and perceptions of safety for activity modeling.

Social networks as a source of private-vehicle transportation: The practice of getting rides and borrowing vehicles among Mexican immigrants in California

Kristin Lovejoy et al. — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:21:54 PST

We examine the role of social networks in enabling access to private-vehicle transportation, through getting rides and borrowing cars. Based on qualitative findings from ten focus group discussions with recent Mexican immigrants to California, half of whom have no car, we describe the extent to which participants depend on rides and borrowed cars for transportation. We highlight the unique aspects of informal access to cars, drawing on social exchange theory and related research to characterize the procurement process and likely levels of exchange. We discuss the implications of these findings for transportation services that might serve this and other community groups.

Railway closures to passenger traffic in Poland and their social consequences

Zbigniew Taylor — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:21:47 PST

The first part of the paper characterizes railway passenger service withdrawals on present-day Polish territory. Three periods of more extensive closures can be distinguished, including the last period of the greatest closures which took place after 1990. The second part of the paper relates to the social consequences of passenger traffic closures. Such withdrawals usually have painful results for local communities. The results of household questionnaire surveys carried out in September 2002 in 20 selected localities throughout Poland are presented.

Immigrants and transport barriers to employment: The case of Southeast Asian welfare recipients in California

Evelyn Blumenberg — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:21:40 PST

Increasing international migration has prompted public officials to develop policies to better integrate foreign-born residents. While scholars have shown the positive relationship between access to transport and economic outcomes among low-income adults, very little is known about this relationship with respect to immigrants. This study examines transport and employment rates among low-income adults focusing specifically on Southeast Asian refugees. The findings show the importance of automobiles across all racial and ethnic groups. Southeast Asians, however, report the greatest difficulty with their travel largely because they face auto-related problems including the age and unreliability of their vehicles. These findings suggest the need for both universal and group-specific policies for addressing the transport needs of the poor.

Understanding the evolution of community severance and its consequences on mobility and social cohesion over the past century

A Bradbury et al. — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:21:32 PST

The concept of community severance has been recognised as an environmental impact of transport since the 1920s (Guo et al, 2001). Initially, in the 1920s and 1930s, community severance was seen purely as the separation of homes and work places. With the introduction of large urban highways from the 1950s onwards, practitioners started to recognise both the social and psychological dimensions of community severance. The social dimensions of community severance were thought to include factors that affected community cohesion, such as the reduction of community interaction caused by the presence of a physical barrier (e.g. a road or railway line). Psychological dimensions were related to an individual’s perceptions of the barrier and included the perceived unpleasantness and difficulty of making a journey along or across a road. More recent empirical research and theoretical work on understanding community severance focused on defining both its causes and impacts in greater detail. This paper reports on a research study undertaken by TRL for the Department for Transport in response to the UK Government’s report ‘Transport and Social Exclusion: Making the Connections’ (2003). The main objective of the study was to analyse the severance assessment methods used by other European countries that use monetisation techniques to assess severance. Research was also undertaken to explore how communities experience severance and how practitioners deal with it. This paper will introduce the historical background and evolution of the concept of community severance and its consequences. It will examine lessons learnt from implementing mitigation measures (for example underpasses and footbridges) and ways in which accessibility planning guidance can benefit from a historical perspective to ensure that mitigation strategies alleviate, and not exacerbate, the symptoms of community severance, for a more inclusive society.

Children aged 9–14 living in disadvantaged areas in England: Opportunities and barriers for cycling

Nicola Christie et al. — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:21:07 PST

The aim of this paper is to take a holistic perspective to explore levels of cycling and opportunities and barriers to increase children’s safer cycling in disadvantaged areas in England. The study was one part of a larger study which explored the factors underlying the high level of road traffic casualties especially among children in the most disadvantaged areas of England and to explore how this impacts on mobility and quality of life. The methods involved a cross sectional survey comprising school based questionnaire surveys with children aged 9–14 and focus groups with parents who had children within this age range. The surveys were conducted in 2007 and the focus groups during 2008. 4286 children completed the survey and eight focus groups were held. Bike ownership (77%) was high, use in previous week moderate (39%) but only 2% cycled to school. Ownership was significantly lower in minority ethnic groups. Despite young children’s strong preference to travel by cycle (30%) than walk or go by car, most parents felt it was too hazardous. It is unlikely that these findings would be any different from the rest of England, however the combination of environmental and social factors may elevate the risks for young cyclists in these areas. This paper concludes that a number of barriers exist to increasing levels of cycling among children living in disadvantaged areas particularly amongst ethnic groups. These barriers could be addressed by environmental modifications to reduce speeds and by reducing the levels of antisocial driving and riding in residential areas and around destinations where children travel, by providing cycle training to improve children’s skills and parent’s confidence, and by providing secure storage facilities for bikes. Until these barriers are addressed it is unlikely that cycling will increase despite the strong preferences children have to travel by bike. Such preferences to cycle provide an opportunity for local authorities to act on.

Tackling Crime and Fear of Crime While Waiting at Britain’s Railway Stations

Paul Cozens et al. — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:20:55 PST

Crime on the railways in Britain is an increasing concern for train operating companies, the British Transport Police (BTP), passengers, and local residents. Significantly, rail users consistently perceive their risks from crime to be considerably higher than official crime statistics indicate, having a negative affect on levels of patronage. This article presents an exploratory study of passengers’ fear of crime while waiting at railway stations using Quick Time Virtual Reality (QTVR) walkthrough scenes. QTVR arguably represents an innovative, dynamic, and interactive environmental stimulus for gaining insights into passengers’ fear of crime. Visibility at stations was identified as a crucial factor in determining levels of fear of crime. The design of the station shelter is analyzed as an example of how crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) is being implemented on railway stations by Valley Lines (Wales and Borders Trains) on its network in South Wales (UK).

Mobility in different generations of older persons: The development of daily travel in different cohorts in Denmark, Norway and Sweden

Randi J. Hjorthol et al. — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:58:07 PDT

In the Scandinavian countries Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the proportion of older people in the total population is expected to reach about 25% in 2060. The ageing of the population has a variety of social implications. One aspect of population ageing that has relatively little attention in the Scandinavian countries is the question of everyday mobility. The purpose of this paper is to get a better understanding of the activity and travel patterns of different groups of older people, examine how travel- and activity patterns are developing during the life course, study the changes over time and how the “new” generations of older people behave compared to the older ones. The method used is cohort analysis of National Travel Surveys from the three countries in a 20 years perspective. Results show a significant period effect in car ownership and use among older people in Denmark, Norway and Sweden with a clear increase during the past 20 years. This is especially true for women. The increase in the number of driver’s licence-holders and car availability is reflected in travel mode choice among older people: both men and women maintain their car-use habits at old age. Another clear finding is that older people today travel more than the comparable age groups 20–25 years ago: everyday trip rates are higher and activities outside home are more common. While commuting and work-related trips decline after retirement, shopping and leisure trips do not start to decline before high age. From the cohort analysis we see that leisure and shopping trips are maintained in the period after retirement, and the car is important to reach shopping malls, health service, leisure activities, visit relatives and other social company.

Barriers to Using Fixed-Route Public Transit for Older Adults

Michael D. Peck — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:58:00 PDT

For older adults, unmet transportation needs are linked to reduced well-being (Cvitkovich and Wister 2001). Current research indicates that, as a society, we are ill-prepared to provide adequate transit for the growing increasing population of older adults (Millar, 2005). Although public transit is available for many older adults, actual and perceived barriers prohibit its use. Thus, the research presented here examines what do older persons perceive as barriers to using fixed-route public transit?

Four focus groups were conducted with older adults in order to gain insights into what they perceive as barriers to use of fixed route transit. Findings from these focus groups informed the development of a mail-out survey sent to 1800 older adults—half each in Erie County, New York and the City of San José, California. A total of 775 (43.1%) surveys were returned. Despite concerns of response bias, data analyses reveal that older adults perceive fixed-route public transit as a viable option to their preferred mode of transit, the automobile. However, older adults note significant barriers to the use of fixed-route transit. This report summarizes findings and presents a behavior change model that may be used as an intervention and even a guide to market the strengths of fixed-route public transit while encouraging older adults to use transit.

A trip through Europe about mobility management in ageing societies: Study Tour Catalogue

Matthias Fiedler et al. — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:57:53 PDT

This booklet takes the reader on a trip across Europe to witness innovative "soft" measures that improve the mobility of older people by encouraging sustainable choices. Each stop on the tour represents a real measure or activity undertaken in a city.

Older People and Public Transport. Challenges and chances of an ageing society

Matthias Fiedler — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:57:46 PDT

Ageing societies are becoming a major challenge to public transport in Europe, with the population aged 65 or over expected to double between 1995 and 2050. A report on behalf of EMTA, the European Metropolitan Transport Authorities outlined the expected challenges and the requirements of older passengers. It further provided recommendations how to make public transportation more attractive for this growing user group, illustrated by more than 20 good practice case studies from across Europe.