Glenn Lyons

Transport and social exclusion: investigating the possibility of promoting inclusion through virtual mobility

This paper introduces a mobility dimension to social exclusion, suggesting a strong correlation between a lack of access to adequate mobility and lack of access to opportunities, social networks, goods and services. This correlation exists as both a cause and consequence of social exclusion. The authors question the likelihood that increased physical mobility, by car or public transport, can, by itself, provide a fully viable or sustainable solution to mobility-related aspects of social exclusion. This paper cautiously suggests that the use of information and communications technologies could enable a new, virtual mobility, enabling an Internet-based increase in accessibility as an alternative to an increase in physical mobility. Finally, consideration is given to the possibility of a virtual mobility-related dimension of exclusion and to the possible social implications of inclusion of virtual mobility in an integrated transport strategy.

THE VALUE OF INTEGRATED MULTIMODAL TRAVELLER INFORMATION AND ITS POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTION TO MODAL CHANGE

This paper reports on research that introduced the concept of integrated multimodal traveller information to mixed mode and mixed socio-demographic groups of travellers. Travellers were shown information about travel by car, coach and train for a journey with which they were familiar. Different levels of information were shown at different times, ranging from simple financial cost and journey duration information to information incorporating comfort and convenience factors. The research illustrates that the majority of travellers do not consider their modal choice for the majority of journeys. Rather, this choice is automatic and habitual, based upon subconscious perceptions of the viability and desirability of travel by modes other than the dominant mode. Thus, information about alternative modes is rarely consulted and travellers can be unaware of viable modal alternatives for their journeys. Results suggest that presentation of a number of modal options for a journey in response to a single enquiry could challenge previous perceptions of the utility of non-car modes, overcoming habitual and psychological barriers to consideration of alternative modes. Where the information presented incorporates comfort and convenience factors, in addition to cost and duration, it may challenge travellers’ concerns about alternative modes and could persuade a modal change.

A Human Perspective on the Daily Commute: Costs, Benefits and Trade‐offs

Abstract The average worker in Britain spends 139 h/year commuting—the equivalent of 19 standard working days. While the average distance and time taken for journeys to work has been steadily increasing, the average number of journeys has been decreasing at a similar rate. The aggregate picture inevitably masks an array of underlying trends. This paper offers a multi‐perspective examination of commuting drawing upon the literature in transport, planning, geography, economics, psychology, sociology and medicine. It examines statistical evidence on trends in commuting travel behaviour and finds that one in 25 commuters now travels to work in excess of 100 km (both ways) and one in ten commuters now spends over 2 h/day travelling to and from work. It explores the different impacts (economic, health and social) that commuting has on the individuals who conduct it and seeks to understand better the role of commuting for individuals in today’s society. The paper finishes its examination by reviewing the commute experience itself, including attitudes towards it and the use of time during the journey. It concludes by highlighting a dilemma facing transport planning and policy. There are social, economic and financial benefits from an improved travel experience for people with long commute journeys, yet improving the travel experience may itself contribute to the trend towards long‐distance commuting.

Social Exclusion and Transport in the UK: A Role for Virtual Accessibility in the Alleviation of Mobility-Related Social Exclusion?

This paper reports findings from research into the possibility that mobility-related social exclusion could be affected by an increase in access to virtual mobility – access to opportunities, services and social networks, via the Internet – amongst populations that experience exclusion. Transport is starting to be recognised as a key component of social policy, particularly in light of a number of recent studies, which have highlighted the link between transport and social exclusion, suggesting that low access to mobility can reduce the opportunity to participate in society – a finding with which this research concurs. Following the identification of this causal link, the majority of studies suggest that an increase in access to adequate physical mobility can provide a viable solution to mobility-related aspects of social exclusion. This paper questions the likelihood that increased physical mobility can, by itself, provide a fully viable or sustainable solution to mobility-related aspects of social exclusion. Findings from both a desk study and public consultation suggest that virtual mobility is already fulfilling an accessibility role, both substituting for and supplementing physical mobility, working to alleviate some aspects of mobility-related social exclusion in some sectors of society. The paper incorporates an analysis of the barriers to and problems with an increase in virtual mobility in society, and concludes that virtual mobility could be a valuable tool in both social and transport policy.

Internet: investigating new technology's evolving role, nature and effects on transport

In the space of only a few years the Internet has emerged as a mainstream communications medium providing a growing proportion of the population with virtual access to goods, people, opportunities and services. Against a backdrop of highlighting how teleshopping and teleworking alongside traveller information services are advancing as a consequence of the Internet, this paper suggests that the Internet and the virtual mobility it affords must in due course be explicitly addressed within an integrated transport policy. The paper explores the relationships between use of information and communications technology and personal travel highlighting the importance of social issues in gauging whether or not a net positive effect in terms of travel demand and tripmaking can arise from increasing use of the Internet. Suggestions for a policy approach are also made.

Comparing Rail Passengers’ Travel Time Use in Great Britain Between 2004 and 2010

ABSTRACT This paper provides a unique insight into aspects of stability and change regarding the travel time use of rail passengers in Great Britain between 2004 and 2010. Empirical evidence is presented on how rail passengers spend their time, how worthwhile they consider their time use to be, the extent of advance planning of their time use and how equipped for time use they are in terms of the items they have to hand when they travel. The results reveal a consistent dominance of reading for leisure, window gazing/people watching and working/studying as favoured travel time activities. Over the six-year period, the availability and use of mobile technologies has increased. Listening to music in particular has doubled in its incidence suggesting an increasing capacity for travellers to personalise the public space of the railway carriage. Most notably the analysis reveals a substantial increase in the proportion of travellers overall making very worthwhile use of their time.

The UK public transport industry and provision of multi-modal traveller information

Abstract In recent years significant developments in transport policy have taken place in the UK. Public transport is considered key to the policy objectives of achieving an integrated and sustainable transport system. Improvements to public transport operations alone will not necessarily persuade people to forego the use of their cars and make use of public transport modes. Intending travellers need to be informed of what is available. Substantial activity, promoted by Government, is now taking place in the UK concerning traveller information systems developments. However, such improvements and developments are taking place in a difficult environment. The UK has gone further than any other European country in transferring its public transport services into private management operating under market forces. This paper provides an outline of the current form of the public transport industry (with a focus on bus and rail services) looking at the complex responsibilities and relationships which this entails. It then addresses the main national initiatives for integrated traveller information provision before setting out the issues facing decision makers and service providers in the light of public needs and consumer understanding.

Transport and society1

In 1963, the Buchanan Report in the UK advocated a combination of new road capacity, improved public transport and traffic restraint as a means to tackle congestion. Forty years on, and the advice from many transport experts remains the same. However, the scale and complexity of the problems associated with a mobility‐dependent society have grown. The need for politicians to make tough but realistic policy decisions on transport is now becoming unavoidable. They must confront the realities of living with the car as must the general public. Policymakers now also have social well‐being and sustainable development moving higher on their agendas alongside transport. Against such a backdrop, the paper makes the case for transport research, policy and practice to acknowledge more fully the inherent links between transport and society. It argues that greater recognition and understanding of such links is crucial to confronting the present realities. Transport does not merely serve society: it shapes society, as in turn society shapes transport. The future of each is dependent on the other, and this fact must be recognized. The paper advocates in turn that the transport profession must move from its heartlands in engineering and economics also to embrace more fully such disciplines as sociology and psychology. A factual picture of the many facets of present‐day society is presented and the implications for travel demand are discussed. Through considering phenomena such as social norms and habitual behaviour, it is then argued that the travel choices and behaviour of individuals are not simply a matter of economic optimization. This points to the need for decision‐makers to be furnished with better evidence about the transport problems faced and the potential efficacy of measures that might be taken. Discussion of public attitudes and the role of the media are included in the context of assessing how politicians can be encouraged and supported in their implementation of realistic but unpopular policies. Evidence and experience within the paper are UK based, although many of the issues and arguments apply world wide.

What Affects Use of Pretrip Public Transport Information? Empirical Results of a Qualitative Study

With the rise of the Internet and mobile phone, various forms of public transport information services have emerged that enable people to make better informed travel choices. Nevertheless, many people are unaware of these information services, and only a minority of the public uses them. Lack of awareness is only one of several barriers to travel information use. A study was done on factors influencing the pretrip use of public transport information services (via different media—the Internet, telephone, paper timetables, asking staff). A social–psychological perspective has been adopted that takes habit, attitudes, anticipated emotions, and perceived behavioral control into account. Twelve face-to-face in-depth interviews and six focus groups were conducted across the United Kingdom among car drivers and public transport users. Results show that social–psychological factors seem to be important determinants of travel information use. External factors such as trip context could affect these determinants. People do not tend to travel by public transport without consulting any public transport information, unless there are no time constraints, the service runs frequently, or the journey is local. Individuals also seem to have a default source of travel information that they use for most trips. Except for most people older than 60, the Internet dominates as the common default travel information source. Phoning an inquiries line is unpopular across all age groups, but for different reasons: older people prefer face-to-face contact by visiting their local station, whereas younger people prefer to look up the information for themselves online.

Public attitudes to transport: interpreting the evidence

Abstract Public attitudes to transport are complex. This paper summarises selected themes from a large scale evidence review of over 300 studies, with a focus on attitudes to important (and sometimes controversial) aspects of transport policy, namely assessment of the importance of congestion, relative popularity of different policy interventions, expanding provision for international air transport and environmental improvement. Findings include: (1) evidence of majority attitudes that traffic congestion is seen as a national problem but less so for individual respondents and their families; (2) evidence of large majority (but not unanimous) support for improvements to public transport, reductions in speed and restrictions on traffic in residential areas, while road building and road pricing are divisive and controversial; (3) recent deep inconsistencies in evidence cited on attitudes to providing for growth in air transport; and (4) evidence of a gradation of willingness to change behaviour for environmental reasons. A critical evidence gap is on changes in individual attitudes over time, essential for understanding how attitudes form, and for their assessment in informing policy formulation.