K Achuthan

Mapping accessibility differences for the whole journey and for socially excluded groups of people

Abstract Please click here to download the map associated with this article. Accessibility measures and maps are useful in helping to identify social groups and locations with poor levels of access to services and facilities. These measures however fail to directly account for differences in physical capabilities and mobility levels of different social groups of people. Also, many of the access issues for the excluded groups of people such as the elderly are micro level such as the obstructions in pavements, while accessibility measures tend to be at macro level and do not include the whole journey. To help do this a GIS-based tool, AMELIA, has been developed. This paper discusses the specific elements of accessibility incorporated in AMELIA such as the modelling of walk and public transport accessibility, the micro level data required, the capabilities of the different social groups considered and how these affect the accessibility measures. Public transport accessibility maps produced for the elderly people are compared to those of the younger people using St Albans in Hertfordshire, UK, as a case study area.