Epilogue: Transport policy and social exclusion—Some reflections

Abstract

The evolution of the concept of social exclusion is briefly reviewed, with particular reference to recent papers published in Transport Policy. Two main issues have emerged, namely the difficulties in defining the concept and, more importantly, difficulties in operationalising the concept. Hence, over the last decade or so that the concept has been in vogue, it does not seem that transport policy has been effective in reducing social exclusion. It is argued that demonstration sites and/or centres of excellence are needed at a meaningful scale (e.g. city region) that emphasise the social component of the sustainability agenda through a series of practical measures to reduce both scattered and clustered forms of exclusion.