Understanding mobility inequality through the lens of economic welfare: The difference in willingness-to-pay and actual fare matters

Abstract

Existing studies investigate mobility inequality from the perspectives of accessibility and non-economic welfare. This paper proposes to analyze mobility inequality through the lens of economic welfare, which reflects the difference of passengers' willingness-to-pay and the actual fare. Based on the theory of welfare economics, this paper first defines the concept and specifies the formula of economic welfare with regards to mobility inequality. Then, economic welfare is calculated regarding the elderly's bus fare in Beijing and econometric models are estimated to examine how mobility inequality is socially and spatially distributed. Results show that those with low income and living in the low-unit-house-price communities in the city center are the marginalized group. The benefits of introducing economic welfare to mobility inequality studies include (1) it can improve the objectivity in assessing travelers' feelings and identifying marginalized groups; (2) the concept of economic welfare can directly correspond to the “sense of gain” policy initiative in China; (3) the perspective of economic welfare can inform transportation pricing policies to mitigate inequality issues. To conclude, this paper contributes to the existing literature by a new perspective of economic welfare that enriches the current dialogue of mobility inequality among the geographical, transportation, sociological and psychological researchers. • Economic welfare is introduced to measure mobility inequality. • Economic welfare can echo Chinese sense of gain initiative. • Young elderly's bus fare increases would incur inequality. • City planners in Beijing are suggested to propose fare increase policies based on income to promote social inclusion. • More routes around the low-unit-house-price communities may be planned and suburban-city express routes may charge a premium.