Transport Poverty Research Articles

What Causes Energy and Transport Poverty in Ireland? Analyzing the Demographic, Economic, and Social Dynamics and Policy Solutions

What Causes Energy and Transport Poverty in Ireland? Analyzing the Demographic, Economic, and Social Dynamics and Policy Solutions

Transport Poverty and Obesity: The Mediating Roles of Social Capital and Physical Activity

Transport Poverty and Obesity: The Mediating Roles of Social Capital and Physical Activity

Studies of the effectiveness of transport sector interventions in low- and middle-income countries: An evidence and gap map.

Studies of the effectiveness of transport sector interventions in low- and middle-income countries: An evidence and gap map.

Shared Mobility in Rural Contexts: Organizational Insights from Five Mobility-as-a-Service Pilots in Sweden

Despite a growing interest in using Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) as a tool to address rural transport problems, the question of how to organize such a concept remains unanswered. To address this knowledge gap, this article explores organizational elements of rural MaaS pilots. The analysis, which is based on participatory observation and interviews with actors involved in five pilots in rural areas of Sweden, reveals that the motives of the actors involved in rural MaaS both overlap with and diverge from the frequently stated objectives of urban MaaS developments. Both concepts center on complementing and extending public transport, but while urban MaaS is underpinned by the fight against climate change, congestion, and local pollution, the main objective of rural MaaS is to reduce transport poverty. The analysis, moreover, illustrates that despite the geographic differences, actors involved in rural MaaS pilots face similar organizational challenges as have been reported from urban MaaS developments. In both cases, actors struggle with finding their roles, mitigating uncertainties, distributing responsibilities, and negotiating business models. Finally, the analysis finds that rural MaaS puts higher expectations on user involvement than urban MaaS and identifies a risk that rural MaaS developments might contribute to spatial injustice since the studied pilots only supported rural communities with high social capital.

Informal, essential and embedded: Transport strategies in remote Sarawak

Transport is a main concern for people living in rural and remote communities around the world, where the absence of affordable and reliable transport often prevents access to education, health services and employment opportunities. In Sarawak, a state of Malaysia on the island of Borneo, many rural villages experience acute transport poverty. For their basic transport needs, people here rely on informal transport systems based on local social and cultural networks, which provide essential mobility.We apply Polanyi's concept of social embeddedness to explore mobility in this region, people's efforts to develop regional models of entrepreneurship but also the relative marginalisation of remote communities in terms of development and infrastructure provision and the resulting friction between local people, the companies involved in regional resource extraction activities and local government. Based on data collected between 2015 and 2017, we frame informal transport in this region as a form of Indigenous entrepreneurship that can help local communities achieve wider social and economic inclusion. Our research points to a more social type of entrepreneurship and economic practice, in which social relationships and community responsibilities play an important role. Our qualitative approach, including ethnographic methods such as semi-structured interviews and participant observation, underpins the groundedness of our data in the every-day experiences of the people who took part in the research.

GENDER TRANSPORT POVERTY AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION, NIGERIA

The four concepts that define the phenomenon known as transport poverty are mobility poverty, transport affordability, accessibility poverty, and exposure to externalities. Individuals who have difficulty moving due to a lack of transportation services or infrastructure, an individual or group’s inability to meet the cost of transportation, a household without a motorized vehicle, and difficulty reaching certain significant activities such as healthcare services are all exposed to transport poverty. The purpose of this paper is to better comprehend women’s mobility in the Niger-Delta region as well as the concept of transportation poverty and its influence on their lives. The study used a survey approach to obtain data on user experiences with transportation, such as affordability, accessibility, transportation infrastructure, and public transportation performance. A total of 600 household heads were chosen as respondents using a systematic random sample procedure that randomly picked one (1) house from every four (4) houses in the research population. The Chi-square cross-tabulation and the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient were used to analyze the data. Overall, 53% of women and 47% of men were between the ages of 19 and 63, with an average age of 40. The results revealed that the demographic variables of gender, educational qualification, occupation status, and monthly income (P 0.0001) were significant, with monthly travel cost at the 0.01 level of significance. Monthly revenue and the amount spent on transportation fares are weakly correlated (r = 0.153, P 0.01), according to the tested hypothesis. Many homes with increasing numbers of individuals from low socioeconomic strata did not benefit from the transportation infrastructure supplied. This study emphasizes the importance of a long-term development strategy that is gender-based rather than gender-biased in order to increase the socioeconomic well-being of the population through transportation infrastructure development policies.

What is the state of the art in energy and transport poverty metrics? A critical and comprehensive review

This review investigates the state of the art in metrics used in energy (or fuel) and transport poverty with a view to assessing how these overlapping concepts may be unified in their measurement. Our review contributes to ongoing debates over decarbonisation, a politically sensitive and crucial aspect of the energy transition, and one that could exacerbate patterns of inequality or vulnerability. Up to 125 million people across the European Union experience the effects of energy poverty in their daily lives. A more comprehensive understanding of the breadth and depth of these conditions is therefore paramount. This review assessed 1,134 articles and critically analysed a deeper sample of 93. In terms of the use of metrics, we find that multiple indicators are better than any single metric or composite. We find work remains to be conducted in the transport poverty sphere before energy poverty metrics can be fully unified with those of transport poverty, namely the stipulation of travel standards. Without such standards, our ability to unify the metrics of both fields and potentially alleviate both conditions simultaneously is limited. The difficulties in defining necessary travel necessitate the further use of vulnerability lenses and holistic assessments focused on energy and transport services.

Assessment of Transport Poverty and Its Social-Economic Impacts on Communities (Case of Bekasi Barat, Bekasi City)

Transport poverty is a paradigm where such conditions cause limitations in using transportation facilities that affects the marginalized. The poor is most often affected by the lack of vehicles both private and public transportation services in terms of choice and quality of service, thus causing social exclusion and shuts people from economic, social, and political participation due to lack of access to transportation. Transport poverty have bearings on the travel patterns of the affected groups. The study aims to identify and analyze the impact of transport poverty on the travel patterns of affected groups and compare them with unaffected groups. Bekasi City has a vital role as a satellite city of DKI Jakarta which also has high poverty rates and numbers of poor people. Home-based school and work travel pattern are chosen given these trips are the most frequent done in a household. This research method is a deductive method using a mixed method and collecting data using questionnaires, in-depth interviews and observation results. The conclusion of this research is the phenomenon of poverty occurs in Bekasi Barat, Bekasi City, influencing communites travel patterns with indicators of affordability, mobility, and accessibility, as well as having impact on their social exclusion.

Transport Poverty in Chinese Cities: A Systematic Literature Review

The widening income gap in post-reform China has given rise to social inequality. Among those, transport poverty and inequality have significantly affected the daily life of low-income groups. While important, this is an under-researched topic in China. This gap in the academic literature is glaring given the country’s urbanization rates, sprawling cities and income differentials. Most previous studies have only focused on two aspects of transport poverty—job-housing imbalance and accessibility. A comprehensive understanding of the causes and impacts of transport inequality is currently lacking. Therefore, a systematic review of academic literature based on keywords relevant to transport poverty in China was conducted to provide a more complete assessment of the situation in Chinese cities. In total, 62 relevant studies were identified after close examination of the articles (including titles, abstracts, and full-texts). This set of articles allowed a number of general patterns to be identified. It was found that the most common causes of transport poverty include: a lack of access to private vehicles; uneven access to alternative transport options; inadequate public transport provision; jobs-housing imbalance; and the hukou system (a system of household registration which aims to regulate population distribution and rural-to-urban migration). The main impacts of transport poverty include: curtailed mobility and longer travel times; higher household expenditures on travel; reduced access to jobs and essential services; higher household expenditures on travel; and health and environmental issues.

PROTOCOL: Evidence and gap map: studies of the effectiveness of transport sector interventions in low- and middle-income countries.

PROTOCOL: Evidence and gap map: studies of the effectiveness of transport sector interventions in low- and middle-income countries.

Public transport availability inequalities and transport poverty risk across England

The general transit feed specification is becoming a popular data format for the publication of public transport schedules, making possible the collection of a nation-wide public transport schedule dataset, which enables monitoring of transit supply at an up-to-date and more precise level across a country than previously possible. In this paper, we use general transit feed specification data to measure local-scale public transport availability across England based on service frequency and spatial proximity to public transport stops/stations. Moreover, to demonstrate the usefulness of public transport availability measures, we examine inequalities of public transport provision and identify areas at risk of transport poverty across England. Furthermore, we estimate population (number of households) who are likely to suffer from transport poverty, accounting for public transport availability, time-based job accessibility by public transport or walking, household income and car ownership levels. Based on the criteria, we have used to identify public transport risk, we find that investment in the development of public transport services should prioritise West Midlands, East of England, South East and South West as those regions have more households who are likely to suffer from transport poverty. This paper contributes by (1) defining more comprehensive transit availability measures than existing measures at a variety of geography levels and (2) integrating fours aspects (i.e. public transport availability, job accessibility by public transport or walking, household income and car availability) to analyse transport poverty comprehensively.

Transport Poverty with Special Reference to Sustainability: A Systematic Review of the Literature

The aim of this work is to analyse the state of the art of scientific research related to transport poverty with special reference to sustainability and to identify new research needs. To this end, a methodology has been used in line with the objective set out, choosing the systematic review of the literature as the most suitable method. The results show that transport poverty is an under-exploited issue and is not well articulated by researchers, and there are great differences between the different areas of knowledge studied. The subjects related to health and medicine have more publications, almost 58%, with the rest distributed among 11 different subjects. Of the works analysed, only 26.69% refer to the topic of sustainability, and therefore this is a branch which is little studied in the literature in this field. Another relevant finding is that all the articles analysed highlight the vulnerability and inequality of the groups affected by transport poverty, with the elderly being the least studied in the research work.

Community Mobility and Transport Use of Urban Older Adults Who Attend Public Healthcare in Gauteng, South Africa

ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION: Older adults with limited socio-economic means, living in South Africa's most densely populated province, Gauteng, have experienced historical restriction and challenges to their freedom of movement. Interviews were conducted with older adults attending public healthcare facilities that offered rehabilitation service in Gauteng, to capture their community mobility experience and the modes of transport they used. These interviews explored the difficulties the older adults experienced and the strategies they employed to overcome them, with an invitation for them to give suggestions for improvement METHOD: An exploratory concurrent mixed methods study design saw 84 rehabilitation clinicians interview 393 older adults who visited public healthcare facilities where the clinicians practiced. The clinicians kept 109 field notes and took part in a cumulative five hours of group discussion. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative data through inductive content analysis RESULTS: Walking and mini-bus taxis were the most prominent forms of community mobility. Fiscal and transport poverty, crime and poor infrastructure were barriers participants experienced. Community involvement and leadership accountability were suggested solutions CONCLUSION: The community mobility and transport use realities of older adults, and the rehabilitation professionals who interviewed them, as well as strategies and suggestions to overcome the barriers they experienced should be noted by policy makers and service providers. Strategies are proposed to stimulate further consideration and development Keywords: transport poverty, limited socio-economic means, community involvement, leadership accountability, stake holders, Ubuntu.

New Dimensions of Vulnerability to Energy and Transport Poverty

As we decarbonise societies, we need to consider how such transitions interconnect energy and transport systems. In this Commentary, we argue that we need a better understanding of who may be vulnerable in low-carbon transitions. Current energy poverty definitions and metrics focus overwhelmingly on energy service consumption within the home, yet similar issues in the transport sector are often neglected. Failure to account for the intersections between energy and transport poverty may deepen structural forms of deprivation and worsen social and material inequalities, therefore preventing equitable transitions.

Applying a Systemic Approach to Gender Transport Poverty

Transport poverty and the associated levels of deprivation experienced by women is a ‘wicked problem'. A systemic approach is needed to address entrenched societal and cultural norms that deprive women of equality and agency. The conceptual shift from ‘transport’ to ‘mobility’, emphasising access to life opportunities, provides an opportunity for more systems approaches to be tried. The ‘WEMOBILE project’ addressed gender transport poverty in Low-Middle-Income Countries using ethnographic and empathic design approaches to understand and re(present) the effects of gender transport poverty. This article focusses on insights provided by employing a systemic design to data gathered in Pakistan. In represent­ting data as system maps, gaps that hinder the effectiveness of existing solutions are emphasised as well as the usefulness of this approach in highlighting opportunities for policy and opera­tional changes. Keywords: Empathy, gender-sensitive transport, systems-thinking, Low-Middle-Income Countries, Pakistan.

Suburbanization of Transport Poverty

Many cities have undergone spatial redistributions of low-income populations from central to suburban neighborhoods over the past several decades. A potential negative impact of these trends is that low-income populations are concentrating in more automobile-oriented areas, resulting in increased barriers to daily travel and activity participation, particularly for those who are unable to afford a private vehicle. Accordingly, the objective of this article is to analyze the links between increasing sociospatial inequalities, transport disadvantage, and adverse travel behavior outcomes. This is examined first from a theoretical perspective and second via a spatiotemporal analysis for the Toronto region from 1991 to 2016. Findings show that many suburban areas in Toronto are not only declining in socioeconomic status but are also suffering from increased barriers to daily travel evidenced by longer commute times and decreasing activity participation rates, relative to central neighborhoods. Because of these adverse effects, this evidence further supports the need for progressive planning and policy aimed at curbing continuing trends of suburbanization of poverty while also improving levels of transport accessibility in the suburbs.

Ethnic diversity and transport poverty

Transport poverty is a growing concern in many developed countries. However, research on the determinants of transport poverty is relatively scant. We contribute to the debate on the determinants of transport poverty by presenting the first study to empirically examine the effects of ethnic diversity on transport poverty. Using 12 waves of longitudinal data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, covering the period 2005–2016, we find a positive association between ethnic diversity and transport poverty. This result is robust to endogeneity, alternative ways of measuring ethnic diversity and transport poverty. We show that trust is an important channel through which ethnic diversity influences transport poverty. Thus, policies aimed at fostering tolerance, trust and inclusion in diverse communities are important to mitigate the negative effects of ethnic diversity on desirable socioeconomic outcomes.

Sizing Up Transport Poverty Alleviation: A Structural Equation Modeling Empirical Analysis

The aim of this paper was to systematically obtain the poverty reduction effects and diversified poverty alleviation paths of road infrastructure, to assist in the planning of transport poverty alleviation and rural revitalization in the concentrated contiguous poverty-stricken areas. The measurement methods for impact effects and paths of transport poverty alleviation have been scientifically proposed based on methods of transportation economics and transportation geography. Firstly, an overview of the interactive mechanism and processes by which road infrastructure investment influences poverty reduction has been offered, and the characteristics of poverty space and spatial coupling result of road infrastructure have been systematically obtained. The results show that about 70% of the district counties’ road infrastructure and poverty rate are in a state of spatial coupling imbalance; the coordinated synchronous type is mainly distributed along the road network. Secondly, the structural equation model system has been formulated with variables that reflect transportation input in adjacent geographical units to consider spatial spillover effects. The results show that the direct poverty reduction effect of road infrastructure (0.105) is much lower than the indirect poverty reduction effect (0.830). Thirdly, empirical analysis at regional level of the concentrated contiguous poverty-stricken areas in China has been conducted. As a result, while addressing the limitations of previous studies, the poverty alleviation path that has been proposed also aims to catalyze actions to reduce the transport-related exclusion in poverty-stricken areas caused by the lack of access to basic facilities.

Transport Poverty in Thailand: Concept, Measurement and Data Availability

Transport Poverty in Thailand: Concept, Measurement and Data Availability

“The effects of gender transport poverty in Karachi”

Karachi is the economic hub of Pakistan, with an estimated population of 20 million (Khawar, 2017). However, it lacks a systematised public transport service, with few buses and no trains, leaving private bus owners to run poor-quality deregulated services. Although it may be argued that poor service fails to accommodate the needs of the inhabitants of this megacity, women are additionally marginalised by restricted transport services. Men not only have more space allocated to them on public transport but also have the freedom to use alternative and cheaper private modes of transport such as motorbikes and cycles, which are socially discouraged for women. However, there is little literature on the barriers to women's mobility in countries in the Global South, which shows how they are differentially deprived of their agency owing to the cultural norms and gender disparity in transport provision. This paper aims to identify and assess the various aspects of gender transport poverty faced by young working women in Karachi using a quantitative survey. It will broaden the understanding of gender transport poverty in the Global South.