The withinreach team will produce research reports at regular intervals during the programme.

DfT research

Since the publication of the Social Exclusion Unit report 'Making the Connections' in the spring of 2003 which outlined the relationship between transport, accessibility and social exclusion, and promoted the concept of accessibility planning, there has been considerable progress in England on the accessibility planning agenda, culminating in the publication of accessibility planning guidance by the Department for Transport and parallel guidance from five other government departments and the formal submission by local transport authorities of a full accessibility strategy in the spring of 2006.

However important questions remain as to the extent of overall progress to date in respect of the development and delivery of accessibility planning across the country and the long-term sustainability of the accessibility planning process. Now with completed accessibility strategies having been submitted it is an ideal opportunity to take stock and evaluate where we are now, evaluate the progress that has been made and that is being made in the development and delivery of accessibility planning nationally.

In this paper the author contends that in order for the process to be ultimately sustainable the most successful and proactive local authorities must be rewarded for the delivery of integrated accessibility planning through the local transport plan and related annual progress reporting processes as well as the Audit Commission’s Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA). A necessary prerequisite to achieving this is the existence of robust criteria for the evaluation of accessibility strategies, which encourages and supports successful authorities and provides a mechanism against which the less successful authorities can develop and improve their accessibility planning over time.

'An Evaluation of Accessibility Strategies in Second Local Transport Plans'   815Kb

The Department for Transport has presented the findings of research into accessibility planning on its website. Click here to open this content in a new window.

'Overview 2003 & Forward Look 2004/5', Mobility & Inclusion Unit.   1.4Mb

Government Research

The House of Commons Select Committee for Transport has published the results of an inquiry, Disabled People's Access to Transport: A year's worth of improvements?, following on from an earlier Report. The Committee continued to receive representations from disabled people who suggested their access to transport was not improving or was even getting worse. The Committee also wanted to explore further certain points the Government made in its response to its earlier report; and it wanted to assess the pace of change and see what practical difference was made by the entry into force of the access duties under Part III of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 on 1 October 2004.

‘Disabled People's Access to Transport: A year's worth of improvements?’   700Kb

Modelling Accessibility

A paper discussing three projects in Sweden where GIS (ArcView) tools were developed and used to analyse walking, cycling, public transport and car accessiblity.   1.7Mb

A paper discussing the use of activity-based measures of accessibility.    147Kb

A paper discussing the different measures of accessibility used in Europe.   1.1Mb

Measuring Accessibility Project Reports

Dr Sarah Wixey, Research Fellow, Transport Studies Group, University of Westminster

The 'Measuring Accessibility as Experienced by Different Socially Disadvantaged Groups' project (SAMP), funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) has now come to an end. A full set of reports are available free on the Transport Studies Group (TSG) website: http://www.wmin.ac.uk/transport/projects/samp.htm

The research set out to develop and apply more refined measures of accessibility that are sensitive to the varying perceptions and needs of different social groups. The study sought to capture the ways in which different social groups perceive and use their local environment, covering both strategic-level accessibility (e.g. access to employment opportunities) and micro-level accessibility (e.g. access to local bus stops).

The study focused on seven socially disadvantaged groups: young people (16–24), older people (60+), Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) people, disabled people (physically disabled and people with mental health illness), people travelling with young children (aged 11 or under), unemployed people and shift workers.

The research was divided into seven phases, starting with literature reviews of user needs and current accessibility planning concepts and tools, through data collection (both of public attitudes/behaviour and local bus stop/street conditions) to parameter specification and application, and validation of the two enhanced tools amongst the user groups.

Promoting gender equality in transport   1.25Mb

According to a study by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), failures in Britain's public transport system are leaving women disadvantaged in taking up job opportunities. The report describes the transport system as ‘constructed for men by men’ and it highlights how women's different travel patterns, fewer financial resources and greater feelings of vulnerability have been ignored in transport planning policies, leaving them less able to access public transport.

The Countryside Agency

In 2004, The Countryside Agency has recently published new research on ‘The benefits of providing transport to healthcare in rural areas’.   720Kb

Help the Aged

‘Fair Fares: calling for freedom of travel for older people in the UK’ is a research report by Help the Aged examining the provision of take-up of concessionary travel for older people and calling for government action.

AUNT-SUE (Accessibility and User Needs in Transport for Sustainable Urban Environments)

AUNT-SUE is a new research programme to improve understanding of the perceptions and motivations of people who experience transport-related exclusion in cities . Better empathy with disadvantaged users and would-be users will then be utilised in a ‘toolkit' to support planners, designers, operators, user groups and others working to make urban transport and street design more inclusive.

The research team will develop these decision-support tools using a combination of 3D Computer Aided Design, GIS, laboratory testing of prototype designs, and longer-term observation and analysis in real-life ‘testbeds’.

The AUNT-SUE practitioner network has been set up for people involved in policy and planning, design, operation and for those representing user groups. The network facilitates exchange on best practice and members critically review the emerging toolkit and resources through a programme of events.  

The programme is funded by the Engineering and Physical Research Council under the Sustainable Urban Environments Programme. AUNT-SUE is led by London Metropolitan University in partnership with Loughborough University , University College London, RNIB, London Borough of Camden and Hertfordshire County Council.

For further details see: http://www.aunt-sue.info

 

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