Participation index : a measure to identify rural transport disadvantage?

This paper develops a composite participation index (PI) to identify patterns of transport disadvantage in space and time. It is operationalised using 157 weekly activity-travel diaries data collected from three case study areas in rural Northern Ireland. A review of activity space and travel behaviour research found that six dimensional indicators of activity spaces were typically used including the number of unique locations visited, distance travelled, area of activity spaces, frequency of activity participation, types of activity participated in, and duration of participation in order to identify transport disadvantage. A combined measure using six individual indices were developed based on the six dimensional indicators of activity spaces, by taking into account the relativity of the measures for weekdays, weekends, and for a week. Factor analyses were conducted to derive weights of these indices to form the PI measure. Multivariate analysis using general linear models of the different indicators/indices identified new patterns of transport disadvantage. The research found that: indicator based measures and index based measures are complement each other; interactions between different factors generated new patterns of transport disadvantage; and that these patterns vary in space and time. The analysis also indicates that the transport needs of different disadvantaged groups are varied.

[1]  Rob Atkinson,et al.  Combating Social Exclusion in Europe: The New Urban Policy Challenge , 2000 .

[2]  Matthew J. Roorda,et al.  Exploring spatial variety in patterns of activity-travel behaviour: initial results from the Toronto Travel-Activity Panel Survey (TTAPS) , 2008 .

[3]  R. Haines.  Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2011 , 2011 .

[4]  David C. Bojanic.  The impact of age and family life experiences on Mexican visitor shopping expenditures , 2011 .

[5]  Susan L Handy,et al.  Factors associated with proportions and miles of bicycling for transportation and recreation in six small US cities , 2009 .

[6]  Glenn Lyons,et al.  The introduction of social exclusion into the field of travel behaviour , 2003 .

[7]  P. Rollinson.  The Spatial Isolation of Elderly Single-Room-Occupancy Hotel Tenants* , 1991 .

[8]  Jonathan Shaw,et al.  Community transport, social capital and social exclusion in rural areas , 2006 .

[9]  Glenn Lyons,et al.  Transport and social exclusion: investigating the possibility of promoting inclusion through virtual mobility , 2002 .

[10]  R. Parker,et al.  Communities and Local Government , 2008 .

[11]  Sally Shortall,et al.  Are Rural Development Programmes Socially Inclusive? Social Inclusion, Civic Engagement, Participation, and Social Capital: Exploring the Differences. , 2008 .

[12]  Graham Currie,et al.  Modelling the social and psychological impacts of transport disadvantage , 2010 .

[13]  J. Stanley,et al.  Investigating Links between Social Capital and Public Transport , 2008 .

[14]  Andrew Church,et al.  Transport and social exclusion in London , 1999 .

[15]  Joan L. Walker.  Opening up the black box: Enriching behavioral models of spatial and travel choices , 2006 .

[16]  Julian Hine,et al.  Transport Disadvantage and Social Exclusion: Exclusionary Mechanisms in Transport in Urban Scotland , 2003 .

[17]  The nature of local area social exclusion in England and the role of the labour market , 2000 .

[18]  M. Moseley.  Accessibility: The rural challenge , 1979 .

[19]  Tanu Priya,et al.  Dynamics of transport and social exclusion: Effects of expensive driver's license , 2009 .

[20]  M. Kwan,et al.  Evaluating the Effects of Geographic Contexts on Individual Accessibility: A Multilevel Approach1 , 2003 .

[21]  John McDonagh,et al.  Transport policy instruments and transport-related social exclusion in rural Republic of Ireland , 2006 .

[22]  Harvey J. Miller,et al.  Modelling accessibility using space-time prism concepts within geographical information systems , 1991, Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci..

[23]  Stefan Schönfelder.  Some notes on space, location and travel behaviour , 2001 .

[24]  Àngel Cebollada,et al.  Mobility and labour market exclusion in the Barcelona Metropolitan Region , 2009 .

[25]  G. Higgs,et al.  Changes in service provision in rural areas. Part 1: The use of GIS in analysing accessibility to services in rural deprivation research , 1997 .

[26]  Irene Casas,et al.  Social Exclusion and the Disabled: An Accessibility Approach , 2007 .

[27]  Stephen Nutley,et al.  Indicators of transport and accessibility problems in rural Australia , 2003 .

[28]  Julian Hine,et al.  A PTAL approach to measuring changes in bus service accessibility , 2003 .

[29]  Stefano Tarantola,et al.  Handbook on Constructing Composite Indicators: Methodology and User Guide , 2005 .

[30]  J.A.M. Berghman,et al.  Social exclusion in Europe. Policy context and analytical framework , 1995 .

[31]  Paul D. Smith,et al.  Urban activity spaces: Illustrations and application of a conceptual model for integrating the time and space dimensions , 1998 .

[32]  Geoffrey C. Smith,et al.  Effects of Extroversion on the Routine Spatial Behavior of Middle Adolescents , 1996 .

[33]  Stephen Nutley,et al.  Rural transport problems and non-car populations in the USA: A UK perspective , 1996 .

[34]  G. Higgs,et al.  Changes in service provision in rural areas. Part 2: Changes in post office provision in mid Wales: A GIS-based evaluation , 1997 .

[35]  J. Urry,et al.  Social Exclusion, Mobility and Access 1 , 2005 .

[36]  Juliet Jain,et al.  Turning the Car Inside Out: Transport, Equity and Environment , 2001 .

[37]  Dianne A. Vella-Brodrick,et al.  The usefulness of social exclusion to inform social policy in transport , 2009 .

[38]  Gary Higgs,et al.  Alternatives to Census-Based Indicators of Social Disadvantage in Rural Communities , 2000 .

[39]  Jonathan Shaw,et al.  Car dependence in rural Scotland: transport policy, devolution and the impact of the fuel duty escalator , 2001 .

[40]  M. Shucksmith,et al.  Rural Development and Social Exclusion , 1998 .

[41]  Steven Farber,et al.  My car, my friends, and me: a preliminary analysis of automobility and social activity participation , 2009 .

[42]  J. Hills,et al.  Understanding social exclusion , 2002 .

[43]  M. Fitzgerald,et al.  Barriers to Participation in Residual Rural Labour Markets , 2002 .

[44]  Catherine Morency,et al.  Distance traveled in three Canadian cities: Spatial analysis from the perspective of vulnerable population segments , 2011 .

[45]  Graham Currie,et al.  Transport problems that matter - social and psychological links to transport disadvantage , 2011 .

[46]  V. Cattell.  Poor people, poor places, and poor health: the mediating role of social networks and social capital. , 2001, Social science & medicine.

[47]  Margaret Grieco,et al.  Scatters and clusters in time and space: implications for delivering integrated and inclusive transport , 2003 .

[48]  J. Stanley.  Improving public transport to meet community needs: a Warrnambool case-study , 2004 .

[49]  Karen Lucas,et al.  Social exclusion: What can public transport offer? , 2008 .

[50]  J. L. Grand,et al.  Social Exclusion in Britain 1991—1995 , 1999 .

[51]  John Farrington,et al.  CAR DEPENDENCE IN RURAL SCOTLAND , 1998 .

[52]  Antonio Páez,et al.  Exploring Contextual Variations in Land Use and Transport Analysis Using a Probit Model with Geographical Weights , 2006 .

[53]  Jennifer Rogalsky,et al.  The working poor and what GIS reveals about the possibilities of public transit , 2010 .

[54]  J. Hills,et al.  Exclusion, Employment and Opportunity , 1998 .

[55]  J. Preston,et al.  Accessibility, mobility and transport-related social exclusion , 2007 .

[56]  Pavlos S. Kanaroglou,et al.  Urban Form and Household Activity‐Travel Behavior , 2006 .

[57]  Graham Currie,et al.  Investigating links between transport disadvantage, social exclusion and well-being in Melbourne: preliminary results , 2007 .

[58]  D. Gray.  RURAL TRANSPORT AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION: DEVELOPING A RURAL TRANSPORT TYPOLOGY , 2004 .

[59]  J. Hine,et al.  Role of Transport in Social Exclusion in Urban Scotland , 2001 .

[60]  John Farrington,et al.  The New Narrative of Accessibility: Its potential contribution to discourses in (Transport) Geography , 2007 .

[61]  T. McCray,et al.  Exploring the Role of Transportation in Fostering Social Exclusion: The Use of GIS to Support Qualitative Data , 2007 .

[62]  S. Nutley,et al.  Planning options for the improvement of rural accessibility: Use of the time-space approach , 1985 .

[63]  B. Gleeson,et al.  Investigating the Social Dimensions of Transport Disadvantage II: From Concepts to Methods through an Empirical Case Study , 2007 .

[64]  K. Axhausen,et al.  Activity spaces: Measures of social exclusion? , 2003 .

[65]  Stephen Nutley,et al.  Monitoring rural travel behaviour: a longitudinal study in Northern Ireland 1979–2001 , 2005 .

[66]  Bert van Wee,et al.  Accessibility evaluation of land-use and transport strategies: review and research directions , 2004 .

[67]  Banihan Gunay,et al.  Using GIS to visualise and evaluate student travel behaviour , 2011 .

[68]  Julian Le Grand,et al.  Degrees of exclusion: developing a dynamic, multidimensional measure , 2002 .

[69]  Irene Casas,et al.  A Comparison of Three Methods for Identifying Transport-Based Exclusion: A Case Study of Children's Access to Urban Opportunities in Erie and Niagara Counties, New York , 2009 .