Examining Travel Choices of Low-Income Populations: Issues, Methods, and New Approaches

Abstract The study of the role that transportation plays in the well being of low-income populations is not new. However, the overwhelming research emphasis has been on the relationship between transportation and access to employment opportunities for low-wage workers. Much less at-tention has been placed upon the full array of activity and travel needs of this population seg-ment and their ensuing travel decisions and behaviours. In addition, the methods that have been traditionally used may fall short in reaching these populations or in the type and degree of information provided. This paper aims to fill a gap in the literature by assessing the state-of-the knowledge of the travel behaviour of low-income populations and offering directions for future research. It is organized into three sections and will discuss the numerous issues that arise when studying populations who are economically disadvantaged. First, this paper presents a brief analysis of previous work on poverty and transportation, with emphasis on those aspects pertaining to travel behaviour. Second, the paper evaluates the issues that emerge from this literature re-view and discusses the methodological challenges that confront travel behaviour researchers when studying this population. Finally, the paper will present new approaches that offer promise. As we seek to understand more about travel behaviours and their motivations, it be-comes necessary to explore specific segments of the population in more detail. These ap-proaches, while focused on the travel behaviours of the poor, may be extended to our studies of other groups and population segments. Keywords Poverty, Social Exclusion, International Conference on Travel Behaviour Research, IATBR Preferred citation Clifton, Kelly J. (2003)