Social exclusion, accessibility and lone parents

One of the principal rationales for accessibility planning in the UK is the reduction of transport-related social exclusion. To aid and monitor this process the UK Department for Transport (DfT) has produced a set of national accessibility indicators. In addition, in their Guidance on Accessibility Planning in Local Transport Plans, DfT recommends that local authorities produce their own sets of accessibility indicators and targets. An earlier examination of social exclusion literature and Great Britain National Travel Survey data showed that the national accessibility indicators were of limited relevance to some social excluded groups such as lone parents. Lone parents in particular experience problems coordinating work time with childcare and education time, which creates complex transport needs. These are not reflected in simple travel-time measures of accessibility such as those used by DfT. This paper reports on research undertaken as part of an EPSRC funded project - AUNT-SUE (Accessibility and User Needs in Transport for Sustainable Urban Environments) - to develop an appropriate set of accessibility benchmarks for lone parents. The journey characteristics of lone parents and their families are considered through an analysis of National Travel Survey and other data. The paper then proposes some provisional benchmarks based on this analysis and the results of a number of interviews with lone parents.