10: What is Transport Social Exclusion?

The connections between social exclusion and transport have been known about for many years but it is only recently, in Europe, the United States, and a number of developing countries, that the issues have become central to policy and planning. The conceptual problems of definition and solution are common to all: the solutions will be very different. In England, local authorities are asked to produce Local Transport Plans (LTPs) which will, inter alias, help to reduce ‘social exclusion’. Many transport planners are unfamiliar with this concept; the guidance they are given refers them to the report Social Exclusion and the Provision and Availability of Public Transport (Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR), 2000a) which identifies four main types of transport social exclusion: