Reports:
Study of European best practice in the delivery of integrated transport: report on stage 1 - benchmarking
6. Accessibility & Social Exclusion
INTRODUCTION
6.1 Improving access to transport systems is an important aspect of increasing participation in society that can lead to a higher quality of life, however there are few relevant measures of transport outputs or outcomes. This chapter considers accessibility and social inclusion in terms of the following proxy indicators:
- access to a car;
- time spent commuting; and
- expenditure on travel.
ACCESS TO PRIVATE CAR
6.2 Car ownership provides a proxy indicator for overall access to private transport, however, it hides any variation in the number of households who do not have access to a car and may not be able to fulfil their transport needs. The share of non-car owning households is therefore a better measure for comparison, however, this does not distinguish between households that aspire to ownership but are unable to afford a car and those who choose not to own a car, for example, because they have ready access to goods and services or can satisfy their travel needs using public transport, walking and cycling.
6.3 The difference between the proportion of households without a car and those unable to afford a car provides a proxy indicator of potential of sustainable transport; higher values suggest that there is less reliance on the car, though lower values could result from unexpectedly high levels of car ownership (as in Germany and Italy - see para 2.8).
Table 6.1 - Households without a Car (%, 1994)
|
No-Car Households (A) |
Unable to Afford Car (B) |
Difference (A-B) |
Rank |
|---|
|
Netherlands |
42 |
7 |
35 |
1 |
|
Denmark |
42 |
16 |
26 |
2 |
|
Greece |
45 |
24 |
21 |
3 |
|
Germany |
26 |
5 |
21 |
4 |
|
UK |
30 |
11 |
19 |
5 |
|
Italy |
22 |
4 |
18 |
6 |
|
Belgium |
24 |
7 |
17 |
7 |
|
Portugal |
45 |
28 |
17 |
8 |
|
Irish Rep |
34 |
18 |
16 |
9 |
|
Spain |
32 |
16 |
16 |
10 |
|
France |
22 |
7 |
15 |
11 |
|
Luxembourg |
17 |
4 |
13 |
12 |
|
Austria |
35 |
n/a |
- |
- |
|
Finland |
36 |
n/a |
- |
- |
|
Sweden |
271 |
n/a |
- |
- |
Source: Based on Eurostat, EU Transport in Figures 2000. 1: 1997 data.
TIME SPENT COMMUTING
6.5 Excessive commuting can impact on the productivity of the workforce and detract from an individual's quality of life. Figure 6.1 shows that employees in the UK have the longest commute in Europe, spending an average of 46 minutes a day travelling to and from work, possibly because they are much more likely to encounter traffic congestion en route (as shown in Figure 5.1).
Figure 6.1 - Time Spent Commuting
Source: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Dublin, 1996.
HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE ON TRANSPORT
Spend on Transport
6.6 Households in the UK spend 15% of their total expenditure on transport - the third highest in the EU after Luxembourg and Denmark, as shown in Figure 6.2.
Figure 6.2 - Proportional Expenditure on Transport
Source: Based on Eurostat, EU Transport in Figures, 2000.
6.7 Italy is particularly notable because is has a relatively high volume of travel per person and yet just 11% of household expenditure is spent on transport, implying that travel costs are cheaper than in other countries. Indeed further research showed that the price of cars, non-fuel related operating costs and public transport fares are especially low.
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