Public Transport and Social Inclusion: a Good Practice Guide

pteg good practice guide Transport and Social Inclusion Contents 1.Foreword 2.Executive Summary 3.Introduction 4.Projects • The Availability and Physical Accessibility of Transport • Cost of Transport • Services and Activities Located in Inaccessible Locations • Safety and Security • Travel Horizons Foreword The Government’s Social Exclusion Unit Government’s ambitious objectives for has rightly highlighted better access to tackling social exclusion. This guide is jobs, healthcare, shops and education part of that process. It aims to help as key to unlocking opportunities for raise awareness among transport planners deprived communities. As a result and policy makers of some of the 1 ‘accessibility planning’ will become a innovative schemes now underway in cornerstone of the next round of Local PTE areas and the lessons that can be Transport Plans. 84 out of the 100 most learnt from them. deprived neighbourhoods are in PTE areas, and pteg is fully committed to Neil Scales playing a key role in achieving the Director General Merseytravel and lead DG for pteg on social inclusion 01 Executive Summary The availability and physical All this helps explain why two out of accessibility of transport five jobseekers say lack of transport is a barrier to getting a job and 31% of In recent decades travel patterns have people without a car have difficulties become more complex, distances travelling to their local hospital. 2 travelled have become longer, and society is no longer focussed so strongly PTEs have been at the forefront of on the nine to five working day. exploring innovative new ways of overcoming the lack of availability or Society has become organised around accessibility of transport. the car and more of the services and facilities that people need have moved The deployment of new technology, away from traditional urban centres. the forging of better links with non- transport agencies, and a willingness to However, a sizeable minority of people look at alternatives to the traditional (nearly one in three households) do not bus service - are key features of many have access to a car, including 63% of of these schemes. They often also the lowest income households. For involve the careful targeting of these households access to employment, resources at excluded communities or shops, education, healthcare and groups, or at particular needs (such as leisure opportunities can be difficult. linking the jobless with the jobs). This has meant working more closely with Even if there is a bus stop nearby, bus communities and disadvantaged routes don’t always go where people groups to come up with new services need them to, or at the times they need that meet a real need. them to. Bus networks are dominated by radial routes whereas supermarkets, In practice this often means some form new opportunities for employment or of Demand Responsive Transport, often training, are often located at the urban taking advantage of new technology to fringe. plan and manage routes. It also means a willingness to fit the vehicle to the 14% of adults have a physical disability task. These days public transport can or long-standing health problem that be provided by anything from a makes it difficult for them to go out on conventional minibus, on a fixed or foot or use public transport, yet only semi-fixed route, to a taxi which takes around 10% of trains and 29% of buses you door-to-door. currently meet the requirements of the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act. Try something new and you are bound to learn something useful which others However the design of vehicles can be can gain from, and which you can use one barrier of many. Lack of information, to improve the service. poorly trained staff, barriers in the journey to and from the station or bus stop, can all prevent older and disabled people from using public transport. 02 It’s relatively early days for many of Factors in the success or otherwise of these schemes but some common these schemes include: themes are beginning to emerge. • effective promotion of the fares • Schemes like these can be intensive offers to the target group in terms of both resources and • effective partnership with employment management time. agencies to insure that the fares • New and unfamiliar services require promotions are taken up. extensive and continuous promotion. • Flexibility is important - routes, Services and activities located in vehicle type, promotional techniques, inaccessible places may all need to be changed or modified as the project develops. Growth in car ownership has enabled • Effective partnerships need to be major changes in land use in recent forged with the agencies relevant to decades. Public transport has found it the scheme (be that the local hard to keep pace with these new, and Jobcentre Plus or the local community more dispersed, patterns of development. transport provider). • Schemes need to be designed with As traditional centres and sectors of a clear understanding of the needs employment have declined, new of the community or group the employment opportunities have sprung scheme is aiming to serve. There up in new and often peripheral locations. also need to be good mechanisms A range of facilities that used to be for feedback from users and potential centrally located are moving out-of- users. town: including hospitals, colleges and shopping centres. For example the Cost of transport number of out-of-town shopping centres increased four-fold between 1986 and Public transport fares are well above 1997. At the same time many social the European average, and continue to housing estates are located on the rise in real terms. High fares - particularly edge of towns, remote from key services on the buses - where fares regulation is and poorly served by public transport. weak, can be a significant deterrent for Many deprived areas are also short of those on low incomes. For example key facilities, such as shops and healthcare one in four jobseekers say that the cost centres. of transport is a problem getting to interviews. The Government is seeking to address this through accessibility planning - Working within the limitations of a which will be a cornerstone of the next deregulated bus market, PTEs have round of local authority five year transport been trying to address this through plans. Accessibility planning means fares initiatives targeted at specific assessing more systematically whether low-income groups. These have been people can get to key activities, and to primarily through discounted versions develop effective strategies (involving of their multi-modal travelcard schemes all the relevant agencies) to solve and through free or discounted fare accessibility problems. To achieve this, offers, designed to enable people to local transport authorities will carry out get to interviews, and to get through the first weeks of a new job. 03 audits to identify disadvantaged This is a particular problem for jobseekers, groups or areas with poor access to who may be unwilling to look for, or key services, and develop action plans consider, job vacancies outside a narrow to tackle these problems. geographic area. PTEs have been involved in some of Travel horizons can be limited because the pilot accessibility planning projects. of: And they already have a number of services up and running specifically • lack of trust and confidence that the designed to provide access to new bus will get them to where they employment sites. need to be on time • lack of knowledge of how to get to Safety and security places using public transport. Sometimes services are available for Fear of crime is a significant deterrent the journeys people want to make to the use of public transport. This is but lack of awareness means these often the case in deprived areas where opportunities are not taken up people are around five times more likely • a tendency to look for work in, or than those in the least deprived areas travel to, places that are familiar. to say that they are concerned about levels of crime. Frequent changes to bus routes and timetables can compound all of these Women and older people are most difficulties concerned about their security with 44% of women saying they feel unsafe Among the ways PTEs are tackling this waiting at a bus stop after dark. 18% is through better information about of people say they would use buses services. more if personal security issues were tackled. This can include information which is more clearly presented and easy to Among the ways PTEs have been tackling assimilate than the traditional bus this issue is through establishing effective timetable and map. This includes maps partnerships with police and other key and guides which relate public transport agencies to tackle crime and nuisance, services to the location of key and through working with schools to destinations, and the routes from the both tackle problem behaviour and stops and stations to those destinations. provide secure and attractive school transport. PTEs are also pioneering ‘travel training’. Travel training is about giving people Travel horizons the training, information, guidance and confidence they need to be able to use People on low incomes can be reluctant public transport. Travel training can to travel long distances, or for a long help people to access employment, or time. The average distance to work for it can give disabled or older people people on low incomes is three miles the ability to use public transport compared with eight miles for the independently, rather than relying on general population. specialised social services transport. 04 PTEs and pteg The Passenger Transport Executives • run concessionary travel schemes, (PTEs) are the driving force behind the including those for the young, development of public transport networks elderly or disabled in the regions they serve.

Load more