Public transport and social policy goals

While social goals are included with economic and environmental goals in the field of public transport, social goals are poorly defined and lack comprehensiveness. This paper reports findings from a regional Victorian study that explored the transport needs of people at risk of social exclusion. Study findings suggest that conceptualising transport needs only in terms of accessibility to goods and services, as is the present dominant paradigm, views the social value of public transport too narrowly. The ability to be mobile may also facilitate the development of social capital and the achievement of other government social policy goals. Thus, it should be improved well-being, not improved accessibility per se, that is the ultimate social policy goal in the transport field. The study also revealed a concern that community transport may, in some circumstances, be socially excluding for some people and it may have the potential to undermine existing public transport services. Many of these issues would be better addressed through the development of a more holistic, integrated framework for transport policy development.