A Comparison of Three Methods for Identifying Transport-Based Exclusion: A Case Study of Children's Access to Urban Opportunities in Erie and Niagara Counties, New York

Achieving transport sustainability is contingent on many factors, including transportation services being provided equitably regardless of race, income, gender, disability, and/or any other differentiating characteristics. A major risk of inequitable service provision is that without sufficient accessibility via transport, populations are put at a disadvantage, which may result in conditions of exclusion. At the present time, however, the dimensions of transport-based social exclusion are not fully understood, and the elusive nature of the concept renders it difficult to quantify. In this paper, three methods for identifying transport-excluded populations are examined and compared. The first follows a traditional approach to identifying disadvantaged groups by means of an inequality index based on deprivation. The other two techniques are accessibility-based, and work with a detailed travel diary data set. The study is conducted in the counties of Erie and Niagara, New York, and the population examined is composed of children between the ages of 5 and 18 years old. The results reveal how the models differentially identify excluded populations and should inform planners and practitioners of the implications for choosing between these different approaches.