Transport, social exclusion and health

This paper explores the nature of social exclusion and how transport contributes to it by providing barriers to access. Transport influences health in several ways: by providing physical activity through walking and cycling, and by providing access to healthy food, recreation facilities and healthcare. Transport produces externalities including traffic casualties and vehicle emissions. These effects impinge on society unequally with socially excluded people able to access fewer facilities than others but suffering more from the externalities. The paper is concluded by discussion about various interventions that have been used to address social exclusion by reducing the barriers to access. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.