Personal mobility and access to transport services are vital elements which contribute to increasing the quality of life. Limited access and reduced mobility are closely related to economic discrepancies, disadvantages and social exclusion. Certain segments of society, which bring a disadvantage in terms of equitable access to transport services, include the elderly, disable people, economically challenged people and those who live on the outskirts or in rural areas.
In developed countries, 30-40% of the citizens do not have access to individual transport. In under-developed countries, 80% of the citizens have the same problem for various reasons. On an average, a very high percentage of the population needs without question certain means of transport to ensure their mobility. Other citizens live on the outskirts or in rural areas and they spend hours and a lot of money in order to be able to benefit from this means of transport which ensures their arrival to their end destination. One of the issues which raises new challenges in terms of equitable access to transport services is the development of an affordable transport system which complies to the needs of its users, because a comfortable, efficient and quality transport supposes high costs. “Clearly, in order to benefit from an affordable transport system, governments should provide guarantees and subsidies, but this does not require necessarily financial support. The best method would be to reduce costs and increase competitiveness by
covering part of the operational costs”, said Robert Cervero, Director of the Transportation Center at the University of California, Berkeley, US.
Transport is seen as the engine which provides economic efficiency and “this is a mistake. We have to look at this from another perspective. The concept of an economically efficient transport system coincides with the promotion of equitable access and opportunities, which is equally important from an economic point of view. Economic accountability is seen on two levels: transport investments and specific project investments. In order to apply these measures it is important to increase productivity, which is the key factor that reduces discrepancies in income between the social state and people, regions and subregions”, said David Lewis, Senior Vice-President of HDR Corporation. Economic planning and transport management should learn to adapt to the perspectives of this sector by elaborating cost-benefit and social studies and by stabilizing investments. This way the economy will receive the necessary support and the discrepancies between citizens will be eliminated, therefore favouring equitable access to transport services.
by Pamela Luică
Share on:
