University of London Centre for Transport Studies Working Paper

On Mobility

by Nick Tyler and Natasha Brown

Abstract

This paper considers the question of mobility in the sense of the ease of reaching activities and distinguishes this from the concept of physical movement. This is highlighted by the plight of people with mobility problems, whether these are due to long-standing medical conditions or to temporary encumbrance. The issue is raised of the concept of a level of mobility and accessibility which could be defined as a basis for society as a whole. The case is argued that planning has all too often been in favour of car-based transport - often on the basis of the perception of enhanced mobility that cars provide. However, increasing mobility for cars can often increase accessibility problems for people - crossings are moved, barriers erected and so on. The role played by public transport in this is important because it provides the motorised mobility for those people for whom a car is not available. It is therefore public transport which should be used to define the bas for mobility assessment. It woudl be useful to consider the basis on which planning decisions are made with respect to mobility questions. Attempts to regenerate town centres (as recommended by current planning policy guidance) are welcome, but they must be combined with accessibility enhancements for public transport services. A very simple conceptual model is suggested which illustrates, for different modes, how the ease of reaching an activity changes as the distance to the activity increases. this suggests that public transport measures designed to increase speeds are only likely to deliver mobility benefits for longer distance journeys. on the other hand, attention to the accessibility of the public transport system would provide benefits for more local journeys.

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