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Increasing Accessibility Cost-Effectively for People Who Are Socially Excluded

This paper is based on research being undertaken as part of the AUNT SUE (Accessibility and User Needs in Transport for Sustainable Urban Environments) research programme being carried out at University College London, London Metropolitan University and Loughborough University in Great Britain. As part of the research programme, a software tool AMELIA (A Methodology to Enhance Life by Increasing Accessibility) is being developed in the Centre for Transport Studies at University College London. The purpose of AMELIA is to help local planners determine whether their transport and related policies help increase social inclusion by seeing whether they allow more people to reach opportunities including shops, employment, leisure facilities, and medical and welfare centres taking into account various mobility guidelines and, where appropriate, the cost of implementing the policy. AMELIA is a policy-oriented user-friendly interface to a GIS (Geographic Information System) designed to allow local transport planners to examine their policies to see if they increase social inclusion. Using AMELIA requires the assembly of data on the mobility capabilities of the members of the group, their movement patterns or potential movement patterns, potential improvements to the environment to increase accessibility, and, optionally, the cost of implementing the improvements. The purpose of this paper is to show how AMELIA can be used to examine the impact of policy actions on particular groups in society in order to increase their accessibility, so that they can reach more opportunities. Research has been carried out into ways of increasing access for elderly and disabled. In the paper, AMELIA is used to show the cost effectiveness of increasing walking accessibility for elderly people living in the city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, using the following policy actions: 1. Putting in dropped kerbs at existing road crossings; 2. Putting in more road crossings; 3. Widening the pavement; 4. Putting in benches so that people can rest; 5. Improving street lighting; 6 Putting in more public toilets. The analysis suggests that the three policy actions of putting in more benches, improving the street lighting and putting in more public toilets, would be much more cost effective than the other three. The paper is concluded with discussion about the implications of the assumptions made in carrying out the work.

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Features: Figures; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: 10p
  • Monograph Title: TRANSED 2010: 12th International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Disabled Persons, June 1-4, 2010

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01359863
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Dec 30 2011 7:11AM