Transport divide

Transport divide (also known as transport exclusion, transport disadvantage, transport deprivation, transportation divide, and mobility divide) refers to unequal access to transportation.[1][2][3][4][5][6] It can result in the social exclusion of the disadvantaged groups.[5][7]

The concept covers issues ranging from unequal access to public transportation[1][3][5] to the unequal opportunities in global migration due to different visa policies as part of the global North–South divide.[4]

There are a number of aspects of the transport divide. People may have difficulty in using transport system because of physical barters, most commonly such as lack of accessibility for the disabled (lack of wheelchair access also impacts people with baby strollers or bicycles); insufficient labeling can also cause problems for people who do not speak the local language. Financial barriers in the form of cost of services can prevent the poor from using the transport services. Distance barriers (in the form of distance from people's homes) can make some areas mostly inaccessible to people without access to car, particularly when local public transportation is not well developed. Time barriers include problems caused by rush hour, but also time constrains caused by the need to arrange for care for members of the family (most often childcare), which when coupled with poor transport infrastructure can be a factor reducing women's participation in the workforce. There are also fear barriers such as fear of groping leading to the creation of women-only passenger car. Attempts to fix the fear barriers through increased surveillance and policing have however been linked to the lowering of the usage of such services by other groups, such as the youth.[8][5][7]