Inequity in the Provision of Public Bus Service for Socially Disadvantaged Groups

Abstract

The neo-classical and the economic doctrines dominating the governmental policies show their impact on the recent transportation policies, basing these policies on the demand and the efficiency criteria instead of the equity concerns. The public transit system operating for the remote areas is less cost-effective, eventually leading to reach a low level of service quality. In the metropolitan areas of the developing countries, a large part of the socially disadvantaged and vulnerable groups live in the outer suburban locations rather than in the inner-city districts. An evaluation of the transit equity is required in order to consider the requirements of the more vulnerable populations, and also to foster equal benefits. The evaluation approach is based on highlighting the spatial distribution and clustering the patterns of the bus network and service as well as the patterns of some disadvantaged social groups including the unemployed, migrated, less educated, elderly, young, and disabled ones. The hypothesis is that the vulnerable groups and the economically disadvantaged communities receive a less-than-equal share of the public bus services. The findings of the study show that the poor accessibility is associated with both the low-income neighborhoods and the neighborhoods with disproportionately high populations of the migrated, less-educated, unemployed, and low-income groups. Modifications need to be made in the transportation planning and the policy system so as to achieve a better distribution of the public transportation services in the hope of increasing the level of service for the minority groups and the economically disadvantaged communities.