ABSTRACT
Social exclusion occurs when people or areas suffer from a combination of linked problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime rates, poor health and family breakdown. We can identify 3 key factors in the causes of social exclusion where, in each one, transport policy has a clear influence:
Poor access to services: excluded groups face significantly poorer access to both public and private sector facilities. Lack of hope: excluded people feel little hope for the future especially if barriers such as disability or health problems, lack of transport, low skills, discrimination, or few local jobs limit the opportunities they have to work or participate in society. This feeling is exacerbated by fear that the prospects for their children may be no better in the future. Polarised and fragmented communities: so that, for example, poor and unemployed people are less likely to live in a community where others may be able to put them in touch with a job. Long term mobility disadvantage in remote suburban or rural areas increases the feeling of being 'trapped'.
