ABSTRACT
The development of a theory of justice for the domain of transportation requires, as I have argued at the end of the previous chapter, a two-step process. First, it involves a justification for setting the good of transportation apart from other, regular, goods produced by members of society. Second, it requires the systematic development of principles of justice that can guide the distribution of the transport good. In this chapter, I take up the first challenge. The chapter will start with a brief account of Walzer’s theory of justice. This will set the stage for an exploration of the social meaning of the transport good in the subsequent section. That exploration will result in a conclusion that is in line with the large body of literature that has developed over the past decades: the distinct social meaning of the transport good lies in the accessibility it confers to persons. I will then develop an argument for why the distribution of accessibility should be set apart from the distribution of other, regular, goods. Finally, I will argue that Walzer’s approach cannot deliver well-founded principles of justice for the distribution of accessibility. This conclusion demarcates the starting point for Chapters 5 and 6, in which I will draw on Rawls’ and Dworkin’s theories of justice to develop principles of justice for the fair distribution of accessibility.
