Transport justice in the suburbs: leveraging social capital to reduce transport disadvantage

Transport infrastructure and transport services are vital to a city’s function. Transport connects citizens with employment, goods, services and each other. Despite this shared understanding of the central role of transport in urban life, for some city residents, the cost, availability, reliability, convenience and/or quality of transport constrains their access to the city’s assets. These individuals experience transport disadvantage. Transport disadvantage is strongly associated with locational and social disadvantage, though causality is complex.In this study I use a longitudinal research method to investigate transport disadvantage at a single urban location. The purpose of the research is to understand the factors that reduce transport disadvantage. The research method is qualitatively-dominant mixed methods and the theoretical interest is the roles of social capital in reducing transport disadvantage.The investigation presents policy, theoretical and methodological findings and recommendations. The research highlights a model of governance that delivered new transport infrastructure and services designed by residents in a transport-disadvantaged place. A significant policy recommendation is that linking social capital in the form of authentic power with and enduring local governance arrangements in transport disadvantaged places can be potent in reducing transport disadvantage.Theoretical recommendations include expanding social capital theory to inquire into the role of kindness in enabling mobility in transport disadvantaged places and extending transport poverty theory to consider locational disadvantage as a factor in transport poverty. The research promotes qualitatively-dominant, local and mixed methods investigations as a way to better understand transport disadvantage and the ways to reduce it.