Researchers in Northern Ireland in the specialist field of transport for elderly and disabled people are becoming increasingly concerned that lack of transport is causing some people to be marginalised from society. This paper combines the results of three recent projects in which the travel patterns and lack of travel of several hundred elderly individuals and a substantial number of groups in urban and rural settings were analysed in detail. Much of the research was sponsored by a "consortium" of voluntary groups which intends to use the results of the research as a means to persuade the regional government to change legislation and policy. The research techniques used include weekly travel diaries, postal surveys of voluntary and community groups, group interactive meetings, public transport auditing. The urban research indicates that elderly people have a very low level of public transport patronage in Belfast (even when the level of public transport is reasonable) and that in general their level of travel is less than half of that of non-elderly people living close by. Mobility impaired people seem to lead lives that are very restricted with little use being made of available "opportunities" and with limited contact with other people. The rural research highlights the lack of public transport to small villages and the impact of lifestyle, for example when public transport is available the centralisation of health services means that a visit to a hospital for one hour can mean an "all-day journey". Many mobility impaired people are restricted to village life and thus have little access to shopping, leisure and other activities in near-by towns. Legislation means that in both urban and regional areas the large supply of vehicles owned by Health/Education Boards cannot be used by voluntary groups and dozens of vehicles are immobile at times when they could be used by voluntary groups. The paper ends by describing the steps that are being taken to improve the situation. (A)
Samenvatting