Transport and Covid-19: responses and resources

Sustainable Accessibility for All Working Group

This Working Group considers how governments can best ensure that all transport users have adequate accessibility in the context of a sustainable mobility future. It focuses on the transport needs of vulnerable demographics, including older people, people with disabilities, low-income groups, and residents of urban peripheries, regional towns and remote areas.

Moving beyond the individual concepts of physical access and mobility entails focusing on the ability of people to access opportunities via the network of options available to them. Sustainable accessibility relies on the presence of opportunities across settlement types and times of day, as well as attractive, sustainable mobility options that are affordable, usable and non-discriminatory. 

Car dependency for daily activities remains a major barrier to a sustainable mobility system, especially in the extra-urban context and during non-peak periods. The concept of a “mobility service guarantee”, which would effectively make private car ownership unnecessary, has been on the political agenda in several countries and will also be considered. 

This project builds on a previous Working Group, Innovations for Better Rural Mobility, completed in 2021. Funding comes through the ITF’s 2022-23 Programme of Work. The Working Group report will be published in early 2024.