This article is oriented towards the tensions between the local character of the lived experience of transport and the more general view taken in transport policy studies. The article presents research conducted in 2002-2005 into the lived experience of transport structure: it represents a social transport policy approach to the phenomenon of suppressed journeys and barriers to travel. The research was funded by the Department for Transport with the primary goal of exploring the complexities associated with travel among different social groups and across different geographic locations. Two case studies were undertaken, one in a rural location and one in a peripheral urban location in Oxfordshire. Analysis of the case-study materials resulted in a number of findings, the most pertinent of which is that there is a major consultation gap between users of the transport system and planners of that system. Additionally, existing methodologies in transport and travel under-record and under-represent the barriers to mobility experienced in the routine of everyday life within contemporary Britain.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.