Shaping the Future: Case Studies in UK Accessibility Planning

There has been an extensive academic debate about the theory of accessibility planning but far less discussion of the practice. This paper illustrates how accessibility planning has succeeded in delivering more sustainable solutions yet failed to change mainstream transport delivery, and what this means for future transport policy directions in the UK.The best way to predict the future is to shape it. Transport planning has a poor track record in predicting travel demand, so accessibility planning emerged in the 1990s as a promising approach to help shape travel demand. It was hoped that with a focus on accessibility a more optimal balance between supply and demand in transport could be achieved, consistent with sustainability. Since then there has been a steady expansion in the number of businesses and other employers planning access for their staff and in local authorities improving access to local services and facilities. However after 20 years, mainstream accessibility plans cover only a small minority of people and organizations. The focus of delivery remains social groups who face particular problems, such as personal mobility restrictions. Responding to problems is only one motivation for action and successful approaches to widen the coverage of accessibility planning have relied on audits, funding, and legislative requirements. The paper presents a typology projects to explain the scope and limits of current UK accessibility planning. It identifies how projects can change land use plans, invest in new safe routes to shops, devise new ticketing and payment approaches for passenger transport, and develop new solutions for sharing of cars, taxis and cycles to make transport more available to more people. The experiences from practice show that there are important obstacles to cross sector working and evidence led planning. The transport sector continues to be reluctant to lead complex cross sector programmes, and there is an evolving policy debate about leadership of transport, accessibility planning and sustainable development. The future of accessibility planning is secured by the essential needs of people to reach opportunities, goods and services, but the organization of delivery needs new funding and focus.