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Socio-spatial and temporal dimensions of transport equity for London's night time economy

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  • McArthur, Jenny
  • Robin, Enora
  • Smeds, Emilia

Abstract

The sustainable mobility paradigm has dominated the urban transport research agenda for more than a decade. This paradigm focuses on the environmental impacts of travel and the imperative for climate change mitigation, however the specific outcomes of transport in terms of trip type and purpose are not robustly conceptualised, with limited intellectual foundations to understand the ethical considerations of transport service provision. This paper critically considers transport strategies recently developed for London’s Night Time Economy, including policy discourse and technical approaches that shape of transport services provision at night. The case study evaluates the spatiotemporal dimensions of equity. Analysis of policy discourses revealed how night time transport are conceived as an instrumental means to grow the ‘Night Time Economy’, drawing from the conventional wisdom linking accessibility improvements with economic expansion. This strategy viewed ‘London at night’ as a vehicle for economic development, focusing on the consumption-side of the economy and improving individuals’ access to entertainment and recreation. Policy discourse recognised the existence of night-time workers in sectors outside arts and recreation, however, attempts to broaden the ‘Night Time Economy’ agenda to accommodate the travel needs of night-time workers were lost through the narrow selection of accessibility metrics used in transport planning practice. This case demonstrates a missed opportunity to improve transport equity across spatial and temporal dimensions, as night-time workers face severe accessibility barriers, often relying on low-frequency bus services that have inadequate service coverage across Greater London. Scrutinising socio-spatial and temporal dimensions of transport provision can advance more systematic critical perspectives on transport equity by integrating a variety of distributional issues and linking more closely to the practical barriers faced by night-time workers to access transport.

Suggested Citation

  • McArthur, Jenny & Robin, Enora & Smeds, Emilia, 2019. "Socio-spatial and temporal dimensions of transport equity for London's night time economy," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 433-443.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:121:y:2019:i:c:p:433-443
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2019.01.024
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    1. Smeds, Emilia & Robin, Enora & McArthur, Jenny, 2020. "Night-time mobilities and (in)justice in London: Constructing mobile subjects and the politics of difference in policy-making," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    2. Kębłowski, Wojciech & Dobruszkes, Frédéric & Boussauw, Kobe, 2022. "Moving past sustainable transport studies: Towards a critical perspective on urban transport," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 74-83.
    3. Wang, Siqin & Liu, Yan & Corcoran, Jonathan, 2021. "Equity of public transport costs before and after a fare policy reform: An empirical evaluation using smartcard data," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 104-118.
    4. Kapitza, Jonas, 2022. "How people get to work at night. A discrete choice model approach towards the influence of nighttime on the choice of transport mode for commuting to work," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    5. Chong Peng & Weizeng Sun & Xi Zhang, 2022. "Crime under the Light? Examining the Effects of Nighttime Lighting on Crime in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-20, December.
    6. Ryan, Jean & Pereira, Rafael H.M. & Andersson, Magnus, 2023. "Accessibility and space-time differences in when and how different groups (choose to) travel," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    7. Lim, Sungho & Ahn, Haesung & Shin, Seungchul & Lee, Dongmin & Kim, Yong Hoon, 2024. "Investigating night shift workers’ commuting patterns using passive mobility data," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    8. Zhang, Yingheng & Li, Haojie & Ren, Gang, 2022. "Quantifying the social impacts of the London Night Tube with a double/debiased machine learning based difference-in-differences approach," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 288-303.
    9. Plyushteva, Anna & Boussauw, Kobe, 2020. "Does night-time public transport contribute to inclusive night mobility? Exploring Sofia's night bus network from a gender perspective," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 41-50.

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