Assessing equity in regional railway corridors

Abstract

Public transport is important for society, it provides accessibility to opportunities. Accessibility is not distributed evenly. Some inhabitants are disadvantaged, which has negative impacts on society. The distribution of accessibility between inhabitants can be measured with transport equity. The PT network should be improved in order to reduce the disadvantage of inhabitant groups. It is not defined how this could be done for regional PT networks. A six step assessment methodology is created for this purpose. The assessment method addresses what objective focus should be applied to, what improvements are possible in PT networks, what measures should be applied and what the equity effects of these measures are. Application of the assessment method yields that substantial equity improvements are possible within the Alkmaar – Den Helder railway corridor. Marginal equity improvements are achieved by changing rolling stock, significant improvements with local doubling of single track and substantial improvements when additional stations are opened. The assessment methodology is also able to identify the presence of trade-offs between inhabitants by mutual comparison.