Equity and Fairness in Transport Planning: The State of Play

This paper explores the concept of equity, or fairness, in transport. As a pillar of sustainable development, social equity is an important objective of transport planning. The provision of transport infrastructure can have significant equity impacts on society through the distribution of costs and benefits. In recent years, there has been an increase in research interest in transportation related equity issues. The paper outlines the primary theoretical traditions that relate to equity and transport equity, and how equity concerns are currently addressed and evaluated in academia and in practice. Recent research has attempted to establish stronger principles from which to make sound moral judgements as to the fairness of transport impact distribution. The literature reveals that transport equity analysis is complex due to the numerous types of equity and impacts to consider. The paper concludes with a commentary on the state of play of transport equity and identifies areas for potential future research.