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XXVIIth World Road Congress
Proceedings of the Congress

Special Project Session 1 - Social equity and social accessibility of the road sector

Wednesday, October 4 09:30 - 13:00
Chair: Fabio PASQUALI, PIARC TC 1.2 Chair and POT member, Italy
Room: Conference Hall, 4th floor

It can be argued that the mission of road and transport authorities is to ensure that the provision of adequate transportation services to all citizens. All areas are usually not served equally: major urban areas benefit from public transport services, which are usually subsidized by local and/or national governments, whereas rural areas have to rely mostly on individual road transport. In general, transport expenditure of rural households is higher than households in big cities. This inequality was relatively well accepted since it was balanced by a lower housing expenditure in rural areas compared to urban ones.

The recent social development, forced by economic contingency, different growth trends and patterns, associated to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, have changed the overall picture of accessibility, mobility and core transport policies to answer new and old needs expressed by the stakeholders.

 The session addressed a sub-set of the notions of equity, answering the question if all segments of the population are served fairly, and accessibility, answering the question of all geographic areas are accessible to all who need it both in HIC (High Income Countries) and LMIC (Low Middle Income Countries).

  1. Welcome and session introduction
  2. PIARC Special Project  “Social equity and social accessibility”
  3. Questions and answers
  4. Round table with contributions from the audience
  5. Social equity and social accessibility around the world
  6. Debate on presentations - Questions and answers

Welcome and session introduction

• Fabio PASQUALI, PIARC TC 1.2 Chair and POT member, Italy

PIARC Special Project  “Social equity and social accessibility”

  • Introduction to the Special Project
    Miguel CASO FLÓREZ (PIARC) - Technical Director
  • The methodology and the lessons learnt from the literature
    Mehran ESKANDARI TORBAGHAN (University of Birmingham, United Kingdom)
  • The methodology and findings from the questionnaire and Interviews
    William AVIS (University of Birmingham, United Kingdom)

Questions and answers

Round table with contributions from the audience

Moderated by Fabio PASQUALI, Session Chair, PIARC TC 1.2 Chair and POT member, Italy

Panelists: 

  • Mehran ESKANDARI TORBAGHAN, University of Birmingham, UK 
  • William AVIS, University of Birmingham, UK 
  • Sisanda DYUBHELE, PIARC TC 1.1 member and POT member, South Africa
  • Miguel CASO FLÓREZ, PIARC Technical Director

Break

Social equity and social accessibility around the world

  • Institutionalizing Equity at the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. DOT.
    Gloria SHEPHERD (FHWA Executive Director, United States)
  • Kenyan study on accessibility
    Opuge OBUOLLOH (University of Birmingham, United Kingdom)
  • Social equity in the road sector of Europe: an overview
    Fabio PASQUALI (Italy) - PIARC TC 1.2 Chair and POT member

Debate on presentations - Questions and answers

Moderated by Fabio PASQUALI, PIARC TC 1.2 Chair and POT member, Italy

Panelists: 

  • Gloria SHEPHERD, FHWA Executive Director, USA
  • Opuge OBUOLLOH, University of Birmingham, UK
  • Ezekiel FUKWO, Director of Highway Design and Safety, Kenya