The potential for personalised public transport solutions to enhance job seekers' access to employment sites.

Calvert, Thomas; Crawford, Fiona; Parkhurst, Graham; Parkin, John

Abstract

This paper examines the importance of the accessibility of employment locations to job-seekers’ perceived work options. It investigates the potential of an employment site-oriented Personalised Collective Transport Service (PCTS) to help solve the limitations of public transport as a principal mode for accessing work. Attitudes to a PCTS for commuting as influenced by gender are also reported.
A quantitative survey (n = 254) was administered as a self-completed questionnaire by individuals attending three ‘Jobcentre Plus’ offices in Bristol, UK, during September 2017. The data were compared with 2011 census data on Bristol commuters.
Perceived transport-related barriers emerged as second only to jobseekers’ qualifications and skills. We found that many jobseekers were looking for work proximate to their homes. Public transport users felt more limited than non-public transport users regarding which parts of the city they could work in. It was concluded that a PCTS could enhance equity in the labour market. In terms of desirability of the service, female respondents were found to be more likely than males to agree that travelling with colleagues would encourage them to use PCTS, and more likely to agree that being offered shopping vouchers would encourage them (differences significant at p

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: Transport Practitioners' Meeting (TPM)
• Start Date: Jul 5, 2018
• End Date: Jul 6, 2018
• Deposit Date: Feb 24, 2020
• Keywords: work, commute, transport on-demand, unemployed
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/5515676