Transport poverty vulnerability index: Making use of standardised databases

Abstract

Despite its importance for socio-economic equity and urban planning, transport poverty is a complex issue that lacks clear measurement tools. The paper seeks to bridge this gap by introducing a composite indicator to assess transport poverty vulnerability in the European Union. The newly constructed vulnerability index for transport poverty, which includes direct and indirect dimensions of affordability, accessibility and mobility from Eurostat and the World Bank, identifies EU-27 countries facing the greatest challenges. Further, the new index is compared with an augmented index that adjusts for externalities such as environmental impacts and demographic factors, providing a more nuanced analysis. The findings reveal a shift in the ranking of countries when the augmented index is considered. While Slovenia, Luxembourg and Austria initially ranked highest (indicating lower transport poverty vulnerability), with the augmented index Denmark, the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Germany emerge as the least transport vulnerable countries. The augmented index generally indicates that countries which invest heavily in transport infrastructure and maintain a balance between annual earnings and transport costs exhibit the least transport poverty vulnerability. Notably, approximately 90 to 125 million people in the EU-27 experience some form of transport poverty, driving the need for targeted policy interventions to address this pervasive issue.