Development and Application a Method for the Quantification of Mobility Options

Mobility is indispensable for out-of-home activities and social participation. From a transport science perspective, mobility-related participation restrictions are determined by the interaction of land use structure, transport infrastructure and services, and individual characteristics. In transport planning, accessibility serves as a measure to determine participation opportunities, based on reachable destinations and expressed in travel times. Individual characteristics are usually not considered when assessing accessibility. Mobility options define a person's ability to change location, including individual characteristics alongside “objective” accessibility. This paper develops a method quantifying mobility options through an index for mobility options (MOX), calculable mode-specifically for population groups (MOX PG,m ) or person-specifically (MOX P ). The MOX indicates a person's mobility options using a value between 0 and 10. The method developed can, therefore, be used to obtain scientific findings on the impact mechanisms of mobility options based on statistical analyses of quantitative parameters, on the one hand. On the other hand, this method can be used to identify and spatially localise problems with regard to mobility-related social exclusion in transport and social planning. The knowledge gained about the population's mobility options can be used to develop and justify measures. Based on two household surveys in the Social2Mobility project, it was applied in the Ronnenberg area in the Hannover region. The results of the exemplary application show, for example, that people at risk of poverty, women, single parents, those with migration backgrounds, and those with physical disabilities have significantly fewer mobility options, facing higher risk of mobility-related social exclusion.