Summary of Key Findings
Susan Kenyon, March 2002

Social exclusion and the lack, or denial, of access to adequate physical mobility, either by private or public transport, are inextricably linked. Without access to adequate mobility, people can be excluded from access to the goods, opportunities, services and social networks that are necessary to participate in modern society.

In this aspect, the public consultation reinforced the messages from the literature review. Participants in the consultation described how lack of access to adequate transport affects all areas of life, making life more complicated, more expensive and more lonely than it is when transport is readily available. Participants have found it difficult to find out about employment opportunities, to attend interview and to take employment, because of transport difficulties; shopping is challenging and can take many trips, over a number of days, to fully complete, where transport is inadequate; individuals and families are excluded from participation in social networks and leisure activities, where transport is too expensive, or not available. Some participants had been unable to attend family weddings; and one had been unable to attend a funeral.

The majority of responses to the identification of a link between transport and social exclusion in the literature suggest that an increase in physical mobility is both necessary and desirable, in order that mobility-related exclusion can be overcome. However, this research was founded upon the concern that an increase in physical mobility is not only against current government environmental and transport aims, but may also have negative social and community effects. In addition, a reliance upon an increase in physical mobility to tackle mobility-related exclusion may not be practical. Public transport is unlikely to ever to be able to meet the needs of all members of society; and any improvements in public transport will take many years and considerable finance to implement. An increase in private car use will be similarly expensive to implement; is likely to require considerable infrastructure improvement; and will continue to exclude people unable to drive - people who are old, young, or who have disabilities. In addition, there simply isn't the space for the number of new roads necessary to support a 30% increase in car ownership, necessary to provide every household with access to a car; nor could this solution be considered environmentally, nor socially, sustainable.

Thus, as the primary purpose of mobility is access, perhaps alternative forms of access should be considered. The provision of access via virtual mobility could, the results of the consultation suggest, provide an alternative form of access, for some people, in some situations, negating the need for an increase in physical mobility in providing access to these activities. This research explored the acceptability of this hypothesis.

The Internet is currently being used to fulfil a vast number and variety of activities, in all spheres of life. Whilst the specifics of Internet use vary - the individuals with whom people communicate or the newspaper they read - the types of Internet activity that are undertaken by participants do not, in general, appear to vary greatly according to participants' personal characteristics. However, experience and exposure to the Internet are influencing factors in participants' confidence online and their understanding of the possibilities of the Internet. Thus, this characteristic influences the breadth of online activities.

It has emerged that Internet-based virtual mobility is already being used by some people to supplement and, on occasion, substitute for, physical mobility, when cost and time savings can accrue from such a substitution. This is especially the case for daily chore activities, including shopping and banking, allowing users to reinvest this time and money in other, more pleasurable activities.

Virtual mobility is also, in some cases, substituting for the increase in physical mobility that has previously been deemed necessary to facilitate access and inclusion. Participants in the online consultation discussed how the Internet has given access to goods, opportunities, services and social networks that are unavailable to them in the offline world. The findings from this research therefore suggest that it is highly probable that virtual mobility could be used in place of an increase in physical mobility, for some activities, for some people.

However, important caveats must be drawn. Alongside the positive impacts of Internet access and use that can be realised, it is possible that there will be adverse effects. The concerns highlighted in this research are threefold: social effects; transport effects; and differential access to virtual mobility.

The concept of virtual mobility is not entirely acceptable to the majority of participants in the public consultation, primarily because of concerns regarding the social effects of an online world. These effects are also hypothesised in the literature and are often covered in the popular media and include: the decline of human relations; the importance of face to face and physical contact; an increase in social isolation; deception and misrepresentation in the online world; and the decline of community. It is fair to say that the jury is still out with regard to the social effects of virtual mobility and neither enthusiasts nor pessimists in this debate have the upper hand, nor even the weight of evidence on their side. It is apparent, however, that popular fears decline with increase experience of and exposure to the Internet; and that no respondents in the public consultation had experienced any negative effects, only positive effects, from Internet use. It is apparent that further understanding of the effects of virtual mobility would be essential before it could be promoted as part of social policy in the UK.

Transport effects have also been well explored in the literature and again, opinion is divided as to whether transport will decrease, increase or remain stable as a result of virtual mobility - indeed, even whether or not travel patterns will alter at all. This research has only found that virtual mobility is being used to substitute for an increase in travel, with occasional substitution effects, for some activities. Further research is necessary to understand the full transport effects of virtual mobility, before this mode could be promoted as part of an integrated transport policy.

Finally, a digital divide is apparent in the UK and it is a possibility that a virtual mobility-related dimension to social exclusion could emerge, if action is not taken to ensure the accessibility of virtual mobility.

In conclusion:

The findings of this research have suggested that virtual mobility could have a role to play in both social and transport policy, creating access to activities where previously access has been denied. It can be suggested that the Internet is able to substitute for the increase in physical mobility that it has previously been assumed would be needed to facilitate inclusion for those experiencing mobility-related exclusion. Indeed, this research suggests that virtual mobility is already contributing towards a reduction in mobility-related exclusion, for some people, most notably in providing improved access to social networks and to information, which is being used to empower people, both personally and vis-à-vis organisations and institutions.

It is the opinion of the research team, in analysing the results from this one year feasibility study, that virtual mobility could and should provide a useful, but not exclusive, tool in both social and transport policy. As a tool to supplement access to participation, where previously access has been denied, the value of virtual mobility, allowing access to virtual interaction, learning, information and opportunity, should be recognised.

Findings from this research are reported in full in both published papers and internal working papers, some of which are available to download online, as detailed on the papers and presentations page of this web site.