A Companion to the Philosophy of Technology

Transportation Access

Energy in terms of transportation is a key component in the demand for mobility including freight transport, market access, transport to work, and all sorts of transport for private purposes. If we here focus on road transport, there are a number of equity dimensions of this activity.

Mobility, on one hand, in itself has many equity dimensions in terms of who has access to transport and how this access is influencing various dimensions of human well-being. At the same time, transportation causes many externalities including environmental impacts as well as accidents and noise. Those who suffer from these externalities in many cases are different from those who enjoy the benefits of transportation. A recent study about air pollution from transportation in New Delhi concludes that in particular poor families suffer from high mortality and morbidity rates because they live in heavily polluted areas and have poor health conditions, though they do not benefit from the transport that is causing the pollution (Garg 2006). Only about 38 percent of the households owned cars and/or motorcycles in Delhi and most of them are high-income families.

A utility-based approach would here focus on the net social costs and benefits of the mobility versus externalities from transport. In case there is a net surplus, traditional cost–benefit analysis can conclude that the winners can compensate the losers, and the activity therefore has a positive impact on social welfare. Whether ...