Transport and Rural Areas

Resolving Transport Issues in a Rural Area

The overall purpose of this study is to identify a means of improving access to public services for the residents of Argyll and Bute who need an effective and integrated transport system to enable them to access health and other services both locally and out-with the area.

The key objectives of the project are:

• To map the existing transport facilities supported by public agencies and the voluntary sector and ascertain the costs of providing these services
• To explore the experiences of the community in accessing health and other public services including barriers to access
• To compare the existing provision with the needs of service users and to recommend revised models for the provision of publicly funded transport and voluntary transport to improve access using existing funding sources

Details and full report available at: http://www.napier.ac.uk/depts/eri/research/transportruralarea.htm

ICT and job seeking in rural areas

This investigated the potential benefits and barriers associated with the delivery of job search services for job seekers through the use of ICT-based systems and policies are required to address the 'digital divide' affecting unemployed job seekers and other disadvantaged groups in two rural areas.

Policy makers are increasingly seeking to develop specific solutions to the problems of delivering services for unemployed job seekers in rural labour markets. New Information and Communications Technology (ICT), particularly the Internet, have been identified as potentially offering an effective means of providing information for job seekers in rural areas, where public services 'on the ground' are often under-developed and transport links are restricted. However, studies of ICT access and usage suggest that there is a 'digital divide', with disadvantaged groups less likely to have access to the skills and hardware required to fully exploit the opportunities offered by new technologies.

Initial results from research carried out by the Employment Research Institute at Napier University suggest that while ICT-based services are already proving useful for some job seekers, others are 'disconnected' from even the most basic forms of modern communications (e.g. telephone access).

This project will build upon recent research carried out in two areas of Scotland (one a remote rural area with high unemployment, the other a semi-rural, centrally located labour market with below average unemployment).

Report available at: http://www.napier.ac.uk/depts/eri/research/ict.htm http://www.jrf.org.uk/bookshop/details.asp?pubID=552

EMIRES (Economic Growth and Sustainable Mobility)

This 2 million euro trans-European Fifth Framework Programme project has a demonstration site in Sutherland, in the Highlands of Scotland. It combines information on local transport, job availability and training opportunities on a single website (www.emiresscotland.org).

The main UK partners are Highland Council, the Employment and Transport Research Institutes, Napier University, Edinburgh and Newcastle University.

Details: http://www.emires.net or http://www.napier.ac.uk/depts/eri/research/EMIRES.htm

This page contributed by:

Professor Ronald McQuaid
Director, Employment Research Institute
Napier University
Craiglockhart Campus
219 Colinton Road Edinburgh
EH14 1DG UK.
Tel. +44 131 455 4310
Fax +44 131 455 4311
E-mail: r.mcquaid@napier.ac.uk
http://www.napier.ac.uk/depts/eri/home.htm
http://www.tri.napier.ac.uk/