Accessibility problems and transportation needs of rural Kamyaran,Iran (a GIS-based analysis)

It has long been accepted that the provision of transport facilities would automatically lead to consequent economic and social development (White, 1980). Generally, transport plays an important role not only in facilitating the movement of goods but also in the development of services. Various spatially diverse sectors of the economy, population and environment can be linked by transport services. In other words the key aim of transport is to enable people and businesses to gain access to jobs, shops, friends, family and many other activities. However, in developing countries as mentioned by White and Senior (1983) there are special transport-related problems that may affect normal people’s everyday life. Inadequacy or the lack of public transport and low levels of car ownership are two dominant features of transportation in rural Kurdistan. For mainly economic reasons public transport is not able to service adequately rural communities as is the case in urban areas. Thus, there could be some population groups who neither have a car nor access to a reliable public transport system. These groups are termed transport-disadvantaged – those people who have frequent mobility or access problems and whose trip rates are lower than the average of the normal community - and comprise the elderly, school children, students, no (and low) car owners, low-income people. This paper aims to shed light on policies which may promote accessibility in rural Kamyaran (Kurdistan) by first recognising the areas and number of people who are likely to be in need of transport. Transport need can be defined as the minimum travel required to satisfy basic needs; this can, in turn, be considered as that part of demand which is not expressed, either because it is specialised; forms a small niche in the market which the users alone could not afford; or is so small or dispersed that the needs are not easily identifiable (Banister et al., 1984; Burkhardt and Eby, 1973; Ministry of Transport, 1989; Popper et al., 1976; Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 1992).