Abstract

Accessibility evaluation is an established technical tool within the domain of transport planning, and it may also have specific significance in relation to the social implications for urban mobility. Definable as the ease of reaching goods, services and activities, accessibility can contribute to defining how transport systems enhance opportunities for individuals by granting them the possibility to participate in different activities that they may have reason to value. The chapter intends to investigate accessibility as a significant evaluative tool for enabling mobilities and define the conditions and adjustments required for enhancing such a role. After introducing traditional definitions in the field of transport planning, accessibility is reconceptualised from a social perspective, focusing on the potential access to basic opportunities that are particularly significant to enable individuals. Moreover, the operational implications for drafting real-world evaluations are discussed. An evaluative exercise referring to the setting of Bogota (Colombia) is presented to consider how its public transport system grants access to a set of relevant opportunities. The exercise is significant for observing accessibility evaluations in practice, as well as to discuss advantages and limitations of such a technical tool from a social perspective.