Passengers or political actors? Children's participation in transport policy and the micro political geographies of the family

Abstract

Transport is currently at the forefront of the political agenda. Successive government transport policies have increased the spatial mobility of the majority of the UK population, largely through encouraging car ownership and use. However, transport and children's geographers have highlighted that children are one social group that face increasing restrictions on their independent spatial mobility. These spatial restrictions are caused in part by safety fears originating from traffic generated by other people's mobility. Thus, with the exception of a few local initiatives such as ‘Safer Routes to School’, current transport policy fails to treat children as political citizens, neglecting to represent or respond to their travel needs. As a result of increasing restrictions on their mobility, children are increasingly escorted by adults in cars. Thus, the car is becoming an increasingly significant social space of childhood. However, little is known about the decision-making processes that result in car use. This paper examines, at the micro level, the everyday familial politics concerning the decision-making processes regarding car use and, more specifically, whether children, as political actors, are included in this process. The paper also discusses the possibilities for promoting children as political citizens at the macro level, by examining mechanisms for incorporating the views and transport needs of children into transport policy and planning.