01658045

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This paper reports on the effects of inaccessibility on Syrian refugees in Durham Region, a municipality abutting the City of Toronto. The transport and social exclusion framework is applied to determine whether transport poverty leads to inaccessibility, and how this impacts participation in daily activities and the wellbeing of recently landed refugees. A combined methodological approach consisting of focus groups and survey data collection and analysis provides a thorough and valid depiction of the topics investigated. The findings clearly depict evidence of inaccessibility and its negative impact on participation in social and discretionary activities. At the same time, inaccessibility was not determined to be effecting participation rates in many mandatory activities such as daily English language classes or childcare-related tasks. The respondents overwhelmingly felt that their transportation situation was having a strong negative impact on several dimensions of wellbeing, including loneliness and sadness. The research points to the validity of the transport and social exclusion framework and its usefulness in understanding participation and settlement outcomes among refugee migrants within a suburban, North American context.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADD50 Standing Committee on Environmental Justice in Transportation.

18-00692

English

16p

2018

Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; References; Tables

Accessibility; Immigrants; Transportation disadvantaged persons

Refugees; Well being

Syria; Toronto Metropolitan Area

Planning and Forecasting; Society; Transportation (General)

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2018 Paper #18-00692

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 8 2018 10:10AM