2 MOBILITY
Mobility is a relatively straightforward concept. In the transport
context it means to be able to move about physically. In other contexts
it is used to mean moving economically or socially between classes.
To achieve mobility, a person needs the physical means to move about.
These include legs, skis, wheelchairs, horses, automobiles, public
transport and special transport, to name but a few. For effective
mobility, appropriate infrastructure must be available for the vehicle
or other means of mobility. Thus a footway that provides unrestricted
mobility for pedestrians would prevent mobility for people in
wheelchairs if it had kerbs that were not dropped at appropriate places.
A metre of snow prevents mobility for a person without skis.
In addition to the physical means of mobility being available, a person
is only mobile if they have funds to pay the cost of travelling,
documentation to authorise travel (if needed), and knowledge of the
existence of the means of travel and of how to use it.