Social and cultural issues lie at the heart of the transport and accessibility challenges of all contempory societies, affecting individuals, households, communities and wider society as a whole. Traditionally, the social impacts of transport, including its effects on social exclusion, have been much less well understood and articulated than economic and environmental factors by transport researchers and policy makers. However, understanding the important ways in which transport and social capital interact is vital not only for future EU policy but also for policy making across the developed and developing world. A key priority for this research exchange programme is therefore to:

1. Expose the full diversity of the research which has been already undertaken on transport disadvantage and social exclusion to date,

2. Facilitate the exchange of ideas about the various and diverse theoretical concepts and methodological approaches which abound in this area,

3. Help the participants in the exchange who are already experts in their own discrete areas of research to develop new hybrid theories and methodologies and test these in their three differen national contexts,

4. Identify applicability and utility of these new theories and methods for the development of future transport policy and systems delivery more widely;

5. Develop an international network of researchers and policy makers with an interest in collaborating on international comparative studies of transport and social exclusion and in converting best research into improved policy practices