Exploring the potential for sustainable accessibility across settlement types. A Swedish case

The potential for residents of smaller urban and rural areas to benefit from sustainable accessibility is an under-researched area. This paper explores accessibility to important every-day amenities within short travel times and how this differs across geography and mode of travel. The analysis draws on a combination of novel open-source data of the transport system and official Swedish register data of the total population of individuals and workplaces geocoded at a 100-meter resolution. The findings show considerable variation in accessibility to everyday amenities by travel mode for different settlement types. While the car provides good accessibility, short trips by bicycle are a very competitive alternative in urban and suburban areas. Access to every-day amenities by active travel modes is limited outside urban areas. Employing accessibility analysis by settlement type offers a powerful policy support tool for planners charged with developing measures to address sustainable accessibility for small urban and rural areas.