Transport Disruption Vulnerability in Europe: Who Is Worse Off?

Mobility inequality remains a persistent dimension of social disadvantage across Europe, yet its spatial patterns and structural determinants are insufficiently understood across scales. This study offers a dual-scale analysis of transport vulnerability, combining an EU-wide assessment with a regional focus on Italy, with particular attention to disparities between inner and non-inner areas. At the European level, vulnerability is operationalized through three key dimensions: workforce adaptability, transport system resilience, and transport affordability and choice. Using harmonized Eurostat data and the COVID-19 pandemic as a stress test, the analysis identifies a significant resilience gap across EU member states. Italy, together with eight other EU countries, falls within a car-dependent profile in which limited telework capacity and widespread car ownership mask structural fragilities, especially in peripheral areas. Zooming into this context, the Italian case reveals how car dependency translates into tangible mobility. Residents of inner areas (with limited access to essential services) exhibit significantly lower mobility dispersion, with women displaying more spatially confined movement patterns. By linking EU-level structural conditions to territorial evidence, the study contributes to a multi-scalar understanding of mobility justice and argues that effective measures, from ticketing and fares reforms to infrastructure investment, must align with local capacities to advance mobility justice, foster resilience, and ensure that no region or group remains persistently “worse off” in the face of future disruptions