The research reported in this paper is situated at within a set of contemporary literatures concerning the spatial development of large urban areas, within the context of the ongoing restructuring of urban employment and housing markets. These restructuring urban markets are themselves responding to processes of increasing globalisation and inter-metropolitan integration, but are also throwing up new problems for urban and social policy makers. The spatial dispersion of high employment opportunity within urban regions does not necessarily match the way in which lower socio-economic status households are spatial distributed within cities through the operation of residential housing markets. The lack of sufficient means of transport by low income households which would enable them to traverse this spatial divide and access and employment opportunities within the city, could have serious implications for issues of economic and social development, and social equity.