Transport equity week 2023

Transport equity is the principle that all individuals, regardless of their socio-economic status, race, disability, age, gender, or other aspects of their identity, should have equal access to safe, affordable, reliable, and efficient transportation options.

Friends of the Earth (FOE) is inviting all groups and individuals who are interested and care about accessible and equitable transport for all, to join Transport Equity Week from 17-23 September 2023 with an action to raise awareness for transportation equity issues. You can sign up for an action here and access the fantastic social media pack. ​

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What does transport equity mean?
Transport equity, also known as transportation equity or mobility justice, addresses the disparities and barriers that certain groups face when trying to access transportation. This can be thought about in 7 broad areas.

1. Accessibility: Ensuring that people have access to a variety of transportation modes (e.g., public transit, walking, cycling, cars) and that these modes can get them where they need to go in a reasonable amount of time and cost. Being accessible, means being accessible for all, regardless of age, income, or physical or mental attributes.
2. Affordability: Ensuring that transportation options are affordable for everyone, especially lower-income communities. The recent AAA (Australian Automobile Association) transport affordability index found the typical Australian household's transport costs rose by almost 7.4 per cent in the March 2023 quarter (primarily private vehicles). Public Transport costs in Sydney and Melbourne for a 7-day pass or maximum cap is $50. 
3. Safety: All individuals should be able to move about safely, whether they're walking, cycling, taking public transport, or driving. In Australia, our major cities ranked poorly in the annual people for bikes survey rating 1733 cities globally. Sydney ranked 735 and 125 out of 163 large cities (26% percentile).
4. Environmental and Health Impact: This considers the environmental impacts of transportation systems. Low-income communities and communities of colour often suffer disproportionately from transportation-related pollution. For example, having large motorways through the middle of communities.
5. Participation and Representation: Communities should have a say in the planning, design, and implementation of transportation systems and policies in their areas. 
6. Reliability: People should be able to depend on transportation options to be available and to operate efficiently. See our example below of the recent Bus Taskforce Report which has a comparison of Liverpool and Chatswood. 
7. Infrastructure Investment: Historically, motor vehicle infrastructure funding has been prioritised. In Australia, walking and cycling investment has typically been less than 1% of the transport infrastructure budget (ACT has delivered in some years up to 14%). 

Addressing transport equity ensures that everyone, especially those from marginalized groups, can fully participate in society by accessing jobs, schools, health care, and other essential services. It is a critical component of a just and inclusive urban planning and transportation policy.

Case study - Chatswood and Liverpool.
​Same population density, but different bus service frequency

In July 2023, the NSW Bus Industry Taskforce released its first report on the state of buses in NSW. In the report, the inequities in the provision of the bus network and bus services in Sydney was identified. “Over two thirds of Greater Sydney’s bus patronage occurs in the area defined as the Eastern Harbour City.” “Poor bus provision limits access to and from the metropolitan centres of Penrith, Campbelltown, Bradfield, Liverpool and Parramatta, and enforces a higher reliance on cars in these areas.”
The report presented a case study between Chatswood and Liverpool to emphasise the inequality. These two areas have similar population sizes and density but have markedly different bus services and frequencies. Both have rail stations (Chatswood also has a metro connection), health and education centres. However in Ashcroft a low income area comparatively has one bus service to Liverpool 4km away a nearly 50 minute walk from Ashcroft Public school. 
The areas where it would benefit people the most, they have the least access locking in vehicle transportation costs.

Image source: https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/system/files/media/documents/2023/Bus-Industry-Taskforce_First-Report_July-2023.pdf

For more information about transport equity check out these reports and blogs from national organisations and key research publications: 

• Australian Automobile Association – Transport Affordability Index – March Quarter 3
  
• iMove Equity in Transportation 
  
• The Fifth Estate - The chicken and the egg: How planning budgets make neighbourhood cycling a scramble 
  
• Infrastructure Australia – 2009 - Cycling Infrastructure for Australian Cities
  
• Cycling and walking can help drive Australia’s recovery – but not with less than 2% of transport budgets
  
• Beck et al (2022) Active transport research priorities for Australia
  
• The Conversation, Dr. Sipe (2023) -  Outer suburbs’ housing cost advantage vanishes when you add in transport – it needs to be part of the affordability debate
  
• Australian Government (2019) - Relationship between transport use and income in Australia
  
• Institute of Transport Engineers (2023) – Webinar – Transport Equity
  
• Institute of Transport Logistics Studies (2022) - The growing importance of equity in planning cities: recognising the value of improved mobility for those at exclusion risk