Australia’s public transport needs investment, says report

According to Australasian Bus and Coach, a new report warns that public transport investment in Australian needs an increase to avoid overcrowding The State of Australian Cities report shows patronage on public transport has grown significantly over the last decade, with a rate of average annual growth of 2.4 per cent. The report warns investment in Melbourne and Sydney’s public transport network should be increased to meet future demand, since patronage is growing fast and overcrowding becomes an is
July 14, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
According to Australasian Bus and Coach, a new report warns that public transport investment in Australian needs an increase to avoid overcrowding

The State of Australian Cities report shows patronage on public transport has grown significantly over the last decade, with a rate of average annual growth of 2.4 per cent.

The report warns investment in Melbourne and Sydney’s public transport network should be increased to meet future demand, since patronage is growing fast and overcrowding becomes an issue. It shows Melbourne has a much lower proportion of inner-suburb residents using public transport to access the city and inner-suburbs for work, compared to Sydney. Only 35 per cent of inner-city Melbourne residents use public transport compared to 50 per cent of inner-city Sydney residents.

The report highlights the investment in Perth and Brisbane which has possibly encouraged and accommodated increased patronage of public transport.

The report also found people tend to use public transport only if they work in the city or inner-suburbs and if they work in the outer-suburbs they are much more likely to drive.

In Parramatta, New South Wales, for example, 72 per cent commute by private vehicle.

Related Content

  • Promoting cycling is the solution to congestion and pollution
    August 20, 2015
    Cycling offers health, air quality and road space/parking benefits, promoting governments and the EU to look at tax and technology initiatives. David Crawford reports. One way to improve urban air quality is to make green alternatives to car use financially attractive. Incentivising employees to switch their travel-to-work mode to using their own bikes could increase cycling’s modal share of commuting travel by 50%, a recent French research project suggests. The country’s government already subsidises pu
    Read More
  • Sydney to get second airport, major roads package
    April 16, 2014
    Following the announcement of the US$2.4 billion project to build a long-awaited second airport for Sydney, Australian prime minister Tony Abbott has unveiled a US$3.27 billion roads package for western Sydney to provide the infrastructure that will make the airport work. The Commonwealth will contribute US$1.2 billion for the roads over the next four years, with total spending to increase to US$2.9 billion over eight years. New South Wales will contribute a further 20 per cent, bringing the total fundin
    Read More
  • Foundation funds research for informed campaigning
    April 29, 2015
    ITS International talks to Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the transport research and lobbying organisation, the RAC Foundation. It is through the eyes of an economist that Professor Stephen Glaister, emeritus professor of transport and infrastructure at Imperial College London and director of the RAC Foundation, views current and future transport problems. Having spent 30 years at the London School of Economics and another 10 at Imperial, the move to the RAC Foundation was a radical departure from
    Read More
  • Safety first in the Big Apple
    August 19, 2022
    For a variety of reasons, seniors are particularly vulnerable to traffic violence – but better road design can help. Adam Hill examines New York City’s new plan to keep older people from becoming collision statistics
    Read More

Highlighted Content