Spatial accessibility of public transport in Australian cities: Does it relieve or entrench social and economic inequality?

Abstract

City planning in Australian cities has seen a gradual shift in approach, away from planning to facilitate mobility by car in the post-war period toward planning for land-use/public transport integration. By assessing the supply of public transport for city accessibility, a considerable variation within each city can be seen. Of interest is the extent to which there is a relationship between the quality of public transport accessibility and the spatial distribution of socioeconomic advantage and disadvantage. This paper examines this issue by mapping spatial data on socioeconomic disadvantage and advantage against indicators of public transport accessibility. The findings show that Australian cities are characterized by a significant level of spatially manifested socioeconomic inequality exacerbated by transport disadvantage. It is argued that a coincidence of public transport infrastructure and service improvements as well as urban intensification and housing affordability policies are required to counteract these trends.