Public transport fix needs more than price cuts
The State Government has made a tentative first step towards fixing Adelaide’s failing public transport system.
As part of a series of policy announcements under the “Building a Stronger South Australia” banner, the Government’s public transport policy contains an admission that there’s a problem. It’s rationale is that something needs to be done to arrest falling public transport patronage.
The proposed solution is overly simplistic – cutting prices on public holidays and offering a cut-rate, unlimited trip 28-day ticket. The latter idea is smart, and seeks to capture heavy, long-term users.
To call it a public transport policy is far too grand as it just deals with ticket prices (and a marketing campaign), nevertheless, it’s a start – an overdue start.
Much more is needed to fix South Australia’s public transport problems which are, arguably, at crisis point.
READ the full public transport policy
InDaily has reported previously an RMIT University analysis of Census data from 1976 to 2011 which shows that over this period Adelaide suffered the largest decline in public transport usage, and the largest increase in car use, of any mainland capital, apart from Melbourne – but without the turnaround that Melbourne has experienced since 1996.
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The stats show fewer people walked or cycled to walk in 2011 than did in 1976. More than 82 per cent travelled to work by car in 2011, compared to 75 per cent in 1976. And, back then, 13 per cent were passengers in cars: in 2011, only 6 per cent of us were passengers.
The most concerning aspect of the analysis is that Adelaide has missed out on the public transport revival that, after years of decline, began in most Australian states in 1996 and increased in pace from 2006.
In Adelaide, public transport gains of the early to mid-noughties have disappeared since 2006, due to poor services driven by a lack of investment in the services that people can actually access – buses.
In 2006, according to the Census data, 9.9 per cent of people in Adelaide used public transport to get to work. This figure was exactly the same in 2011. Recent data suggests this figure will have dropped in the past 18 months. To put it in perspective, this figure is lower than it was in 1991 when, with a much lower population, 11.4 per cent of us caught public transport to work.
The State Government argues that patronage decline is due to public transport infrastructure works.
This argument is cute, but lacks credibility.
The works are limited almost exclusively to the train network and, as InDaily reported last week, ABS data shows that large swathes of the metropolitan area don’t register a single train commuter – mostly because our train network is very limited.
Ever since Adelaide’s tram network was ripped up as an act of destructive worship to the automobile, buses have been our major public transport mode and this will always be so.
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The problems with the bus system are well known and well documented by InDaily.
In a nutshell, the most recent re-contracting of the bus network has been a disaster.
The Government went for the cheapest tender, not the best one, and the services have suffered ever since.
Which brings us to the nub of the matter.
The only way to fix falling bus patronage is to improve services: greater frequency, better on-time running and routes which serve people’s needs on roads where buses are given priority.
It’s not rocket science, but it costs more money than we’re spending now.
The Government has been working for much of this year on a strategy to integrate transport planning with the growth and development of metropolitan Adelaide.
InDaily understands this strategy will be rolled out as part of the “Building a Stronger South Australia” package of announcements.
It will cover more than public transport, and it will be one of the most crucial policies Labor has released in recent memory.
Let’s hope it is comprehensive, long-term and achievable and puts at least as much emphasis on services as infrastructure.
After all, the best infrastructure in the world won’t entice people to use public transport if the service levels aren’t sufficient.
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