While applauding governments for encouraging people onto public transport through incentives, an industry peak body says deterrents are also needed.

A new report from the Public Transport Association of Australia New Zealand examines how the sector can move beyond the post-Covid recovery phase and focus on driving public transport growth into the future.

As well as “carrot” polices – such as Queensland’s 50 cent fares initiative – the authors of the PTAANZ report say: “Looking ahead, there are opportunities to think beyond the ‘carrots’ which make public transport more attractive and consider the ‘sticks’ which can be used to actively discourage the use of private vehicles – particularly in congested cities.”

The report – Mobility Beyond the Pandemic – points to experiences overseas, such as initiatives in London to disincentivise car use in the capital. These include a congestion charge and the introduction of the Ultra Low Emission Zone in which vehicles that do not meet emissions standards must pay a daily charge to drive within the zone.

“London’s success in increasing public transport mode share to 65% is largely attributed to progressive measures to discourage private car use. Initiatives such as ULEZ can encourage active transport, improve air quality and reduce congestion, meaning public transport services become faster and more reliable and cities more liveable,” PTAANZ vice-president Mark Streeting told Government News.

“This is also being explored in Australia and New Zealand, including congested parts of Sydney such as the CBD, Bondi Junction and Chatswood, where Transport for NSW manages the parking space levy. In Auckland, work is underway to investigate time-of-use charging to reduce peak period congestion and travel times. It will be interesting to see the impact of these policy interventions in our region.”

As the authors of the PTAANZ note, Covid drastically impacted public transport usage. “Initially, sharp declines in public transport patronage were observed, reflecting government-imposed lockdowns and mobility restrictions. Parallel to government-imposed restrictions, the viral transmission risks associated with public transport and aversion to crowding limited the initial rate of reuptake.”

This, the authors add, locked in “behavioural change” towards private transport.

However, the report says rates of public transport usage post-Covid have returned to more or less pre-pandemic levels across the region. “Many jurisdictions are largely back to, or exceeding 2019 patronage levels,” say the report’s authors.

Nevertheless, “more needs to be done” to support growth in public transport usage and reduce carbon emissions in Australian and New Zealand cities, they add.

Among the strategies suggested:

• increase public transport frequency, coverage and network integration
• expand dedicated busway infrastructure
• build awareness of the network’s capabilities for a wider range of trips
• match services to meet new demands.

But, as the authors conclude, “with a natural limit to the extent we can drive the attractiveness of public transport, we must increasingly focus on the ‘sticks’, specifically how we can directly disincentivise private car use as a means of driving mode shift to public transport … While the efforts of public transport authorities to date have delivered impressive results, we clearly need more to support growth in public transport usage and mode share in Australian and New Zealand cities.”