Melbourne’s public transport system has a world-famous reputation – our city is home to the largest light rail network in the world, thanks to our beloved trams. But despite this wow-factor, it turns out that our public transport system also has some significant downfalls.
We never thought we’d see the day, but a new report from a major not-for-profit organisation has put Sydney above Melbourne in a ranking of Australian cities with the most accessible public transport systems.
How did this happen?! Of all the things Sydney could trump Melbourne on, we truly didn’t expect it to be something related to public transport. But the Climate Council’s Next Stop Suburbia report lays it out in black and white – and it’s stacked with stats, so we can’t argue with the numbers.
The report is advocating for better accessibility to public transport across the country, after research revealed that around 50 per cent of residents living in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth lack convenient access to the minimum level of public transport services. This minimum level was defined as having “an address within 800 metres or a ten-minute walk or a service that runs at least every 15 minutes between 7am and 7pm”.
Without convenient or reliable public transport, Aussies have little choice but to rely on expensive and polluting private cars to get them from point A to B – which is far from ideal considering transport is Australia’s biggest contributor to climate pollution after energy.
To rank Australia's public transport systems from best to worst, the report looked at a variety of factors, such as population density, land area and public transport maps to determine what proportion of the population has adequate access to public transport. By these parameters, Sydney is the Australian city with the best public transport system, with 67.2 per cent of residents having the minimum level of access. Melbourne ranked second best at only 52.5 per cent, followed by Adelaide, Perth, and then Brisbane. According to recent census data, a whopping 70 per cent of Melburnians’ commutes to work are made by car instead of public transport.
Surprised? Join the club. But there are plenty of figures to back it up – according to the report access to good public transport services end at just 15 km from Melbourne’s CBD for most residents, and access is 27 per cent less in lower income suburbs. In Sydney, good access extends as far as 25 km from the city centre and there is no difference to accessibility in less affluent areas. And these aren't the only public transport factors Sydney trumps us on – remember, we still don't have an airport train.
In Melbourne, the outer western suburbs have particularly poor access to public transport, as the booming population has outgrown the level of investment in transport infrastructure. According to the report, the suburbs that are the most underserved for transport are Cardinia, Mornington Peninsula and Fawkner, and low-income areas that need more public transport services the most include Campbellfield, Broadmeadows and St Albans. Lower-income areas generally need better access to public transport, given the significant costs involved with owning a car.
The report states that while large transport projects, like the future Suburban Rail Loop, will help improve the situation, a better, more cost-effective option would be to improve Melbourne’s bus networks.
It also offered a variety of remedies that could be implemented to encourage Australians to use public transport more often, including improving accessibility, designing more areas to better accommodate pedestrians over cars, giving public transport more priority on roads and creating zones that are only accessible by public transport.
So it turns out we can't just go resting our laurels on the heralded Metro Tunnel. If you are one of the lucky ones who live within walking distance of public transport, then you’ll know how wonderfully convenient it is. We agree that, ideally, all Melburnians should have the option to jump on a tram, bus or train to get out and about in our wonderful city.
Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Melbourne newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.