IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i13p5404-d1422005.html

Public Transport Inequality and Utilization: Exploring the Perspective of the Inequality Impact on Travel Choices

Author

Listed:
  • Ali Bokhari

    (Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Al-Baha University, Al Baha 65511, Saudi Arabia)

  • Farahnaz Sharifi

    (Centre for Urban Transitions, Swinburne University, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia)

Abstract

Public transport (PT) inequality is evidenced to have adverse consequences on various social–urban–economic aspects of urban residents’ lives; however, the impact of this inequality on PT itself, particularly its utilization, is a less explored area of study. This paper examines the association between PT inequality and PT utilization patterns in Melbourne, Australia, using journey-to-work data in a multivariate regression model. By analyzing commuting and socioeconomic factors, we investigate how PT inequalities affect the travel choices of the residents. Our findings indicate that regions with lower PT inequality demonstrate higher PT usage for daily commuting, emphasizing the importance of the equitable distribution of resources. This finding is consistent across different PT modes of trains, trams, and buses, and using different inequality measures of the Gini index and the 90/10 ratio. Spatial variations and factors like income levels, education, home ownership, and age are also found to influence PT usage. The findings offer valuable insights into the potential impact of incorporating equity considerations during the planning stages of PT projects. Furthermore, they could justify targeted interventions aimed at enhancing the equity of PT services.

Suggested Citation

  • Ali Bokhari & Farahnaz Sharifi, 2024. "Public Transport Inequality and Utilization: Exploring the Perspective of the Inequality Impact on Travel Choices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-14, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:13:p:5404-:d:1422005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/13/5404/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/13/5404/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Simone Schneider, 2012. "Income Inequality and its Consequences for Life Satisfaction: What Role do Social Cognitions Play?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 106(3), pages 419-438, May.
    2. Hernandez, Diego, 2018. "Uneven mobilities, uneven opportunities: Social distribution of public transport accessibility to jobs and education in Montevideo," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 119-125.
    3. Jones, Peter & Lucas, Karen, 2012. "The social consequences of transport decision-making: clarifying concepts, synthesising knowledge and assessing implications," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 4-16.
    4. Graham Currie & Alexa Delbosc, 2010. "Exploring public transport usage trends in an ageing population," Transportation, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 151-164, January.
    5. Danial Owen & Daniel Arribas-Bel & Francisco Rowe, 2023. "Tracking the Transit Divide: A Multilevel Modelling Approach of Urban Inequalities and Train Ridership Disparities in Chicago," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-18, May.
    6. Ko, Joonho & Lee, Sugie & Byun, Miree, 2019. "Exploring factors associated with commute mode choice: An application of city-level general social survey data," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 36-46.
    7. Niclas Berggren & Christian Bjørnskov & Therese Nilsson, 2018. "Do Equal Rights for a Minority Affect General Life Satisfaction?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(5), pages 1465-1483, June.
    8. Mengqiu Cao & Robin Hickman, 2019. "Urban transport and social inequities in neighbourhoods near underground stations in Greater London," Transportation Planning and Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(5), pages 419-441, July.
    9. Li, Tiebei & Dodson, Jago, 2020. "Job growth, accessibility, and changing commuting burden of employment centres in Melbourne," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    10. Taylor, Brian D. & Fink, Camille N.Y., 2003. "The Factors Influencing Transit Ridership: A Review and Analysis of the Ridership Literature," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt3xk9j8m2, University of California Transportation Center.
    11. repec:wbk:wbpubs:12233 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Ali Alamdar Moghaddam & Hamid Mirzahossein & Robert Guzik, 2022. "Comparing Inequality in Future Urban Transport Modes by Doughnut Economy Concept," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-24, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Guzman, Luis A. & Cantillo-Garcia, Victor A. & Oviedo, Daniel & Arellana, Julian, 2023. "How much is accessibility worth? Utility-based accessibility to evaluate transport policies," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    2. Azad, Mojdeh & Abdelqader, Dua & Taboada, Luis M. & Cherry, Christopher R., 2021. "Walk-to-transit demand estimation methods applied at the parcel level to improve pedestrian infrastructure investment," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    3. Yuan, Dandan & Zhao, Pengjun & Yu, Zhao & Liu, Qiyang, 2023. "Villagers' travel burden and the built environment in rural China: Evidence from a national level survey," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    4. Pan, Meiyu (Melrose) & Patwary, A. Latif & Uddin, Majbah, 2025. "Unlocking nighttime mobility: Land use and accessibility in public transit for night commuters," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    5. Zhao, Yu & Yingrui, Gou & Moru, Li & Zhifeng, Zhao & Pengjun, Zhao, 2025. "Mobility constraints of residents in marginal rural areas of megacities: Evidence from Beijing, China," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    6. Boisjoly, Geneviève & Serra, Bernardo & Oliveira, Gabriel T. & El-Geneidy, Ahmed, 2020. "Accessibility measurements in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba and Recife, Brazil," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    7. Dian Nostikasari & Nicole Foster & Lauren Krake, 2024. "Inhabiting digital spaces: An informational right to the city for mobility justice," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 61(13), pages 2585-2602, October.
    8. Zhao, Chuyun & Tang, Jinjun & Kong, Xiangxin & Yu, Tianjian & Li, Zhitao, 2024. "Emission analysis of multi-mode public transportation based on joint choice model considering built environment factors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    9. Cavoli, Clemence, 2021. "Accelerating sustainable mobility and land-use transitions in rapidly growing cities: Identifying common patterns and enabling factors," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    10. Zou, Yuxuan & Wang, Donggen, 2025. "Differences in the influence of the built environment and physical activity on obesity in urban and suburban contexts," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 372(C).
    11. Irena Kogan & Jing Shen & Manuel Siegert, 2018. "What Makes a Satisfied Immigrant? Host-Country Characteristics and Immigrants’ Life Satisfaction in Eighteen European Countries," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(6), pages 1783-1809, August.
    12. Patrick Ballantyne & Cillian Berragan, 2024. "Overture Point of Interest data for the United Kingdom: A comprehensive, queryable open data product, validated against Geolytix supermarket data," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 51(8), pages 1974-1980, October.
    13. Duvarci, Yavuz & Yigitcanlar, Tan & Mizokami, Shoshi, 2015. "Transportation disadvantage impedance indexing: A methodological approach to reduce policy shortcomings," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 61-75.
    14. Shahadat Uddin & Arif Khan & Haohui Lu & Fangyu Zhou & Shakir Karim, 2022. "Suburban Road Networks to Explore COVID-19 Vulnerability and Severity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-9, February.
    15. Lin, Joanne Yuh-Jye & Jenelius, Erik & Cebecauer, Matej & Rubensson, Isak & Chen, Cynthia, 2023. "The equity of public transport crowding exposure," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    16. Daniel Oviedo & Luis A. Guzman, 2020. "Revisiting Accessibility in a Context of Sustainable Transport: Capabilities and Inequalities in Bogotá," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-22, June.
    17. Andreas Kuhn, 2017. "International Evidence on the Perception and Normative Valuation of Executive Compensation," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 55(1), pages 112-136, March.
    18. Collins, Timothy W. & Nadybal, Shawna & Grineski, Sara E., 2020. "Sonic injustice: Disparate residential exposures to transport noise from road and aviation sources in the continental United States," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    19. Ana Gil Solá & Bertil Vilhelmson, 2018. "Negotiating Proximity in Sustainable Urban Planning: A Swedish Case," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-18, December.
    20. Tong, Zhaomin & Zhang, Ziyi & An, Rui & Liu, Yaolin & Chen, Huiting & Xu, Jiwei & Fu, Shihang, 2024. "Detecting anomalous commuting patterns: Mismatch between urban land attractiveness and commuting activities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:13:p:5404-:d:1422005. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.