Public transport access for South-East Queenslanders has declined by three percent in the past five years, according to a University of Queensland study.
The report by researchers in the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute's (AHURI) node in the University's Geographical Sciences and Planning Department, blames urban sprawl particularly on the Sunshine Coast, in Moreton Shire and the Gold Coast hinterland for the decline.
Funded by a three-year, $122,000 Australian Research Council large grant, the study was led by AHURI and Geographical Sciences and Planning research fellow Dr Alan Murray with assistance from Professor of Geographical Sciences and Planning Robert Stimson, senior research officer Rex Davis and Dr Luis Ferreira from QUT.
The study evaluated a key goal of the State Government's 1997 Integrated Regional Transport Plan (IRTP) - to ensure 90 percent of South-East Queenslanders had access to a public transport stop within 400m of their homes.
Professor Stimson said the project was an example of AHURI's ability to use geographical information systems and spatial modelling to develop support systems capable of evaluating dynamics in metropolitan regions.
'In this case, our modelling capabilities measured the impact of a public policy decision in the area of public transport. The next step will be to come up with management solutions for particular problems by developing quantitative, computer-based tools to evaluate urban growth and inform the decision-making process,' he said.
Dr Murray said the IRTP goal examined was an important target for the State Government as studies had shown that the time taken to walk to a public transport stop had a major impact on whether people used public transport or not.
'Greater public transport access is seen by government authorities as the key to keeping urban areas livable but there's no guarantee that even if people have a bus stop right outside their front door, they are going to use it,' Dr Murray said.
The researchers' analysis, soon to appear in the international journal Transportation Research, found only 55 percent of the region's population currently had public transport access at or within the 400m goal.
Dr Murray said based on the distribution of people in the 1996 census, people presently would have to travel up to 7.5km for 90 percent of the region's population to have access to a public transport stop.
'This is a worrying finding and consistent with figures showing the proportion of the population using public transport is declining. Only eight percent of trips undertaken by people in the region are by public transport (bus, train, ferry or taxi). Public transport usage in the region fell by three percent between 1991 and 1996 despite the population rising by 285,000 in the same time frame,' he said.
'In 1991, approximately 58 percent of the region's population had a public transport stop within 400m of their home but this has declined to 55 percent of the population in 1996.
'Our research has found that the primary decline of population coverage is due to urban sprawl, particularly on the Sunshine Coast, in Moreton Shire and the Gold Coast hinterland.'
Dr Murray said the research showed that even if all the projects specified within the IRTP were completed, only an additional three percent of the population would benefit from having public transport stops within 400m of home.
'This only gets us back to where we were in 1991,' he said.
Professor Stimson said even though the study found access to public transport stops within the Brisbane City Council area to be overall quite good, public transport stop access across most of the region was poor.
He said recent initiatives such as the $250 million Briz Tram project may only serve to duplicate or substitute existing public transport infrastructure with money perhaps better spent servicing new population pockets.
Professor Stimson said a regional transport authority was needed to plan services and co-ordinate Federal, State and local government public transport initiatives.
For more information, contact Dr Murray (telephone 07 3365 6523).
