Final Report March 2000
Case Study: Public Transport Policies in Selected APEC Member Economies
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- Annual Passenger Journeys of Public Transport Per Capita in Australia
- Modal Share of Journey to Walk in Canadian Cities (1996)
- Major Cities Private Vehicle Public Transport
- Annual Passenger Journeys of Public Transport Per Capita in Canada
- Passenger’s Daily Modal Share in Tokyo Transit Area (1992)
- 10.3.6 New Zealand 33
10.3 Case Study: Public Transport Policies in Selected APEC Member Economies ; Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore 10.3.1 Australia Some $1.0-2.0 billion has been spent annually in capital investment on public transport systems in Australia. Another $4.0-5.0 billion has been spent on operating public transport systems. Despite of such expenditure, public transport patronage continues to decline, relatively to private motor vehicle use.
Source: Wendell Cox Consultancy, Urban Transport Trends: Australia, April, 1996 Australia has recognized that, in order to increase the patronage of public transport, it is essential to provide the level of service satisfying passengers. This means increasing attention being given to convenience, reliability, courtesy, appropriate use of technology such as ITS and low floor buses, integrating modes to provide a total service to users such as coordinated timetables and ticketing. During the 1960s, urban emphasis was placed on investment in transport infrastructure, and the emergence of interest in the integration of land use and transport. This period witnessed significant growth in urban road networks relative to investment in public transport systems, which came to be characterized by poor and worsening operating efficiencies. This resulted in increasing community dissatisfaction with public transport and subsidies for public transport rising much faster than levels of patronage. Suburbs were built at uniformly low densities, without access to rail services. They became the typical auto-dependent suburbs with a subsidized bus service, of which headway is more than an hour at off-peak hours. The Australian suburban lifestyle rapidly became highly automobile-dependent. The City of Perth with the population of 1.1million in 1991 has the northern suburbs, which grew rapidly in 1960s and 1970s in the low-density car-dependent form. The city had two railroad plans, but they were abandoned in 1960s. Not until the urban freeways were jammed during the peak hours in 1980s, the Northern Suburbs Rapid Transit System was promoted strongly. The new 33km electric rail service has only seven stations, which allows very rapid service reaching a maximum speed of 110km. The service runs down the center of a freeway. The trains are linked by bus services transferring passengers directly into the stations. The Northern Suburbs Rapid Transit System has made 25% of the patrons give up their cars for commuting. Rail, both conventional and light, is also an important mode of public transport in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Adelaide. In 1986, rail journeys accounted for more than half of all public transport journeys to work in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. In Adelaide, rail journeys represented 20-25% of such travel. Most urban rail travel is undertaken to and from work during peak times. Rail’s share of passenger-km on public transport has declined from 62 % in 1971 to 55% in 1991. Increasingly dispersed patterns of residential development away from rail lines and increased competition from cars have contributed to a reduction in demand for rail. Recently, governments have introduced reforms to improve the performance of rail by having them operate more along commercial lines. In addition, new investments have proceeded to better match changes in demand. These have included new rolling stock, new and extended services, for example, rapid rail transit system in Perth, airport link in Sydney, gold coast to Brisbane link, and development of facilities around rail stations to encourage park and ride. Construction of the Adelaide O-bahn commenced in 1979. The O-bahn has reduced bus travel time by about 30 % and has achieved a significant relative increase in patronage. The average cost of bus operation using the O-bahn has been estimated to be around 10% less per passenger-km than for the remainder of the Adelaide bus system. With concern about vehicle emissions, some states are trying CNG-powered buses for a part of the urban bus fleets. Other power sources, such as electric and LPG, are being explored. In order to provide greater access for people with disabilities, manufacturers are developing buses with wheel chair access. Low floor buses are also being introduced in urban areas. Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) offers great potential in improving the efficiency, effectiveness and safety of urban transport through the development and application of public transport passenger information systems and vehicle management systems. 10.3.2 Canada Conventional policies in Canada have been to divide cities into homogeneous, single use areas of relatively low density. Streets were seldom pedestrian-friendly. Shopping malls were far from home or work and required large areas, mostly for parking. Suburban or bedroom communities were designed for single family houses with large lots. The result of such policy practice was to increase auto travel and maximize travel distances.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canada Journey-to-Work Transport Mode: 1996 For the majority of urban residents, the auto is not a luxury, but a necessity to move between home, work, shopping, schools and recreation. In most cases, walking, cycling and even transit are not viable options. Per capita automobile ownership is increasing and the average number of occupants per auto is decreasing. Transit serves only a small percentage of total demand and in some areas its market share is decreasing. An urban transportation vision suitable for large- and medium-sized urban areas in Canada has been proposed by the Transportation Association of Canada. The vision is supported by a series of principles or directions, designed to change past trends and result in future cities that are more economically competitive, socially desirable, environmentally friendly, and allow greater mobility and easier access to a wider choice of transportation options. Toronto has made a deliberate policy of focussing on transit-oriented development for a number of decades, and it has been more successful than in any other North American city. Its success is seen most clearly by comparison with its neighboring city, Detroit. Toronto and Detroit are very similar in history and in climate, but they have different transportation patterns. In Toronto, auto travel distance per capita has increased by 873 km between 1980 and 1990, while in Detroit by 1,298 km per capita. Detroit has less than 1% of its passenger travels by public transport, while Toronto has 25%. Toronto was changed quite dramatically in 20 years from a car-based city into one that is now substantially based on a transit network. As a result, it has been able to revitalize the downtown areas and develop a series of transit-centered sub-cities. Toronto contains 22 small cities that are mostly based around its transit system. They have appeared in the only past few decades, along with an expanding city center. The city center and the sub-centers are complementary.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canada Journey-to-Work Transport Mode: 1996 Vancouver also enjoys high level of transit use currently, almost twice as many trips per person as the average for U.S. cities in 1991. Vancouver has developed large-scale urban villages close to the city center and serviced by a good transit system. Vancouver has also integrated new residential and mixed-use development around the stations for its automatic, elevated light rail services called Skytrain. The large stations on Skytrain feature mixed commercial, office, residential, retail and market areas within a short distance and are set in attractive public areas which encourage walking and cycling for local needs and to transit. Vancouver does not have urban freeways. The long-range planning of Vancouver is focused on strengthening the integrated land use and transportation development and controlling urban sprawl. The absence of freeways will be a continuing factor in improving the attractiveness of the inner city and the areas around existing and future stations. 10.3.3 Hong Kong, China In Hong Kong, about 90 percent of the population depend on public transport for commuting. Every day around 10 million passenger journeys are made on the public transport system including railways, trams, buses, minibuses, taxis and ferries. The aims of the public transport policy in Hong Kong are to ensure that public transport services are safe, comfortable, reliable, efficient and affordable, to maintain a public transport system that operates without public subsidy in a competitive environment, and to encourage improvement in services. Given the frequent congestion of roads, Hong Kong commuters are encouraged continuously to use public transport. The challenge is to improve public transport services so that they continue to meet the community’s expectations for higher standards of comfort and reliability at affordable prices. Hong Kong government assisted the public transport operators in developing an automatic fare collection system. Using pre-paid contactless smartcards, this fully integrated ticketing system will allow passengers to travel more conveniently on different modes of public transport and will minimize the need to carry cash or to purchase tickets. The system began in 1997, covering initially the rails and cross-harbor bus services.
28.7 million people, 23% of the total population in Japan, are living in a range of less than 50km from Tokyo station as of 1990. This area is called the Tokyo Transit Area. The passenger modal shares were 55.6% for railways, 8.6% for buses, and 32.1% for auto in 1992. During the commuting hours, 95% of the commuters use railways and only 6% use private cars.
The average occupancy rate of major railway links in the Tokyo transit area was 194% in 1994. The average commuting time to three major city centers in Tokyo was 68 minutes in 1994, and 22% of commuters consumed more than one and half hours for reaching to the work place from home. In Tokyo, where the land use density is very high and exhaustive, it is necessary to increase the fascination of public transport services and promote their use. For the purpose, The City of Tokyo has been trying to provide enough traffic facilities in all areas, alleviate the heavy congestion of commuter traffic, meet the diversified needs of transportation and intensify the networks which facilitate the transformation of the city structure into a multinuclear one. The city government has been trying to construct and expand urban railways continuously and to revive the bus system whose passengers are declining, by creating networks of public transport systems. The system has been improved in terms of speed, comfort, and information. The designation of exclusive bus lanes and new bus operation such as a bus location system has been promoted. As a new mode, the water bus has been introduced in waterfront areas and along rivers. The government is stimulating the reorganization of the urban structure by improving the public transport network. The public transport networks including subways and buses have been improved by circularly connecting the radial routes from the metropolitan center. 10.3.5 Korea In 1996, the modal share of public transport in Seoul was about 70%, of which bus has about 35%. There are three types of buses in Seoul currently: express, city and community bus. An express bus, having more seats and less stops, runs along major corridors with high speed. Some of the express buses run to the suburban cities from urban centers. A city bus is a regular bus, which runs between residential areas usually, with many stops. A community bus is a small feeder bus which runs short routes in a specific community. As subway systems are expanding, the demands for community buses are also increasing. Korea was said to have one of the most efficient bus system in that it maintains a large number of vehicles, high operational efficiency, wide service coverage and low fare levels. Nevertheless, a quality of bus service is getting worse mainly because of the tremendous increase in private cars and resulting traffic congestion. It is not easy for buses to keep pre-fixed headways and make required journeys. For example, the average bus made 7.5 journeys a day in 1988, but only 5.5 times in 1995. The deterioration of service and operational in efficiency lead to reduce demand, and to result in less profits of private bus companies. It, in turn, leads to deterioration of service, and a vicious circle might continue. The subway system operates 189.9km subway lines in Seoul. Three other cities have subway system. Additionally, conventional railroad serves the metropolitan areas. The central government subsidizes by 50% of the construction cost of urban railways of 7 metropolitan cities from the Transportation Facilities Special Account. The central government considers increasing the subsidy. It is necessary to find other financial resources for the expansion of the subway system. As an alternative, Korean government promotes the introduction of LRTs recently, which is less expensive than underground subway system. Especially, for high demand routes, private participation for urban railway business will be encouraged. In Seoul Metropolitan Area, urban railways, subways or LRTs, will be constructed more so that the modal shares of rails could be 50% of total trips at least. In Pusan metropolitan areas, it appears to be an additional construction of urban railways to carry 30% of total trips. Taxi service plays a very important role in urban transport in large cities. It shares more than 10% of total urban trips currently in case of Seoul, which is much higher than in other foreign cities. In Seoul, about 70,000 taxies are running as of 1996. There are two types of taxies: regular taxi and deluxe taxi. Deluxe taxies, total of 4,300 as of 1995, offer much better service but take higher fares, approximately three times more than that for regular taxi. It is a policy to continuously improve taxi service with the increase of taxi fare. As personal income increases, people are willing to pay additional money for better transport services. For a better service, buses need to be equipped with more utilities, such as air-conditioners, electronic information services, and contactless smartcards. As an application of ITS, bus information systems are experimented in some cities. With the subsidy system, route tendering system are considered recently. Accordingly, bus companies should get the routes by the open competitive bidding in a few years. It implies that bus company should save the operating cost, maintain reasonable fare level, and provide better service for securing demand. 10.3.6 New Zealand33 Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand, with a population of just under 346,000 within the city boundary and 1.06 million in the greater Auckland area. Approximately 600,000 vehicles are registered in the Auckland region - one for every two persons. Out of 356,648 households, 90% of households have one or more vehicles, and only 7% of the people use public transport, mostly buses, for commuting. According to 1996 Census, each car has only 1.3 occupants on average in peak hours. In the traffic condition above, traffic congestion is a major concern of the city government, and a bus priority policy called ‘Buses First 2000’ has started recently. A good public transport system is always an alternative to sitting in stop-and-go congestion, and a key aim of the Auckland City. The aim of ‘Buses First 2000’ is to make bus travel more reliable by reducing the travel time of buses and to create high quality public transport routes on which buses can operate competitively with cars. This should encourage more people to use buses rather than their cars. The policy proposes implementing or extending bus priority measures on all arterial roads in the Auckland City. Bus priority measures are already operating on major roads, and they comprise: - Peak-time bus/bike lanes - Signal pre-emption at major intersections to give buses the green light Real-time information to tell passengers waiting at major stops when the next bus will be along - New generation buses - Improved shelters and timetable information
- Is consistent with Council’s passenger transport strategies. - Is situated so as to minimize passengers’ walk distances to and from the stop. - Is supported by safe and sheltered access routes to and from the stop. - Provides for safe and quick boarding and alighting of passengers. - Provides for safe and quick passenger transport vehicle movements into and out of stop. - Provides a safe, comfortable and visible passenger waiting area. - Provides an appropriate level of service information to passengers. - Contributes to a positive marketing of the passenger transport system.
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