THE MARKETS FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT : THE POOR AND THE TRANSPORT DISADVANTAGED

This paper examines the markets for public transport services in the context of the argument that public transport subsidies redistribute income to the less well-off and improve the mobility of the transport disadvantaged. It describes macro- and micro-methodological frameworks for examining the performance of a transit system and for determining the beneficiaries of subsidies. A review of international studies and an examination of Australasian data indicates that public transport subsidies offer only limited support to the objectives of income redistribution to the less well-off and improved mobility to the transport disadvantaged. It argues that better direction to target subsidies to particular user groups could be more successful in meeting social objectives than general subsidies. The implication is that the resultant transit systems would be much different to those currently operating