Transport and social exclusion in Western Sydney

Improving transportation in Greater Western Sydney has been a long standing issue frequently raised by residents and community groups in this, the third most populous, urban region in Australia. But what does it mean, and how can it best be achieved, are the questions that state and local government struggle to answer. In NSW in the past year much media and public attention has been focussed primarily on two aspects of transport: the operation of existing transport systems and the environmental impact of increased road traffic resulting from urban growth. Two major government inquiries, the Parry Inquiry into Sustainable Transport and the Unsworth Review of Bus Services (NSW Ministry of Transport, 2003 and 2004) has thrown light on a public transport system in need of substantial investment for upgrading and reform. At the same time the NSW Government has announced plans for extensive land release and urban renewal under the Metropolitan Strategy for Sydney to accommodate an expected population increase of around 40,000 people per year for the next 30 years. It is projected that 55% of this population growth will be housed in Western Sydney, a further 666,740 people in total by 2031 (DIPNR 2004). The Government has prioritised large capital investment on transport and road infrastructure but concerns remain about the increasing number of cars and vehicle kilometres travelled generated by such urban growth exacerbating air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, and in turn the impact on public health (Jalaludin, 2004 and Morton, 2002) and climate change (McManus, 2004). In all of this discussion and debate about transport efficiency, reliability and environmental sustainability somewhat less attention has been given to the social dimensions of transport provision. In a comprehensive review of research literature on transport disadvantage and social status Dodson et al (2004) find a general lack of research attention to these concerns and that there is no definitive work on the issue in Australia. There is, however, sufficient evidence to show that the inequitable distribution of public transport services across urban areas has a disproportionately adverse affect on lower income households. Moreover, where transport provision is poorer and reliance on private motor vehicles is greater in outer urban areas lower income households have reduced access to employment and other services as well as bear an increased burden of transport costs. It is timely, therefore, to undertake a systematic analysis of the relationships between transport provision and socio-economic and socio-spatial outcomes in the urban context. This paper presents the findings of a joint research project that attempts to do this, with a focus on western Sydney. The research demonstrated that there is no clear-cut east-west divide in the distribution of public transport services in Sydney, nor is there a simple relationship between transport provision and the spatial distribution of social disadvantage. Instead, when transport service provision and social disadvantage were considered in tandem, the research found that the disadvantaged groups living in areas with limited transport services are disproportionately represented in Western Sydney. I argue, therefore, that a more holistic approach to transport planning and provision is required to ameliorate existing inequities and make progress towards a more socially sustainable system. Such an approach would place peoples’ travel needs, those that support and improve the well being of families and communities, as the starting point to transport planning