Institute of Transport Studies Peak Oil, Petrol Prices and Climate Change: Preparing Victoria for the Future 27 th July 2007 ‘Forced’ Car Ownership – Links to Transit and Accessibility Zed Senbergs and Graham Currie Institute of Transport Studies, Monash University

2 Institute of Transport Studies Agenda 1.Background 2.Approach 3.FCO and Travel 4.Links to Transit and Accessibility

3 Institute of Transport Studies This project examines ‘forced’ car ownership in Outer Melbourne Aims to understand if ‘forced’ car ownership is occurring in Melbourne Examined travel behaviour and links to public transport/accessibility Full Findings Being Presented at: –Currie, G. and Z. Senbergs (2007). Exploring Forced Car Ownership in Metropolitan Melbourne. Australasian Transport Research Forum. Melbourne Australia.

4 Institute of Transport Studies Australian research has identified ‘transport poverty’ as a critical issue “Transport poverty occurs when a household is forced to consume more travel costs than it can reasonably afford, especially costs relating to motor car ownership and usage” (Gleeson and Randolph 2002)

5 Institute of Transport Studies UK Research calls this ‘forced’ car ownership and identifies critical features “’Voluntary’ car ownership means that there are adequate substitutes for gaining access to facilities, and that the car is not a necessity. Conversely, ‘forced’ car ownership means that there are no alternatives. In rural areas, there is clear evidence of ‘forced’ car ownership, since cars are owned at lower-income levels and are seen to be one of the items of household expenditure that cannot be foregone” (Banister 1994) Key Features: low income, high car ownership, lack of alternative transport options, need to travel

6 Institute of Transport Studies Agenda 1.Background 2.Approach 3.FCO and Travel 4.Links to Transit and Accessibility

7 Institute of Transport Studies ‘New’ cars cost over $130/week each to run The NRMA (2006) define the following average weekly running costs for a new car: –Light car average: $ –Small car average: $ –Medium car average: $ –Large car average: $ Less than this for cars without depreciation/ renewal included

8 Institute of Transport Studies FCO Households definition – income <$500/week and running 2+ cars in Outer Melbourne Rationale for Criteria: –Low Income <$500/week –Running 2+ cars - transport costs can represent as high as 50% of income –Outer Melbourne – Low/Zero public transport, long distances to activity centres/ work

9 Institute of Transport Studies Over 20,000 FCO HH were identified, 27% more than Zero car HH’s Source: Currie, G. and Z. Senbergs (2007). Exploring Forced Car Ownership in Metropolitan Melbourne. Australasian Transport Research Forum. Melbourne Australia.

10 Institute of Transport Studies FCO represents 23% of all Outer Melbourne low income households Percentage of Low Income HH with 2+ Cars Sections of Melbourne Percentage of Low Income HH With 2+ Cars Source: ABS 2001 Census Number of Low Income HH with 2+ Cars Sections of Melbourne Number of Low Income HH With 2+ Cars Source: Currie, G. and Z. Senbergs (2007). Exploring Forced Car Ownership in Metropolitan Melbourne. Australasian Transport Research Forum. Melbourne Australia.

11 Institute of Transport Studies Agenda 1.Background 2.Approach 3.FCO and Travel 4.Links to Transit and Accessibility

12 Institute of Transport Studies FCO households are dominated by car and travel 45% more than Middle/Inner low income groups Key Findings - FCO Trips 80% trips by car PT share V. small Ratio Car pax to driver trips is 63% - much less for higher income groups Walking a significant share (14%) Vkms Ratio of car driver to car pax Vkms is 0.54 for low income Its 0.44 for high income Implication FCO HH make 45% more travel by car than Middle Melbourne low income households Trips 80% trips by car PT share V. small Ratio Car pax to driver trips is 63% - much less for higher income groups Walking a significant share (14%) Vkms Ratio of car driver to car pax Vkms is 0.54 for low income Its 0.44 for high income Implication FCO HH make 45% more travel by car than Middle Melbourne low income households Source: Currie, G. and Z. Senbergs (2007). Exploring Forced Car Ownership in Metropolitan Melbourne. Australasian Transport Research Forum. Melbourne Australia.

13 Institute of Transport Studies Agenda 1.Background 2.Approach 3.FCO and Travel 4.Links to Transit and Accessibility

14 Institute of Transport Studies Share of FCO HH are much higher in Fringe locations Source: Currie, G. and Z. Senbergs (2007). Exploring Forced Car Ownership in Metropolitan Melbourne. Australasian Transport Research Forum. Melbourne Australia.

15 Institute of Transport Studies FCO Distribution

16 Institute of Transport Studies FCO Distribution – and Rail/PT Supply

17 Institute of Transport Studies Modelling showed a viable link between transit service level and share of FCO

18 Institute of Transport Studies FCO Distribution – and Activity Centres

19 Institute of Transport Studies FCO Distribution

20 Institute of Transport Studies Walk accessibility to activity centres also acts to reduce FCO…