While many think of Sydney for its picturesque beaches and generally decent weather, it appears its public transport system should also be a drawcard.
A new study by Climate Council has analysed the accessibility of public transport in Australia’s capital cities looking into factors such as reliability and frequency and found that Sydneysiders came out on top.
According to the report, access in the Sydney CBD, Botany, and eastern suburbs was deemed the best while the Blue Mountains, Penrith, and Campbelltown were identified as the areas with the poorest access to public transport.
The study also outlined that 67.2% of Sydneysiders have access to a minimal level of public transport which has been defined as an address within 800 metres or roughly a 10-minute walk of a service that runs at least every 15 minutes between 7am and 7pm.
However, it was noted that only about 27% of Sydney residents use public transport to travel to work, preferring the car instead.
In an effort to increase public transport usage, a number of initiatives and upgrades are set to roll out over the next couple of years across the state to entice more commuters to jump onboard.
Western Sydney commuters will soon be riding around in better buses, more often, as the NSW government has allocated $139.5 million to the state’s bus network to modernise the fleet and create more reliable, accessible services.
The work, set to begin later this year, will see upgrades to 4000 Opal-enabled buses in Greater Sydney and another 1000 in outer metropolitan areas.
This will involve installing modern passenger communications including on-board screens and audio announcements – which has been tested in the Northern Beaches – so commuters know which stop they are at and where to get off.
It will also eliminate so-called ‘ghost buses’ by further replacing old technology to provide passengers with live, accurate information about when the next service is coming.
Bus services in Sydney’s north and north-west are also set to undergo massive changes in anticipation of the opening of the new Sydney metro train line.
Taking effect when the main section of the new driverless train line from Chatswood to Sydenham opens – looking to be in early August – five bus routes are set to be axed, with 11 undergoing changes and about two dozen set to be boosted.
In terms of the other states, Melbourne was ranked second with 52.5% of residents living within 800 metres of a public transport service although there was a notable divide between wealthy and lower-income suburbs in the city.
Adelaide was third on the list with 47.6% of people having sufficient access to public transport and Perth was fourth with only 40.5% of people having easy access to public transport.
Last on the list was Brisbane which has been found to have the worst public transport accessibility in all of Australia with only 33.7% of residents living within a 10-minute walk to public transport.
While Sydney ultimately took out the top spot, the report is advocating for better accessibility to public transport across the country, with access to public transport still unreasonably low compared to other countries and cities.