Appendix 6: Transport-disadvantaged assessment
To lead successful and enjoyable lives, it is vital that people can easily, safety and sustainably reach
the things that matter most to them, such as work, school, friends, recreation and healthcare.
For Auckland to be a truly accessible city we need to make sure that people of al ages and abilities,
including people with reduced mobility, can go about their daily lives and get from one place to another
easily, affordably and safely.
AT takes its responsibility to enable access to opportunity seriously and takes direction from the
alignment of its core funding partners (the NZ Transport Agency and Auckland Council) for the need to
better connect people, places, goods and services in Auckland, whatever their reason for or ability to
travel.
This appendix outlines the steps taken to determine how the RPTP should respond to the needs of the
transport-disadvantaged.
-
people whom [AT] has reasonable grounds to believe are the least able to travel to basic
community activities and services (for example, work, education, health care, welfare, and
This appendix sets out the statutory obligations to consider the needs of the transport-disadvantaged.
It then uses the statutory definition to identify people in the Auckland region who are likely to be
transport-disadvantaged, their access needs, and how well the public transport system provides for
those needs. This analysis was used to identify apparent gaps in current provision.
Statutory obligations
The LTMA includes a number of specific obligations towards the transport-disadvantaged that AT must
observe when preparing its RPTP. These include:
-
disadv
(LTMA Section 124 (d))
how the network of public transport services, and any taxi services
or shuttle services for which AT intends to provide financial assistance, wil assist the
transport-
(LTMA Section 120 (1) (a) (vi i)).
Identifying the transport-disadvantaged
The LTMA definition focuses on access to opportunities rather than identifying particular groups of
people, which each region can determine by taking into account its specific circumstances.
Using the basic community activities and services listed in the LTMA as a starting point, a range of
factors that are likely to restrict accessibility due to physical ability, financial circumstances, or location
were identified. These include:
Age (young or old)
Lack of income
Inability to drive and/or no access to a vehicle
Disability
Residential location is remote from the activity or service.
Taking these factors into account, the fol owing groups were identified as more likely to be transport-
disadvantaged in the Auckland region:
People with disabilities
242
Children
Elderly people
People with low incomes/beneficiaries
New immigrants (especially those with poor English)
Ful -time students
People in households without a vehicle
People living in high deprivation neighbourhoods
People living in isolated rural locations.
It is important to note that not al people in these groups wil be transport-disadvantaged but they are
more likely to be so when compared to the population as a whole. Also, some people will clearly belong
to more than one group, increasing the likelihood that they are transport-disadvantaged.
The inclusion of some groups, notably the elderly, has been used as a proxy for other attributes that
are likely to result in being transport-disadvantaged. For example, the elderly are more likely to have
disabilities, less likely to drive, and tend to have lower disposable incomes.
Determining the needs of the transport-disadvantaged
Table A8-1 summarises the specific activities and services identified in the LTMA (work, education,
healthcare, welfare, and shopping) that each transport-disadvantaged group is likely to need. It
illustrates the importance of access to each of these facilities for each group and shows how this
importance varies between groups.
Table A8-1: Importance of access to activities and services for the transport-disadvantaged
Group
Work Education Health Welfare
Shopping
People with disabilities
X
X
XX
X
X
People without a
X
X
X
X
X
Children
XX
XX
Elderly
XX
X
X
People with low income/beneficiaries
X
X
X
X
New immigrants
X
X
X
X
X
Ful -time students
XX
Households without a vehicle
X
X
X
X
X
High deprivation neighbourhoods
X
X
X
X
X
People in isolated rural locations
X
X
X
X
X
(X = Important, XX = Very important)
For most groups, access to a wide range of facilities is important although access needs are more
focused for some groups. Critical access needs include health services for people with disabilities and
the elderly, and education for children and students.
In general, health, welfare, and shopping facilities can be accessed within town centres. This suggests
that public transport services that focus on meeting access needs to these facilities should try to connect
people with their nearest town centre.
The location of the workplace or education facility is specific to each individual. Public transport services
should try to provide connections to the major workplace destinations for the transport-disadvantaged
groups identified earlier; these destinations are likely to include areas with high concentrations of blue
col ar and service industry jobs. Connections to the nearest secondary schools and tertiary institutions
are important for those in education.
The general assessment in Table A8-1 should be accompanied by a more detailed assessment of the
nature of the access needs for each group to each facility. This should cover the level of demand for
access to each facility and the current difficulties with access that are experienced by each group,
including the current availability of public transport services, physical accessibility issues (e.g. access
243
to vehicles and infrastructure), and cost issues (e.g. fare levels). This detailed assessment could be
undertaken as part of the more detailed review of services described in policy area 11.9.
To assist with this detailed assessment, AT should identify organisations or groups in the region who
represent the transport-disadvantaged, then engage with them at an early stage to better understand
the access needs of their members or clients.
Public transport responses
Table A8-2 shows how the current public transport system addresses the key access needs of each
transport-disadvantaged group while Table A8-3 sets out some potential public transport responses
that could be included in the future.
Table A8-2 suggests that the current public transport response to children, the elderly and students is
good, mainly because these groups receive concession fares and have a number of services available
that connect them to their key destinations.
The current public transport response to people with disabilities is reasonable due to the availability of
the Total Mobility scheme. Recently delivered infrastructure is accessible.
The PTOM contracting process for the New Bus Network services created an opportunity to improve
the accessibility of the bus fleet. Almost al buses are wheelchair accessible and have designated areas
for customers using a wheelchair at the front of the vehicle. A row of seats is also designated for
customers who are in need. Service animals are also welcome on services.
The other groups listed have limited provision for their specific needs, based on the current supporting
network of local and targeted services. No targeted concessions are provided, even though some of
these groups may be more deserving of targeted fare concessions than those who receive them at
present; however, it would be difficult to identify and verify recipients of fare concessions in these
groups. Table A8-2 also shows that the current level of provision for rural and isolated communities is
poor. AT has a policy to work with isolated communities to develop viable services. On-demand /
demand-responsive services may enable successful provision.
Table A8-3 identifies a range of potential improvements. Many of these, such as ongoing, specialised
information or personalised marketing, can assist the groups that have only limited service provision at
present. In rural areas, community transport, ridesharing, and provision of Park-and-Ride facilities on
the urban fringe may have potential benefits.
Importantly, implementing the New Bus Network services goes some way to meeting those needs by
providing a more comprehensive network of public transport services with wider coverage that offers
more destination options.
The supporting network of local and targeted services contributes to the access needs of most of the
identified groups but its effectiveness in meeting their needs wil vary across the region and there may
be gaps. It is important, therefore, to determine how wel the integrated transport network will meet the
access needs of the transport-disadvantaged in spatial terms. To better understand this, it is necessary
to develop a measure of public transport accessibility from areas that have high residential
concentrations of the transport-disadvantaged to the important locations that they need to access, such
as town centres.
244
Table A8-2: Transport-disadvantaged groups: current public transport responses
Group
Access need
Supporting Concession School bus
Total
Accessible
Accessible
Overall
network
fares
services
Mobility
infrastructure
vehicles
response level
(local and
targeted)
Centres and
People with disabilities
some
X
some
most
good
workplaces
People without a
Centres and
X
limited
driving licence
workplaces
Children
Schools
X
X
good
Elderly
Centres
X
X
some
some
good
People with low
Centres and
X
limited
income/beneficiaries
workplaces
Centres and
New immigrants
X
limited
workplaces
Tertiary
Full-time students
X
X
good
institutions
Households without a
Centres and
X
limited
vehicle
workplaces
High deprivation
Centres and
X
limited
neighbourhoods
workplaces
People in isolated
Centres
poor
rural locations
245
Table A8-3 : Transport-disadvantaged groups: further possible future responses
Group
Specialised
Demand
Community
Ride sharing
Park-and-Ride
Accessible
Personalised
information
responsive
transport
schemes
infra-structure
marketing
services
People with
X
X
X
disabilities
People without
X
X
a driving licence
Children
X
Elderly
X
People with low
income/benefici
X
aries
New immigrants
X
X
Ful -time
X
X
X
students
Households
without a
X
X
vehicle
High deprivation
X
neighbourhoods
People in
isolated rural
X
X
X
X
X
X
locations
246
