Gap Analysis of Public Transport Needs:Measuring Spatial Distribution of Public Transport Needs and Identifying Gaps in the Quality of Public Transport Provision

A new approach to assessing the performance of public transport in meeting the needs of transport-disadvantaged people in the community is described. It reviews previous and current research in this area and describes how a new approach has been developed and applied with Hobart, Australia, as a study area. The approach aims to identify geographical gaps in public transport provision where travel needs are high but services are poor or nonexistent. It involves the use of readily available socioeconomic statistics to quantify the distribution of needs in the community with a single transport needs index. A public transport network model measures the public transport accessibility to these groups and a geographical information systems approach is used to display the distribution of the identified gaps between service and needs. The technique is highly relevant for smaller urban centers where the justification of public transport subsidies is largely social-needs-based—that is, where congestion and environmental benefits of transit are less critical. It is also relevant to recent work in transport accessibility audits and in the assessment of community impacts of alternative transit development strategies.