1205 | 275 | Fare Accessibility: A refined indicator for Public Transport Equity

In our surveys, low-income PT users have repeatedly described the fare as a financial and mental burden. This is particularly true for complex fares, some of which rely on overlapping sets of rules depending on the PT mode, time of day and direction. _x000D_
That’s why I modelled complex out-of-pocket fares for the metropolitan areas of Berlin and Hamburg for my dissertation. By combining self-generated fare matrices with GIS tools established in transport geography, I’ve developed the FARE ACCESSIBILITY indicator: I apply Hansen’s approach and use the ticket price as a measure of spatial resistance. The indicator is available at 100m census grid resolution and shows the weighted number of destinations that are accessible within a given fare. (–>blogpost: https://t1p.de/hvv-en) _x000D_
Building on this, I’ve used spatial econometric models (SDEM/SEM/SLX) to assess the relationship between fare accessibility, a PT supply index, purchasing power, and urban density. The statistical estimates indicate a significant negative relationship between fare accessibility and purchasing power (i.e., low income is correlated with high fare accessibility and high PT supply). Correcting for density, however, leads to an inverse result (i.e., low income is correlated with low per-capita fare accessibility and low per-capita PT supply)._x000D_
As known from previous studies, density has a strong explanatory power for variables such as mode choice, PT supply and job accessibility. Thus, fare accessibility is not an exception, but one of numerous indicators that can be traced back to density. However, as local analyses show, fare accessibility can inform PT and equity planning at the district and/or neighbourhood level by identifying areas that are disadvantaged by the fare system. Thus, in addition to its methodological contribution to research, fare accessibility is a practical tool for measuring local PT equity and informing policy-makers to help those who particularly depend on it.

Aberle, Christoph
Hamburg University of Technology / Institute for Transport Planning and Logistics

ID Abstract: 275