Opinion Pieces: since 2007, Prof. David Hensher has written an opinion column in the Australasian Bus and Coach magazine, where he monthly discusses a lot of different transport-related hot topics. In this section we are revisiting these columns.
March 2010
For some time I have felt a need in Australia to have a regular survey of the opinions of residents of Australia in regards to transport. We have ongoing surveys of consumer sentiment (e.g., the Westpac survey), but no record of how society views developments or the lack thereof in the provision of transport infrastructure and services. ITLS decided to do something about this and in 2009 we developed a methodology, joined in partnership with Interfleet Technology and launched the quarterly survey on March 23rd. In time we can build an informative and influential profile of opinions every 3 months from a sample of residents throughout the country on transport matters that they have views on.
Transport Opinion Survey interviews are conducted by Taverner Research by telephone using trained interviewers. Telephone numbers and the household response are selected at random. The quarterly survey is based on 1,000 adults aged 18 years and over, across Australia. This survey was conducted over 13-28 February 2010. The data reflect Australia’s population distribution.
What did we find in the first quarter 2010?
- Over half of Australians (58%) say the highest priority issue for transport in Australia is public transport improvements, more than twice as many as road improvements (23%).
- Less than one in five Australians (19%) think transport in their local area has improved in the last year, with NSW residents the least positive.
- Only one in five Australians (20%) think transport in their local area will be better in one year’s time, with about half thinking it will be the same as now. Victorian residents are most confident transport in their local area will be better in one year’s time.
- A quarter of Australians (25%) think transport in Australia will be better in one year’s time than now, while slightly more (27%) think it will be worse. NSW residents are the least confident of any state, while South Australian residents are clearly the most confident about transport improving.
- Australians are more confident that transport in Australia will be better in 5 years than in 1 year, with almost half (46%) thinking transport in Australia will be better in 5 years. NSW residents are the least confident of any state.
- 53% of Australians think their state government is most responsible for transport with West Australian residents most likely to nominate their state government as responsible (60%), and South Australian residents least likely (43%). 27% of Australians nominate both the state and Australian federal governments and only 14% nominate the Australian federal government.
- 44% of Australians think the private sector should be more involved in the provision of public transport, while 29% think the private sector should be involved less. NSW residents were noticeably more positive than Victorian residents on private sector involvement in public transport.
Since the readers are public transport people you will be interested in the following graph.
What do you think is the highest priority issue for transport in Australia now?
Food for thought
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