Reliable, affordable, safe, secure: Building community trust in transport networks

The World Economic Forum states that by 2050 approximately 80% of the world's population will live within cities, placing more and more pressure on infrastructure services. As people congregate in these expanding urban centers, the ability for people to get to employment, education, health care services, supermarkets and recreational facilities – whether that be by rail, car, bike, scooter or on foot – is becoming an increasingly critical problem to solve.

A well-designed, implemented and integrated mobility network is challenging to achieve, particularly when urban population growth continues to put pressure on existing networks and systems. Certainly, ad-hoc transport networks and continued urban expansion only adds to these pressures, which impacts on the experience of users and ultimately undermines the credibility of those responsible for delivering our transport services. Adding further complexity to the problem is the need to provide housing for the growing urban population. But what is the solution?

Our CROSSROADS research highlights that people want to see further investment in public transport systems, to make them more efficient, reliable, affordable, accessible and safe. There is also evidence that active modes of travel are gaining traction, particularly with the younger generations. Again, these findings highlight that our transport networks need to include a range of mobility solutions as communities change over time. The survey also highlights a worrying difference between genders when it comes to safety and mobility, where female respondents exhibited a lower confidence when considering the safety of our current transport systems, regardless of generation.

While support for more investment and more options was universal across all countries surveyed, with 74% of respondents indicating they would use public transport if it was reliable and cost effective, those countries where high levels of private vehicle ownership is well documented exhibited a lower likelihood of uptake of alternative modes.

This underscores the requirement for a long-term vision and commitment to improving access to public transport in our cities. However, in the short term, there is an immediate need to focus on the user experience of our current systems, highlighting the need to address safety and reliability to enable a more trusted relationship between the community and our transport network providers. Only by addressing these issues can we look forward to a more integrated and equitable mobility network in the future.