At the moment, Australia's car-centric transport system leaves too many people with little choice in how to get around. For decades, governments have prioritised the use of private cars in transport planning and investment. Too often, this means people have no other way to get around. This is driving harmful climate pollution while also making the streets more congested, dangerous and polluted.

Australians are clear that they want better transport options and more choice. In Climate Council polling, 80 percent of people said they wanted governments to invest more in public transport, and 67 percent wanted more investment in active transport infrastructure (Climate Council 2022). The lack of services and infrastructure is a key barrier to people across our big cities using these transport options more often.

This report provides recommendations for how governments can plan and invest public money better to put shared and active transport at the centre of transport delivery from now on. The benefits will be huge - we can help slash climate pollution this decade and deliver cleaner air, safer streets, more affordable ways of getting around, as well as more liveable cities with less congestion.

Key findings

• Transport is Australia’s biggest contributor to climate pollution after energy, making it an important focus of our efforts to slash climate pollution this decade. At the moment, Australia has more registered cars than drivers, and relatively limited use of shared and active transport.
• Given the significant costs involved with car ownership, a lack of effective shared transport can pose an additional barrier to communities who may already struggle to access employment, education and other needs.
• People living in high-growth areas in middle and outer suburbs are significantly underserved by public transport. The cost-of-living benefits of affordable transport would often make the biggest difference in these areas.
• Investment in public transport has not kept pace with growing demand. Most people who live more than 10km away from the centres of our largest cities generally lack convenient, frequent and reliable access to public transport services.

Policy recommendations

• Embed the increased uptake of shared and active transport in decarbonisation planning.
• Deliver a Shared Transport Service Standard.
• Give shared and active transport priority on roads.