Connections Transport & ICT Universal Access in Urban Areas Why Universal Access in Urban Areas Matters for Sustainable Mobility Jacob Mason (ITDP), Philip Turner (UITP) and Mircea Steriu (UITP) † As one of the four global goals framing sustainable mobility in the Global Mobility Report (GMR), universal access in urban areas is the ability for people to reach the destinations necessary to lead productive and fulfilling lives. But transport infrastructure and services are rarely distributed equitably, and ensuring equity of access is of paramount importance. 2.5billion By 2050, the world’s urban population is expected to grow by 2.5 billion people, reaching 66 percent of the total global population. Most urban growth is projected to take place in developing countries in Africa and Asia. As economic activity continues to Th ddition l numb r of p opl shift from mature economies toward these emerging livin in citi s b 2050 markets, the number of daily trips made by people in urban areas could increase by 50 percent between 2005 and 2025. The GMR positioned access to economic and social opportunities for everyone as a key goal for achieving sustainable mobility, regardless of income, gender, age, disability status, and geographical location. The Global Tracking Framework (GTF) proposes indicators to measure progress toward that goal. This work supports Sustainable Development Goals 9 and 11 and the Habitat III New Urban Agenda. Universal Access in Urban Areas in for accessible cities, and focuses on equal access to all services, including transport. It stresses “age the Global Agenda and gender-responsive planning and investment for Universal access in urban areas is embodied in sustainable, safe, and accessible urban mobility for two targets of the Sustainable Development Goals all”, and supports a focus on the needs of marginal- (SDG): 9.1 and 11.2. The first aims to develop in- ized groups. frastructure to support economic development and human well-being, and the second to provide Methodological challenges in sustainable transport systems for all, with a focus measuring universal urban access on public transport. Given this focus, target 11.2 is specifically relevant for urban areas and hence for While there is no widely agreed upon method universal urban access. In addition to the SDGs, the of measuring universal access, there is a general Habitat III New Urban Agenda underlines the need agreement that sustainable transport should leave † The authors would like to acknowledge the members of the following organizations for their contribution in drafting the Universal Access Chap- ter of the GMR: UITP, ITDP, World Bank, UN-Habitat, WRI, and UN-DESA. DECEMBER 2017 NOTE 2017 - 10 no one behind. Data that measure access to trans- Trends in urban access port infrastructure and services for urban areas are not readily available on a global scale. The data With people in developed countries moving to that do exist suggest that the accessibility gap is cities, the previous trend of increasing motoriza- huge, and potentially growing, making it urgent for tion appears to have stopped. On the other hand, urban access to be measured more consistently in cities in developing countries—particularly those and comprehensively in cities and countries around in emerging economies—motorization rates have the world. Measuring access by income level, gen- grown significantly since 1995. With most of the der, age, disability status, and location adds further urban growth for the coming decades projected complexity to the task. to take place in developing countries, the trend is worrying. While car and motorized two-wheeler Several factors currently inhibit the measurement ownership theoretically improves access for indi- of universal access via sustainable transport: the viduals, this comes with increased external costs absence of a universally agreed upon definition; which are spread across the entire urban popula- the lack of a shared methodology; and the need to tion and beyond. identify the multiple sub-groups to be considered. There is also a scarcity of data on the demograph- While public transport supply overall nearly dou- ics of existing transport users and the needs of bled during the period 1995–2012 in developing vulnerable groups; the locations of residences, jobs, country cities, the growth in urban populations and markets; and road and transit networks, transit there has outpaced these developments. As a schedules, and speeds. result, the overall level of public transport sup- ply per capita decreased over the same period. The indicators proposed in the GTF complement In all regions, the supply of rapid transit has been those in the SDG goals. The principal SDG indica- increasing relative to the urban population, particu- tor for universal access in urban areas is indicator larly since 2000. By far the highest ratio is found in 11.2.1: Proportion of population that has convenient Europe, mostly concentrated in the largest cities. access to public transport, by age, sex, and persons Developed countries have recently experienced with disabilities. However, this is not clearly de- a moderate growth in the use of public transport fined. The current GTF proposal for a basic indica- per capita. And while cities in developing coun- tor (those using proxies that require limited data tries have experienced a significant growth in use, already collected on a regular basis) is to measure the use per capita is actually decreasing as urban “percentage of the population within 500m of a populations grow. frequent public transport stop or station.” The proposed access indicators include: Scale of the challenge • Basic: If the trends observed in the last decade of the • Number of public transport journeys by 20th century prevail, urban areas in emerging mode of transport per person economies could see a shift away from walking and cycling to private motorized vehicles, and • Vehicle-km public transport per person public transport could see an erosion of its market • Intermediate: share in all world regions. But doubling the market • Average percent of income spent on trans- share of public transport worldwide while keep- port per resident (affordability) ing stable the share of walking and cycling would • Perceptions of safety, security, comfort, & make it possible to decouple the growth of mobility user information in urban areas from the growth of its societal and • Advanced: environmental costs. • Percent of vehicles & stations per network Policies will need to be put in place to reverse the with step-free access trends seen in developing countries, to avoid the • Number of People within 30 minutes of a problems that are already present in car-dependent service (e.g. hospital, school, etc.) by pub- cities in developed countries. lic transport, walking, and cycling Connections is a series of knowledge notes from the World Bank Group’s Transport & Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Global Practice. Covering projects, experiences, and front-line developments, the series is produced by Nancy Vandycke and Shokraneh Minovi. The notes are available at http://www.worldbank.org/transport/connections. The GLOBAL MOBILITY REPORT 2017 is available at http://www.sum4all.org/publications/global-mobility-report-2017 DECEMBER 2017 NOTE 2017 - 10