Is it expensive to be poor? Public transport in Sweden

Abstract

One of the reasons to subsidise public transport is to improve the mobility of low-income groups by providing affordable public transport; however, the literature describes a situation whereby those with a low income are unable to afford the cheapest tickets per trip, i.e. travelcards, as they usually require a considerable up-front cost. In this study, we use a large dataset from the Swedish National Travel Survey to investigate whether, and if so how, income explains monthly travelcard possession among individuals for whom this would have been the least expensive option. We find a robust positive relationship between income and travelcard possession among low-income earners, indicating that those with a low income pay more to use public transport than more affluent individuals. As the accessibility of low-income groups is an important motivation for public transport subsidies, the findings from this study have important policy implications.

Roundtrip, free-floating and peer-to-peer carsharing: A Bayesian behavioral analysis

“…It is important to remember that the affordability of transport systems for low-income earners should be highlighted in transport policy and that carsharing may still be quite expensive for economically and socially disadvantaged groups. This share of the population faces difficulties even affording public transportation and the costs of traveling lead to social exclusion (Bondemark et al, 2020).…”

Gendered mobility strategies and challenges to sustainable travel—patriarchal norms controlling women's everyday transportation

“…The cost of bridging home, school, work, and shopping is increasing, and the accessibility to reach these destinations is dependent on where services are located, the opening hours of services, and how the price and fares on the public transport system are set. When societies are built for highly mobile individuals, and less consideration is taken to the distributions of services regarding restrictions due to gender, income, and place of residency, then it is indeed an issue of justice and equity (Lucas et al, 2016;Martens, 2016;Bondemark et al, 2021).…”

The Targeting Incidence of Brazil’s Vale Transporte transit subsidy scheme

“…In part, this is motivated by the large amount of public funds spent subsidizing urban public transport systems in cities around the world. Although transit subsidies can be justi ed on economic e ciency grounds (Parry and Small, 2009), their distributive incidence is also relevant since equity and social objectives are often an explicit aim of these subsidies (Bondemark, et al, 2021) or gure prominently in policy discussions surrounding these bene ts. However, with few exceptions, most research on this topic has been undertaken for developed countries (Silver, et al, 2023;Börjesson, et al, 2020;Bueno Caden, et al, 2016;Asensio, et al, 2003; among others).…”