Transport
Access for Job Seeking: a pilot program (2001)
SYDNEY, NSW
Chloë
Mason
GROW Employment Council (Sydney's Area Consultative
Committee)
This
pilot program responded to the barriers faced by
Western Sydney job seekers in accessing job vacancies
located in eastern Sydney by public transport. It
is described fully in a report on the GROW website
(www.grow.org.au).
It
developed a 'structured activity' for Job Network
staff and their clients to increase skills and confidence
in using Sydney's public transport system in their
search for employment. More generally, skills in
using the public transport system effectively would
assist maintaining affordable social contact and
avoid social exclusion.
We
met with Job Network staff and clients and developed
a half day excursion involving travel by public
transport to employment areas near Sydney airport
(Rosebery-Mascot), using timetables, and visits
to Job Network offices in eastern Sydney. All participants
were given a weekly travel pass entitling them to
unlimited use of the Sydney public transport network.
To support the 'structured activity', the project
developed resources to make it easier to use of
Sydney's public transport network. For example,
a kit of travel information was provided for each
participant and the Job Network offices. We developed
high quality, customised information about public
transport - Transport Access Guides for Job Network
offices in "job poor" areas with offices in "job
rich" areas.
The
study found that the knowledge of Job Network staff
about public transport services and access to the
wider metropolitan area play a crucial role in their
perceptions about job vacancies and travel options
for their clients.
Outcomes
for staff and clients of the 'structured activity'
and new resources indicated positive responses and
making skills more widely available to Job Network
staff is warranted.
Other
benefits of improving transport access for job seekers
arises through increasing the physical activity
that protects and promotes physical & mental health
- a benefit particularly relevant for job seekers,
who may be at risk of anxiety, depression, unhealthy
weight and high blood pressure. Brisk walking and
cycling for 30 minutes on most days of the week
is more successful as a means of increasing physical
activity in the population than promoting additional
exercise. The greater affordability of public transport
(and cycling) over private, motor vehicle transport
can reduce social exclusion by increasing mobility
and heath. Hence overcoming 'transport disadvantage'
should be achieved by healthy, environmentally sustainable
transport in preference to facilitating access to
private motorized vehicles.
Strategies
that 'join up' transport access (mobility) with
other services or activities, such as employment
services or Council's social/community plans, have
a significant role in building the capacity of local
services and in improving the liveability and affordability
of the neighbourhood.
The pilot project put forward extensive recommendations
on topics including:
- public transport information & skills for Job
Network staff
- travel allowances - concession equity
- coordination of DEWRSB, Job Networkand Centrelink,
NSW Premier's Dept support
- the potential for bicycle projects e.g Whangarei
Bike Club Innovation Project
The
pilot project's findings are well suited for incorporating
into the newer initiatives for 'place- making initiatives'
and 'strengthening communities' at both the regional
and local levels.
A
program, offered jointly by SEDA and the RTA, is
now supporting trip generators (such as Job Network
offices, Councils, employers and TAFEs) to develop
their own transport access guides as a means of
encouraging the use of 'active transport' (walking,
cycling and public transport).
The
newer understanding of the benefits of increasing
the level of physical activity in the population
(40% do too little to protect health) would support
'bicycle mobility' projects in several regions.
Such 'bicycle mobility' projects elsewhere, in New
Zealand and Germany, for example, provide incentives
to young people to ride a bicycle as a means of
transport to and from job seeking, employment and
education. The incentives include a free bicycle
and accessories, bicycle proficiency and bike maintenance
training. It would be great to establish some 'bicycle
mobility' projects here in Australia!
REFERENCES
Transport
Access for Job Seeking: a pilot program (2001),
prepared for GROW Employment Council (Sydney's Area
Consultative Committee) by ChloëMason & Rob
Lake. www.grow.org.au
RTA
- RTA-SEDA brochure Producing and Using Transport
Access Guides (to participate in the program RTA
contact: Marie Edwards 02-9218-6620)
- How to prepare a Bike Plan (RTA)
- How to prepare a Pedestrian Access and Mobility
Plan (PAMP) (RTA) Includes section 'on-foot route
field audits' (Stage 2, Step 7, p.15). These documents
are available from the website www.rta.nsw.gov.au
TransportNSW - Public Transport InfoLine - phone
131500
Best Practice Guidelines for NSW Public Transport
Signage and Information Displays, Version 1, November
2002
Councils
in NSW produce Social Plans, Disability Action Plans,
Pedestrian and Access Mobility Plans (PAMPS), Bike
Plans, and State of the Environment reports, as
well as planning instruments such as Local Environmental
Plans (LEPs) and Development Control Plans (DCPs).
Provision for bicycles in new developments, for
example, are usually set out in Bike Plans, and
DCPs.
Check out with your Council about plans, updates
and implementation!
Department Local Government - www.dlg.nsw.gov.au
PlanningNSW - www.planning.nsw.gov.au
- for information about compact cities, Regional
Environment Plans, Urban Improvement Program, integrating
land-use and transport and draft SEPP66 materials
Premier's
Dept - CommunityBuilders site & discussion list
www.communitybuilders.nsw.gov.au
NSW
EPA - www.epa.nsw.gov.au Environment Trust Grants
(in the past 'Recycle Bicycle); Clean Air Fund.
NSWHealth
(2001), A framework for building capacity to improve
health; www.health.nsw.gov.au
Bauman
A, Bellew B, Vita P, Brown W, Owen N (2002) Getting
Australia Active National Public Health Partnership
Melbourne, March. www.hphp.gov.au/sigpah
NSW
Obesity Summit - communiqué and resolutions
on 'planning and transport'
www.health.nsw.gov.au/obesitysummit
The Minister has announced that Programs addressing
youth obesity will be developed through Councils
and Area Health Services.
BicycleNSW
- Peak NGO with a publication within Australian
Cyclist, www.bicyclensw.org.au
& website lists Bicycle User Groups (BUGs), bicycle
proficiency trainers, downloadable Green Star images
for Green Star Transport Energy Rating etc.
Cycling
Promotion Fund - www.cyclingpromotion.com
- an initiative of Bicycle Industries Australia
Ltd; offering posters, advice etc
Leicestershire
County Council, Local Transport Plan (County) 2001
- 2006, Chapter 5 Integrated transport strategy
& diagrams showing links between transport/mobility
and other human service plans. www.leicester.gov.uk/transport/chapter5.pdf
Note: large download size.
Barton
H. & Tsourou C. (2000), Healthy Urban Planning.
A WHO guide to planning for people, London: Spon
Press.
Mobility
Management
European Mobility Management Platform - www.epomm.org
"Mobility management in Australia: reflections on
programs by trip generators for intra-city accessibility"
(Chloë Mason), Conference Proceedings, 4th
European Conference on Mobility Management (ECOMM
2000), Mobility Management - Crossing borders and
making regions accessible, 17-19 May 2000, Bregenz,
Austria, pp.48-52.
For
the big picture:
World Health Organisation (WHO) (1999) Charter
on Transport, Environment and Health www.who.dk
For
its relevance to Australia:
Mason Chloë (2000), "Transport and health:
en route to a healthier Australia?" Medical Journal
of Australia, Vol 172, 6 March 2000, pp230-232.
www.mja.com.au/public/issues/172_05_060300/mason/mason.
html
National
Heart Foundation of Australia Supporting Environments
for Physical Activity www.heartfoundation.com.au/sepa/index_fr.html
Mason
C. (2000) "Healthy people, places and transport",
Health Promotion Journal of Australia December,
vol.10 no.3, pp.190-196, (special issue on transport)
Solving
the rural transport dilemma; in World Transport
Policy and Practice Vol 4, Number 2 1998 Gleeson
B. & Low N (2000), Australian urban planning, new
challenges, new agendas, Sydney: Allen & Unwin
New
Zealand Whangarei Bike Club Innovation Project (unpublished).
Provision of 100 job seekers with bicycles as a
method of transport to obtain and retain jobs
Moving
In: A Report documenting the role of pivotal access
services for residents moving to new growth areas;
South East Resource Action Centre July 1996
Strengthening Rural Communities: A Report promoting
Efficient and Affordable Responses to Transport
Disadvantage in Rural and Regional NSW, NSW Premiers
Department May 1999 (unpublished)
Inequalities of Health: Road transport and Pollution
Adrian Davis, in Gordon, D., Shaw, M., Dorling,
D. and Davey Smith, G. (eds) 1999 Evidence presented
to the Independent Inquiry into Inequalities in
Health, chaired by Sir Donald Acheson, Bristol:
Policy Press, in press
