Evaluating Spatial And Social Equity In Public Transport Accessibility: A Case Study Of Melbourne’s Inner South East Metropolitan Region

Jiaqi Huang

doi:10.54097/m0w09e48

Authors

Jiaqi Huang The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54097/m0w09e48

Keywords:

Public transport accessibility, transport equity, competition-adjusted cumulative opportunity measure.

Abstract

Accessibility measures are widely used to analyse transport equity. However, most studies assume that all reachable opportunities are equally available and therefore overlook competition among users. This limitation is particularly important in high-density inner metropolitan areas, where large populations compete for a finite set of jobs and urban services. This study adopts a competition-adjusted cumulative opportunity measure and applies it to a case study of four service types (employment, education, healthcare and retail) in Melbourne’s Inner South East Metropolitan Region. Spatial results are then cross-analysed with socio-economic indicators. The results show that considering competition substantially reduces effective accessibility. The four service types have different accessibility patterns, with healthcare accessibility exhibiting the strongest spatial inequality. A cluster of double disadvantage is also identified in the south-eastern part of the region, where low accessibility coincides with relatively high socio-economic disadvantage. These findings demonstrate that proximity to inner-city do not necessarily ensure equitable access to urban opportunities. By integrating competition-adjusted accessibility with socio-economic analysis, this study offers a diagnostic framework for revealing hidden equity deficits in high-supply metropolitan environments.

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