It's time to earn the social license for bus
“We” know buses bring immense benefits to society.
But who are “we”?
We are the politicians, the bus planners, the scholars, the infrastructure advisors, the public servants, the Councillors and the community advocates. With the launch of the Committee for Melbourne report, written with 奥雅纳 and 澳大利亚墨尔本大学 – Course Correction, we also count the business community among us.
We are probably privileged in our own transport access, and may know, to varying extents, the disadvantage that is faced by so many of our fellow Melburnians. These are people who stand to benefit (18:1) immensely from better bus access, which may mean the difference between taking on the cost of running an extra car or being able to take a job (1). In September last year I attended packed community forums where every single person present wanted better buses. Our State Government has boldly set out the benefits and made strong progress toward a reformed bus network in its Bus Plan.
And yet, bus reform remains elusive. Why?
Bus trips account for a tiny share of Victoria’s trips – just 1.62%. It’s unsurprising that a vocal majority of Victorians have a negative perception of buses. The reasons are many: They have no experience of public transport due to a level of public transport that does not provide viable options for travel, let alone options that are competitive with private vehicle transport. Research by @RoadsAustralia, Monash Department of Civil Engineering and Movement & Place Consulting finds that most Melbournians think that the government should not invest in buses (2). Most of our buses are noisy, polluting and empty. The comments following the Age’s recent coverage of buses are telling: most Melburnians perceive buses to be a nuisance on the road (3). With average service frequencies of 30 minutes across metropolitan Melbourne, you can hardly expect anything other than dislike for buses. Yet there is a silver lining: Infrastructure Victoria research finds that when bus service is good (such as in Doncaster) more people are likely to identify as bus users (4).
There is clearly a need to capture imaginations and translate what “we” all know:
A city with 3 million extra trips a day simply won’t function, and that rather than be nuisance, a better bus network is the only thing that stands a chance of providing a level of mobility and access in our city in the coming years that slows people to prosper in an equitable way.
How do we capture the imagination and help earn the social license for bus so that the current momentum for reform does not dissipate in the same way that it did under Bracks and Brumby in the past decades? (5)
A beautiful campaign some years ago attempted to rebrand buses as a beautiful part of Melbourne’s cultural identity. But did it work? I’m not sure.
Vichealth (6), Climate Council (7) and the #BetterStreets (8) movement provide some tips on messaging that appeals to different perspectives. I was humbled to read these guides and learn many of my own mistakes and encourage you to take a read.
At the same time, we must take heed of the lessons being learned in the renewable energy transition. John Pickering from Evidn spoke recently on Energy Insiders on the role of behavioural science in understanding individual and collective concerns about disruptive new ways of doing things, and the need for sincere engagement with follow through to earn a social license. Dare I draw a parallel to the kitchen table conversations, and approach to grassroots engagement with politics pioneered by the Victorian Country Women’s Association and adopted with great resonance by the Voices Of and Community Independents Movements. ??
A message that has clearly resonated, and which is well-captured in Patrick Hatch’s media coverage, are those stories of the people who are severely disadvantaged due to non-existent or poor levels of public transport.
These stories are humbling and tangible. I encourage you to seek out the experience of people whose lives would be transformed by better buses, and to tell those stories. Friends of the Earth has been engaging with members of the community, so if you would like to learn more about these stories, I encourage you to reach out to them. They are currently fundraising to undertake more videography campaigns like the one I was part of last year
Please consider donating to them so that they can bring more of these stories into the public conscience. www.Melbournefoe.org.au/transportdonate
A closing word. In Braving the Wilderness, Brené Brown writes about the power of human connection for bringing about positive change; and why it is more important than rational argument.
“Here’s why we need to catch these moments of human spark and be grateful for them… Turn on the light at the theatre and ask the Harry Potter fans and their parents to discuss the pros and cons of public schools versus private school versus home schooling [and] Voldemort will look friendly… of these scenarios will more than likely fuel disconnection and reinforce assumptions that we are nothing alike.? But the more we are willing to seek out moments of collective joy…the more difficult it becomes to deny our human connection, even with people we may disagree with. Not only do moments of collective reflection remind us of what is possible, but it reminds us about what is true about the human spirit…but the key is that…it has to be real.”
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We know the benefits. Our government knows the benefits. However, the government must now earn a popular mandate to reform the bus network.
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I urge all actors in transport not to shy away from engaging with the community; but to seek out these opportunities, to listen and to identify the shared value that bus reform can bring. Expand the capacity of your team to engage and seek out the behavioural scientists.
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If you’ve found ways to communicate about buses in a way that has resonated, I’d love to hear about it.
1.???? 1 – Gunn, L., Pemberton, S., Kroen, A. and Goodman, R. 2021. Costs and benefits of early delivery of transport options: Transport Options in New Suburbs Policy Brief, RMIT Centre for Urban Research, https://cur.org.au/cms/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/costs-and-benefits-of-early-delivery-of-transport-option_november-2021.pdf.
2 – Movement & Place Consulting 2022, Investigating the Social License for Buses in Australia, https://roads.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Investigating-the-Social-Licence-for-Buses-in-Australia-FINAL.pdf.
3 - Bus network Melbourne: The unsexy solution to smashing the city’s traffic congestion woes (theage.com.au)
4. Infrastructure Victoria 2023, Next Stop; Community Insights into Melbourne’s Buses, Next stop: community insights into Melbourne’s buses - Infrastructure Victoria.
5 - @Peter Parker, Melbourne on Transit 2021, Transport lessons from the Bracks and Brumby governments (via Catch & Kill). Melbourne on Transit: Transport lessons from the Bracks and Brumby governments (via Catch & Kill)
6 – VicHealth 2021, Framing Walking and bike Riding: Message guide , VBM-Framing-Walking-Bike-framing---message-guide.pdf (vichealth.vic.gov.au).
7 – Climate Council 2022, Send the right signal: How to effectively talk about sustainable transport. CC_MVSA0316-CC-Sustainable-Transport-Communications-Guide_V6-FA.pdf (climatecouncil.org.au).
8 – Better Streets, Campaigners handbook - Better Streets.
One does not have to travel very far to see the benefits of what a better bus network can do for a city's transport choices, yet somehow this remains a wildly radical idea that there are tangible and practical lessons for Melbourne from places that aren't Melbourne.
Transport Economics and Engineering Management
1 年Good stuff @Laura - what do you mean by social license exactly? If it's to do with symbolism of the bus, that's a fascinating area.
Transport Planning and Projects Coordinator - Banyule City Council
1 年Thanks Laura. I so agree and particularly was struck by your description of near empty buses in the Melbourne suburbs. To me this reinforces the image problem buses have which is perpetuated by our long tradition of stigmatising their users as societal 'unfortunates' rather than valuing and even envying their users as being privileged enough to get to be escorted via a fast reliable and multi transferable PT trip to work, school, or whereever. To be fair DTPs Bus Plan 2021 is full of great ideas along these lines but I also agree that unless it is embraced by an enthusiastic groundswell of supporters it will continue to be pushed to the back of the funding pile by big build big glam projects like SRL.
PhD Candidate I Founder, ShareMyJob I Social Researcher
1 年Brilliant and timely commentary on why better bus services are necessary to mitigate unsustainable growth and inevitable gridlock. Well done, Laura ?? ???
Associate | Education – Australasia Leader
1 年Great article!