II. Introduction: A social justice perspective on local public transport

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE AND SOCIALLY JUST LPT FUNDING

1. Timely, fair and sufficient emergency funding for LPT services

2. Emergency funding for all PTAs and PTOs

3. Conditions and oversight to ensure emergency funding is used to protect workers and users

4. Resistance to privatisation; consideration of remunicipalisation together with sustainable funding models and protection for workers’ jobs in the transition

5. Sustained national government funding for operating costs to support LPT and employment

6. Development of sustainable funding models and minimisation of cuts to services and jobs, particularly for the most vulnerable

7. Fares maintained at levels that promote

LPT ridership and support disadvantaged groups

8. Prioritisation of protection for the most vulnerable and equalising and raising conditions

9. Solidarity for monetary support and debt relief for developing countries

10. Democratic participation in economic decisions and LPT planning

Public transport is an essential backbone of modern societies and economies, guaranteeing access to places of employment, education and public services, particularly to individuals who do not have access to privately-owned mobility. Local public transport (LPT)1, in particular, has been recognised by UN member nations as a ‘basic service’ vital to sustainable development, which functions as a ‘prerequisite to the provision of other services and to improving the potential of each person to engage in economic activity’.2 At a fundamental level, public transport can be understood as helping to guarantee the right to freedom of movement enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, Article 13.

Public transport is also one of the most significant urban employers, the largest in some cities. Globally, 7.3 million workers are employed in formal local transport services and several million more in the informal economy.3 The role LPT plays in getting people to work and vitalising local economies means its indirect impact on employment is much greater. Further, modal shift from privately-owned cars to mass transit is recognised as the most effective and already available means to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector, which as a whole account for 25 percent of total energyrelated emissions.4

1 In this paper I use the term ‘local public transport’ (LPT) to refer to public transport services in urban areas and the surrounding commuting region. The UN-HABITAT refers to ‘urban transport services’, but recognises the importance of connections with suburban and semi-rural areas, making the terms largely comaptible.

2 UN-HABITAT, International Guidelines on Decentralisation and Access to Basic Services for all, UN-HABITAT, 2008, Paragraph 2; United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport, Mobilizing Sustainable Transport for Development, United Nations, 2016, 9.

3 ILO, ILO Sector Brief: COVID-19 and Urban Passenger Transport Services, September 2020.