2013 Measuring household expenditure on public transport

The South Africa I know, the home I understand

In-depth analysis of the National Household Travel Survey 2013 data

Measuring household expenditure on public transport

Technical Report

Pali LehohlaStatistician General01 December 2015

• Background

• Household travel patterns

• Education related travel patterns

• Work related travel patterns

• Assess the level of affordability of public

transport

• Conclusion

Contents

Measuring household expenditure on public transport

provide a better understanding of This report seeks to explore and

Context

1996 White Paper on the National Transport Policy aims to ensure that the South African transportation system is adequate to meet basic accessibility needs (to work, health care, schools, shops) in rural and urban areas.

The following are some of the strategic objectives of the policy:

• Affordable public transport, with commuters spending less than about 10 per cent of disposable income on transport

• Passenger transport services that address user needs, including those of commuters, pensioners, the aged, scholars, the disabled, tourists, and long distance passengers

• Appropriate and affordable standards of accessibility to work, commercial and social services in rural areas

• Promote safe, reliable and sustainable passenger transport

Background

The National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) was conducted in 2003 and 2013 as a joint effort by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) and the Department of Transport (DoT).

The aim of the NHTS is to gain strategic insight into the travel patterns, travel modes and costs of South African households

Data collection in this regard took place between January and March 2013, and a total of 51 341 households and/or dwelling units were sampled, using a random stratified sample design

Household income information from Census 2011 was used to impute household income for cases that did not report their household income

The report highlights some of the challenges in collecting household income and travel cost

information. E.g. privacy and

confidentiality issues, respondent fatigue and

use of proxy respondents.

Due to data constraints, this report did not consider any travel distance and travel cost per distance.

Cautionary notes

Definitions

Trip:a one-way movement from an origin to a destination, to fulfil a purpose or undertake an activity

Public transportPrivate transport

Animal drawn vehicles

Other

Walking

CyclingTrain

Taxi

Bus

Car/truck driver

Car/truck passenger

Public transport

Householdtravel patterns

51,0% 18,1% 7,6%

Most households use public transport

Main mode of travel for households

Private21,0%

10,1%10,9%

Other0,4%

1,9%76,7%

Households main mode of transport by household income quintile

Quintile 2

Quintile 3

Quintile 4

Lowest income quintile

Highest income quintile

89,9 6,0 3,6

90,4 6,9 2,2

86,4 11,1 2,0

77,2 21,5 1,1

38,3 60,9 0,3

Public transport Private transport Walking all the way

0,5

0,5

0,5

0,3

0,5

Other

Most households use public transport

from highest income quintile except

Profile of households who used public transport

Train Bus Taxi Total

Metro 910 000 879 000 2 581 000 4 371 000

Urban 116 000 384 000 2 329 000 2 829 000

Rural 77 000 1 353 000 2 467 000 3 896 000

RSA 1 103 000 2 616 000 7 377 000 11 095 000

Approximately

11,1million

households used public transport

66,5%23,6%

9,9%

Monthly cost of commuting using public transport

Quintile 4

Quintile 3

Quintile 2

Travel costIncome

R 2 645

R 1 215

R 604

R 9 207

R 215

R 331

R 250

R 171

R 136

R 404Highest income quintile

Lowest income quintile

with increase in quintile

Average per capita monthly household income

Average monthly travel cost

Income and travel cost

increased

of income on public transport

Lowest income quintile

Spent highest %

% of monthly household income per capita spent on public transport (PT)

Quintile 2

Quintile 3

Quintile 4

Highest income quintile

Lowest income quintile

85,1 11,9 2,9

52,7 31,7 15,6

36,2 34,5 29,4

26,7 31,4 41,9

12,7 20,8 66,6

42,3 28,4 29,3

Less than 10%

Between 10% and 20%

More than 20%

Lowest income quintile

Quintile 2 Quintile 3 Quintile 4 Highest income quintile

87,3%

73,3%63,8%

47,3%

14,9%

% of households spending more than 10% of their monthly household income per capita on public transport (PT)

Households from

lowest income quintile

more likely tospend more

highest income quintile

on travel than

R

% of households spending more than 10% of their monthly household income per capita on public transport (PT)

Taxi

users

Busmore likely tospent more

users

on travel than

R

58,6%60,1%49,2%57,7%

related travelEducational

Main mode of travel for learners

Other0,8%

63,4%

14,8% 5,2% 1,2%

21,2%

1,6%

Private14,5%

12,9%

Most of learners to their educational institutions

Metro

45,2%

Main mode of travel for learners by geographic location

28,8%

PrivateTransport

Urban Rural

1,3%

62,0%

21,8%

15,3%

0,9%

79,1%

14,7%

5,8%

0,4%

learnerswere most likely

to their

educational institutions

24,8%

Other

Total number of learners who used public transport

Train Bus Taxi Total

Metro 173 000 348 000 1 166 000 1 687 000

Urban 13 000 208 000 736 000 958 000

Rural 18 000 356 000 686 000 1 060 000

RSA 205 000 912 000 2 588 000 3 705 000

Approximately

3,7million

learners used public transport

69,8%24,6%

5,5%

Pre-school

6,7%

School

Higher education

8,8%

FET college8,9%

Other3,2%

Total number of learners who used public transport

72,4%

Monthly cost of commuting using public transport

Quintile 4

Quintile 3

Quintile 2

Travel costIncome

R 2 624

R 1 200

R 606

R 8 283

R 233

R 406

R 374

R 345

R 351

R 447Highest income quintile

Lowest income quintile

with increase in quintile

Average per capita monthly household income

Average monthly travel cost

Income and travel cost

increased

of income on public transport

than 10%

% of monthly household income per capita spent on public transport (PT)

20,6 22,8 56,6

23,2 18,2 58,7

34,0 20,3 45,7

21,8 21,8 56,4

Less than 10% Between 10% and 20% More than 20%

usersmost likely to

spent less

% of learners spending more than 10% of their monthly household income per capita on public transport (PT)

Taxi

users

more likely tospent more

users

on travel than

R

78,2%79,4%66,0%76,8%

related travel

26,5% 7,6% 5,0%

Main mode of travel for workers

Private38,4%

7,6%30,8%

Other1,3%

21,1%39,1%

Most of workers use public and private transport to reach their workplace

Total number of workers who used public transport

Train Bus Taxi Total

Metro 650 000 446 000 2 080 000 3 176 000

Urban 34 000 235 000 987 000 1 256 000

Rural 16 000 380 000 603 000 999 000

RSA 700 000 1 061 000 3 670 000 5 431 000

Approximately

5,4million

workers used public transport

67,6%19,5%

12,9%

Monthly cost of commuting using public transport

Quintile 4

Quintile 3

Quintile 2

Travel costIncome

R 2 668

R 1 222

R 634

R 8 459

R 281

R 549

R 505

R 496

R 491

R 582Highest income quintile

Lowest income quintile

with increase in quintile

Average per capita monthly household income

Average monthly travel cost

Income and travel cost

increased

% of monthly household income per capita spent on public transport (PT)

15,2 22,3 62,5

16,8 19,9 63,3

36,7 25,9 37,4

18,4 22,3 59,3

of income on public transport

than 10%

usersmost likely to

spent less

Less than 10% Between 10% and 20% More than 20%

% of workers spending more than 10% of their monthly household income per capita on public transport (PT)

Taxi

users

Busmore likely tospent more

users

on travel than

R

83,2%84,8%63,3%81,6%

Conclusion

The report identified ways in which the measurement of household income and transport expenditure can be improved.

Households from lowest income quintile spent more on public transport than to households from highest income quintile.

Majority of households who spent more than 20% of their monthly household income per capita on public transport live in rural areas.

Workers and learners in households from highest income quintile were more likely to spend more on travel than workers from lowest income quintile

• Taxi and bus users were more likely to spend more than 10% of their monthly household income per capita than train users.

• There is a need to reconsider the current public transport affordability measure, i.e. the benchmark set by the 1996 White Paper on National Transport Policy.

• The current public transport affordability measure provides a partial view of household well-being and should be linked with poverty, deprivation and other social and economical measures.

Conclusion

Thank You