Workshop 8: Beyond the Farebox: Sustainable Funding of Public Transport by Better Understanding Service Values

Abstract

This Workshop was built around papers that aimed to identify ways of bridging the funding gap in public transport provision using methods other than the farebox. A number of traditional approaches such as land value capture and road pricing to provide additional sources of finance were discussed as were more general approaches such as the development of “Mobility as a Service”. The main thrust of the discussion was, however, the need to take an even broader approach recognising behavioural and governance factors that shape individual and social norms and trust in institutions. The creation of shared social values was seen as an essential precursor to successful public-private cooperation. The enhancement of efficiency in public transport provision to help reduce deficits rather than reductions in service would contribute to this. Above all the focus should be on a sustainable transport system embracing all modes to meet the needs of the population rather than a focus on sustainable financing of one element. Such a system depends on a complex set of interacting factors and not on a simple linear cause and effect model.