Ride-sharing apps could transform the way people get around in Dubbo

The report, titled 'Addressing transport disadvantages in regional and rural areas through integrated mobility services', explores mobility barriers in the regional and rural towns of Dubbo, Nowra and Coffs Harbour.

Put together by the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies and the University of Sydney, the report highlights the impact of transport disadvantage on the elderly, disabled, and low-income earners.

It claims there are limited transport options, inadequate infrastructure, information gaps, affordability issues, safety concerns, and preference for car over public transport.

Waiting for a taxi in Dubbo on Monday, April 8, Akire Pawika from Sydney said she had been waiting an hour for a taxi.

The visitor to Dubbo said one taxi had arrived, but she missed out when someone else nearby jumped in it instead.

"It's been a long time waiting," she said.

One Dubbo participant in the study said their daughter walks a kilometre down the road just to catch the bus to school.

Another said transport fares are too expensive, even for workers who have a full-time job.

"I don't have a footpath to where I've got to catch a bus," one Dubbo study participant said.

Another said: "If I went shopping and I only had a short distance to go home, the taxi won't pick you up, they will reassign it because it's a short trip and you can wait, I waited one afternoon for an hour and a half in the cold waiting for a taxi and it was dark."

One participant commented on the fact it should only take 15 minutes to get from one side of Dubbo to the other, but with current transport options, it was "hard to get where you need to go when you need to go".

The report states the use of integrated mobility solutions, such as Mobility as a Service (MaaS) - or ride-sharing apps - would have "significant potential to ameliorate these barriers, improve the quality of life and promote social inclusion for rural populations".

"Rural residents face several transport challenges to access jobs, education, health care, and social and recreational activities," the report states.

"Given the geographical challenges, sparse populations, and vast distances inherent to rural and regional areas, both transport planning and infrastructure maintenance become more complicated and costly.

"These complexities inevitably lead to heightened issues of accessibility, specifically for vulnerable groups, further exacerbating existing disparities."

They called the need to find cost-effective transport solutions in regional areas "pressing".

"MaaS integrates various forms of public and private transport services into a single platform and allows users to plan, book, and pay for multiple types of transport services, offering solutions based on user's needs," the report states.

"Most existing applications of MaaS focus on urban contexts, but it has recently been suggested as a possible remedy for social exclusion in regional and rural contexts, although the evidence base remains limited.

"From a societal viewpoint, MaaS could serve as a tool to achieve broader objectives including minimising the adverse environmental impacts of individual transport, combating social isolation, uncovering new business prospects, or a mix of these factors."

The report was conducted for Transport for NSW for a MaaS blueprint for regional towns.