Examining the links between public transport provision, suppressed travel and (in)sufficient accessibility

This study engages a sufficientarian perspective to examine the role current basic levels of public transport provision play in delivering sufficient accessibility for inhabitants of sparsely populated areas. A survey was conducted among people living in areas which meet the criteria set out for basic levels of public transport provision for the Västra Götaland Region, Sweden. Mixed methods were employed in the collection and analysis of the survey data. The links between socio-economic, socio-demographic, time constraints, and accessibility and transport-related characteristics on the one hand and suppressed travel combined with activity participation levels on the other were examined. Our findings indicate that the current provision levels play a limited role in delivering (sufficient) accessibility, with many reports of personal adaptive strategies and forgone trips. We found that young people were significantly more likely to report suppressed travel. We propose recommendations for the improvement of public transport-based accessibility in such contexts.