By 2030, provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, improving road safety, notably by expanding public transport, with special attention to the needs of those in vulnerable situations, women, children, persons with disabilities and older persons.

Indicator 11.2.1: Proportion of the population that has convenient access to public transport disaggregated by age group, sex and persons with disabilities

Public transport connects people and integrates  distant parts of the city. Restricted mobility is a fundamental component of social exclusion and a decisive factor in inequality and poverty. Insufficient mobility generates and reproduces new inequalities.The access to public transport is measured at city level. With substantial variations between cities, assessing progress at country level is complicated without a National Sample of Cities necessary to aggregate data.

Public transport requires urban patterns that promote efficient and equitable mobility for all. The quality of newly built areas of the cities has been in detriment over the past 30 years, making it very difficult for cities to expand public transport networks. Addressing the mobility challenge calls for a paradigm shift in urban planning, encouraging compact cities and a better provision of public space.

Safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable public transport can contribute to social equity

• Globally, walking accessibility to arterial roads, necessary for the provision of public transport, has drastically reduced - from 94 to 74 per cent - in urban areas built from 1960 to 1990
• In many developing countries formal public transport has deteriorated, meanwhile informal transport dominates service provision
• In 80 European Cities: 83 per cent of population has access to public transport. However it is estimated that only 66 per cent has access to convenient public transport