More buses in underprivileged areas better bang for buck than new transport projects, Australian research finds

Report finds state governments are failing to calculate financial benefits such as lower crime, increased employment and improved social inclusion

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FIncreasing the frequency of local bus routes in underprivileged suburbs can provide a better return on taxpayer investment “by a considerable margin” than projects such as Melbourne’s suburban rail loop, researchers have found.

According to the paper by researchers at the University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne, state governments in Australia are far more likely to spend billions on major infrastructure projects such as highways and new rail lines than smaller projects because the time savings they deliver are easier to quantify, which makes it easier to attract political support.

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