National Variable Pricing Matrix: Sustainable community transport

Addressing the need to make community transport (CT) sustainable and maintain quality, Australian Community Transport Association (ACTA) started working with its members and the Commonwealth government to devise a new way to determine the cost of CT, along with new policy settings, while also looking to identify innovation that would support sustainable CT.

The result was the National Variable Pricing Matrix (NVPM). It was pleasing to see that this has been achieved, but it has only tested with a small cohort of CT providers, in limited situations.

The aim of this project is to test and improve the cost and policy settings of the NVPM for community transport providers to ensure sustainability and quality post 2025. If this shows promise, develop a national implementation strategy.

Participants

• Australian Community Transport Association (ACTA)
• University of South Australia

Project background

CT is a general term used to describe many different transport services targeted at customers and markets that are unable to use traditional mass public transport services. These may include, among others, older adults, individuals with disabilities, and residents in regional and remote areas.

The nature of CT services can vary significantly, depending on the context. CT services may comprise community car services, community bus services, modified vehicles, or some combination of all.

While most CT operators offer demand-responsive services, some operate services on fixed routes and schedules. Some CT services are only offered to individuals who meet specific eligibility criteria in terms of demographic characteristics such as age, income, disability, and indigeneity. Other CT services even offer patient and medical transport for eligible customers.

CT services are considered a vital component of the transport ecosystem, enabling economic participation, supporting healthy communities, and reducing social isolation for vulnerable and disadvantaged transport user groups. CT services are usually funded through a patchwork of local, and state and federal government grants and subsidies.

However, the nature of such funding is frequently piecemeal and ad-hoc, with significant variations across different jurisdictions, which can compromise the quality of CT services and create intermittent disruptions in the provision and maintenance of these schemes.

The CT sector is financially unsustainable in its current form, and it is hard to define how to fund it to achieve outcomes and a sustainable operating model. The Australian Community Transport Association (ACTA) is the national peak body for the community transport sector working for the benefit of community transport services across Australia.

Founded in February 2011 and comprising representatives from all Australian states and territories, ACTA operates with a view to providing a national voice for the community transport sector. ACTA is a not-for-profit public company limited by guarantee which is established to be, and continue as, a charity.

To address the need to make community transport sustainable, ACTA started working with its members and the Commonwealth government to devise a new way to determine the cost of CT, along with new policy settings, while also looking to identify innovation that would support a sustainable business model for CT operators.

The result was the National Variable Pricing Matrix (NVPM). The NVPM has so far been tested with a small cohort of CT providers. The aim of this project is to undertake a more comprehensive national trial that will cover metro, region and remote communities, and make recommendations on changes to the current NPVM.

Project objectives

This study will have the following four inter-related objectives:

1. Design an evaluation framework that can be used to assess the impacts of the NVPM on the sustainability and quality of CT service offerings;
2. Undertake a trial of the NVPM with 35 CT operators across Australia, and use the evaluation framework to assess impacts in practice;
3. Identify changes or improvements to the NVPM to maximise the sustainability and quality of CT service offerings across different service contexts; and
4. Develop a national implementation plan that reflects the sector’s needs for a successful changeover.

Please note …

This page will be a living record of this project. As it matures, hits milestones, etc., we’ll continue to add information, links, images, interviews and more. Watch this space!