Access to public transport plays a critical role in creating inclusive, sustainable cities. SDG Indicator 11.2.1—Urban Access to Public Transport—focuses on how well urban residents can connect to public transport services, influencing social equity, environmental sustainability, and economic opportunity. This post explores the data from the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University through a visualization created by the Asian Transport Outlook. The dashboard provides an insightful way to explore urban access patterns and identify gaps in public transport networks.

The visual in the dashboard shows the estimated percentage of the population having convenient access to public transport in the y-axis and the urban population in the x-axis (which is also emphasized through the size of the circles). You can select on a sub-region, or directly select a country or a city.

The proportion of an urban centre’s population that has convenient access to public transport refers to the percentage of the population estimated to be within 500 meters of a low-capacity public transport point or 1,000 meters of a high capacity public transport point using open street maps. As a part of the 2023 release by SEDAC (NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center), this indicator offers a global benchmark to assess transport equity and inform urban planning efforts. Reliable access to public transport enhances sustainable mobility and reduces reliance on private vehicles, which contributes to climate change mitigation.

Here are some quick insights:

• Overall, Asian urban centres represent 55% of the 5,558 urban centres in the dataset. Asian urban centres represent 57% of the population in urban centres accounted for in the dataset (over 2.3 billion).
• The Asian urban centres have a lower average (29%) proportion of people in urban centres which have convenient access to public transport, compared to the global average of 36%.
• The centres in the Pacific sub-region seem to do well (perhaps due to the distribution of populations in urbanized centres) (59% on average). Urban centres in Central and West Asia have the lowest average percentage in Asia.
• There also seem to be a correlation between income classification and the indicator, as the average goes up based on the income classification (based on national values).

Where is your city at? Do you wish to see other visualisations and tools such as this? Drop us a line!