Transport
Young parents' access to transport and services
Young parents face all the challenges of getting around with small children but often without a car and with a lower income than other parents. Many programs aim to get young parents involved in services and activities but transport remains a huge barrier. VCOSS spoke to young parents and people who work with them around the state to find out what needs to happen to make it easier for young parents to get around.
A report detailing young parents’ concerns and recommendations was completed in December 2007.
Below is a short summary of the report:
The report surveyed 45 mums aged under 25 between March and June 2007 around Melbourne and in Albury-Wodonga and Geelong. A number of interviews were also conducted with young mums’ group facilitators, team leaders and representatives from other community service organisations.
Young women with children have several characteristics associated with transport disadvantage - they are young, female, carers and are more likely to be on low incomes. Young women who experience disadvantage are more likely to have children earlier than their peers and young motherhood remains a strong indicator of disadvantage.
It is important therefore to understand how young mums experience transport issues and use their local knowledge to develop transport solutions which will work for them. The views of young mums also reflect the issues that many carers with young children experience in getting around.
The most significant transport issues identified by the report related to the physical inaccessibility of the public transport system. The barriers presented by inaccessible vehicles were exacerbated in many cases by policies (in some areas) that require parents to fold prams before entering the bus, and by bus drivers failing to provide assistance. These issues in particular were the cause of a great deal of distress, and in some cases, decisions not to use bus services at all. Given the heavy reliance on buses for public transport service delivery to most of Melbourne, as well as rural and regional areas, these are important issues to be addressed.
