Last mile commute: An integral sustainability component for passengers accessibility within city's transport fabric

• Published in: Cities 2022-06, Vol.125, p.103667, Article 103667
• Main Author: Razak, Sherif Yinka
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Access; Bicycles; Cities; Commuting; Cross-sectional studies; Data; Infrastructure; Intervention; Last mile commute; Non-motorized transport; Passenger accessibility; Passengers; Rapidly urbanizing cities; Sustainability; Sustainable transport; Transport costs; Transportation; Walking; Walking and cycling infrastructure
• ISSN: 0264-2751; 1873-6084
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2022.103667

Increasingly, the clamour for transit solutions that integrate last mile commute infrastructure has assumed relevance in the discourse on sustainable transport. This paper examines the debate/argument surrounding the current practice where transit infrastructure intervention in cities majorly terminates at transit stations with little consideration to the relevant non-motorized transport infrastructure which links commuters to the final phase of commute, including specific focus on investigating the costs and impacts associated with the inconvenient and un-safe access to transit stations. It argues that there is a disproportionately high transport costs expended on motorized last mile commute due to the lack of non-motorized safe segregated walking or cycling infrastructure. This paper is premised upon a cross-sectional study of a Case City Abuja-Nigeria, where it explored both qualitative and quantitative data sets to demonstrate the suggested lack of priority to non-motorized last mile commute infrastructure. The empirical investigation elicited evidence which supports the argument that the existing last mile commute situation in Abuja is associated with disproportionately high transport cost incurred by commuters, due to the lack of priority to last mile commute infrastructure. The author therefore draws conclusion that last mile commute is a concrete theme in achieving efficient passenger accessibility especially in rapidly urbanizing global south cities. •This paper examined the debate surrounding the practice where transit infrastructure majorly terminate at transit stations•The study is framed around the concept of commuters’ accessibility focusing on non-motorized last mile transport mode•This paper builds on earlier studies by distilling the various research designs to develop understanding of last mile commute•The findings explained flaws in the urban planning policy in terms of the sprawling spatial pattern of commuters’ residences•The findings provide a pointer to a hybrid solution of TOD strategy, Complete Street policy and last mile infrastructure