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Understanding Transport Affordability: A Key to Equitable Mobility
- ImAFUSA
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
With the ImAFUSA Project concluding on 28/2/2026, the following post was written by the ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon to provide an overview of their work and results in the project.
What is transport affordability & why does it matter?
Transport affordability is the percentage of household income devoted to transport expenses. When a large percentage of a household's income is required for travel expenses, then travel access barriers can be created, in particular for lower-income households, rural communities, and individuals with disabilities.
Therefore, this simple metric can highlight social equity and sustainable mobility implications.
As drone services and other emerging transport modes are introduced in the mobility market, affordability can be used to ensure that these new modes are also financially accessible, and consider existing transport inequalities.
Why does affordability matter now?
Transport services can become costly due to infrastructure and capital costs, operational expenses (i.e. fuel and labour), underutilised services (empty return trips), environmental fees, and geographic issues in remote areas.
The critical question becomes whether individuals in different income brackets will be able to afford these services.
This is particularly urgent for low-income households, as if advanced air mobility services become unaffordable for individuals who rely on public transportation (lower-income, rural households, or differently-abled individuals etc.), transport inequality will be exacerbated.
How do we measure affordability?
Transport affordability is measured by taking average monthly transport expenditure (distance-based costs, trip-based costs, subscriptions), dividing it by average monthly household income, and then expressing it as a percentage.
This creates a quantifiable measure of the economic impact of transportation services on household budgets.
Once calculated, affordability is then examined across income brackets to help planners and policymakers assess whether services are accessible and identify transport poverty risk.
A real-world example
Consider an elderly household in Portugal, earning €1500 per month – which is considered an above average income level for the country (Eurostat, 2021) – that requires the delivery of medication four times monthly via drone, with an average cost of €25 per delivery.
This represents 6.7% of their monthly income, considered within the "affordable" category. However, if the household could access a subsidised local pharmacy courier at €5 per delivery twice monthly, combined with two drone deliveries, the total affordability could drop to 4%.
This demonstrates how subsidies and mixed-mode strategies can improve accessibility.
Patterns worth watching
Analysis of recent literature, statistics of household incomes across Europe and estimations of monthly costs for emerging transport modes vs. conventional ones, reveals important patterns.
Drone services are likely affordable for middle and high-income users travelling a few times monthly. However, low-income users or frequent users could face unaffordability, unless subsidies are introduced.
Passenger drones remain expensive unless subsidised or used sparingly, while public transport tends to be affordable for households earning below €1000 monthly. Walking, cycling, and ridesharing are other viable low-cost alternatives.
Looking ahead
The future seems promising, as drone technology scales and shared delivery models improve through multi-drop routes and automation, allowing for price-per-delivery to decrease significantly.
Consequently, transport systems could be built to be more efficient, environmentally sustainable, and equitable, with affordability becoming an enabler for all income groups.
Key takeaways
Affordability analysis is essential for creating inclusive mobility, to ensure cost-efficient and equitable deployment of new technologies. By measuring the affordability, a better understanding is created of which services remain accessible across different income brackets, using it as a tool to simulate subsidies and pricing adjustments.
Transport affordability is not just another indicator, it is the foundation for building sustainable and equitable mobility systems.
References
Eurostat. Mean and median income by household type, ILC_DI04. Parameters selected: Type of household: Two adults, at least one aged 65 years or over; Income and living conditions indicator: Mean equivalised net income; Time: 2021; Unit of measure: Euro, Time frequency: Annual
