Assessing progress towards achieving the transport dimension of the SDGs in China

Transport is an important service industry in the national economy. Sustainable transport is central to sustainable development. Currently, investigating the sustainable development process and trade-offs in China's transport sector is urgent. In this study, 11 transport indicators were selected and constructed for the sustainable development goals (SDGs) under the UN indicator framework. The scores of each indicator were calculated, and spatiotemporal patterns and interactions were analyzed. The results revealed that China's transport infrastructure performed well in large transportation volumes and guaranteed traffic safety and strict land use control, with scores above 75. However, China's transport sector currently faces a challenge in using clean energy, and a more balanced development of bus ownership among the provinces is expected. The interaction analysis revealed three pairs of indicators with synergy (ρ > 0.5), but both the significant negative and positive relationships among the selected indicators accounted for approximately half, indicating the development of sustainable transport in China would move in zigzags. Road accessibility was an indicator interacting with most sustainable transport indicators. We suggest that more SDG indicators with indirect impacts should be included in future sustainable transport research.