Professor Jago Dodson, an urban policy expert at Melbourne's RMIT University, said governments needed to consider whether subsidised public transport would benefit those who really needed it. The evidence on public transport use also suggested people choose it when it's convenient and goes where they want to, rather than based on price.

"It would only be in the more extreme examples of cost pressure where people would switch to public transport, where they're prepared to forego their time in either waiting for the bus or being delayed on a bus that travels slower than a car would travel for the same journey because they really need to make that cost saving," Professor Dodson said.

While Professor Dodson said a Commonwealth fuel excise cut was more appropriate for responding to current price shocks than free public transport, he said the federal government should consider a higher ongoing excise to send a signal to households they should buy fuel efficient cars and switch to public and active travel modes, such as cycling and walking, in the longer term.

Concessions should be in place for low-income earners to protect them from the full impact of higher fuel taxes, he said.

"State and territory governments should be putting in much greater effort to transition urban travel away from the automobile, to walking and cycling, and this could be an opportunity for them to make greater effort given the price shocks," he said.

The ACT government on Wednesday used its numbers on the floor of the Legislative Assembly to amend an opposition motion that called for six weeks of free public transport in response to cost-of-living pressures in the ACT, driven primarily by high fuel costs.

Transport Minister Chris Steel pointed to a Productivity Commission report which considered public transport fare prices and found making services free could increase crowding and congestion on buses and trains unless operators put on extra services, a move that was unaffordable due to foregone revenue.

"Making public transport free would further reduce revenues by around $1.2 million a month [in the ACT], which could only undermine the quality and sustainability of services in the longer term," Mr Steel said.

The government's amended motion said it would "consider the strategic and time-limited use of free public transport when there is network capacity to accommodate a potential increase in passengers and this is most likely to drive behaviour change - such as during the upcoming disruption associated with raising London Circuit and light rail".

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The government also committed to returning to its full timetable of services as soon as possible, but government members argued in the chamber rolling staffing shortages as a result of the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 meant it was not yet possible to do so.

Opposition transport spokesman Mark Parton said he could not believe the government's argument about the interim timetable and staffing issues, because the number of drivers employed by the ACT government had increased since it last operated the full timetable.

The ACT Council of Social Service again called on the government to run a cost-benefit analysis on free public transport, with the council's chief executive, Dr Emma Campbell, saying free public transport would have a significant impact for people on low incomes and others experiencing disadvantage.

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