ITS Monday: Edition 14, 2020

Road toll worse than last year despite COVID-19 traffic slump

In previous editions of ITS Monday we’ve linked to articles detailing how much of a decrease there has been in road traffic, and public transport patronage. But in Victoria, there’s a number that isn’t dropping – the road toll.

The COVID-19 crisis could show us how to cure our congested cities

There’s a few articles on this theme this week – congestion has dropped due to COVID-19, it will be back, what might we learn… It is of course an area that concerns cities across the world. This article has been written by someone within the Boston Consulting Group, and has a US focus.

There’s no better time for cities to take space away from cars

‘The coronavirus pandemic presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for cities to remake their streets by taking space away from cars and giving it to pedestrians and bicyclists — permanently.’ This article takes a look at what’s happening in a few cities across the world.

Toronto, Vancouver look into closing roads to traffic to create space for social distancing

Another article along the theme of road closures, this one telling the tale from a Canadian perspective.

Traffic jams are contagious. Understanding how they spread can help make them less common

This is by Meead Saberi, Senior Lecturer at the University of NSW. The subject of this article is contained in its opening: ‘Traffic jams may have disappeared from our roads as people stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic, but we can be confident they will be back. Scientists have studied traffic and congestion for decades.’

Sustainable MaaS: the changing face of public transit

By John Nuutinen, CEO at SkedGo. This article makes a strong argument for acknowledging that yes, these are difficult times, but it’s not a time to stop planning for what’s ahead. This is an article on Linkedin, so it may require you to login to read.

SkedGo, by the way, is one of the participants in our MaaS trial in Sydney project.

Build cities for bikes, buses, and feet—not cars

‘San Francisco’s MTA boss Jeff Tumlin is one of a new breed of planner trying to kick cars out of the city. That’s good for business, good for people, and amazing for the planet.’ It’s a long-ish read, but a good one.

‘Cherish the bicycle’ says Dutch government — here’s that love in map form

This article kicks off with a startling graphic – the density of cycleways in Northern Europe. The article provides a history of how it came to be in the Netherlands, a snapshot of bicycle ownership and usage, and more.

Bikespot 2020: How safe do you feel?

‘Victoria is still striving to become a world-class cycling location. A lack of safety is the major barrier to people getting on their bikes. How it feels to ride a bicycle has an impact on people’s willingness to ride. BikeSpot 2020 provides the opportunity for all Victorians to share their perceptions of cycling safety and help develop new insights for the prioritisation of cycling safety improvements.’

The public is invited to mark unsafe spots on a map, and to make comments upon the posted spots.

Innovating streets for people

From our friends at the New Zealand Transport Agency. This ‘program aims to make it faster and easier to transition our streets to safer and more liveable spaces.’ Click through to what’s driving the program, a project roadmap, case studies, resources, and more.