ITS Monday: Edition 36, 2023
A small collection of curated content from the worlds of intelligent transport systems, smart mobility, and associated areas.
Included this week, a loading dock planning tool, road use charges, walkable neighbourhoods and health, Australian commuting distances, and more.
The article headlines below are:
- A planning tool for improving the provision of loading docks
- Tolling and price setting
- Towards Net Zero Emissions Freight Policy
- Stockholm to ban petrol and diesel cars from centre from 2025
- On-road enforcement for automated vehicles
- Walkable neighborhoods associated with lower risk of some cancers – study
- Play Streets
- When was the last time you caught a bus?
- How do commuting distances vary across Australian cities?
- ‘They pay for themselves’: why more Australian families are ditching cars for e-bikes
And just in case you hadn’t caught it yet, we have a recent series of interviews with transport professionals – Effects of COVID on the transport sector – what they see now, what they would like to happen post-pandemic, and what they think will happen. If you’d like to be join this conversation, drop us a line!
NEW: All things Sustainable Transportation (not to mention all the other Transport Topics)
This week’s articles
Now, scroll down, and see what’s in this week’s edition. Oh, and before you do, be sure check out the quickest way to receive our new content via the subscription box just below …
A planning tool for improving the provision of loading docks
A new paper, written by Michael Stokoe, Khalid Aljohani, R.G. Thompson. “For freight and servicing movements entering a city, parking provides the access enabling service to customers. This will invariably occur on the street in parking spots or in modern buildings in off-street facilities. In light of changing urban planning priorities and as a result, declining on-street loading zone spaces, this paper explores the provision and challenges of off-street loading docks to support freight and servicing task activity in major urban centres. While it may not be fully appreciated, provisions to adequately accommodate a city’s generated freight task is critical to urban planner’s broader objectives. As a non-discretionary transport task, freight vehicles will continue to enter cities. If good off-street loading dock facilities are not provided, vehicles will seek out legitimate or illegal on-street parking, and urban planner’s place making objectives are likely to be compromised.”
This paper emanates from the iMOVE project, Evaluating loading dock capacity in new developments, with a progress report for that project available at Evaluating loading dock capacity in new developments.
READ THE ARTICLEThe text of Professor David Hensher‘s submission to the NSW Government’s review of tolls and their structure across the toll network in Sydney.
Related iMOVE PhD project: Innovative road network pricing models
READ THE ARTICLETowards Net Zero Emissions Freight Policy
The recently-published Towards Net Zero Emissions Freight Policy paper is available at this link. “We know that freight is responsible for a significant amount of transport emissions. The transport sector is the second highest emitter of greenhouse gases in the NSW economy, with the bulk of freight emissions from the road freight sector. To ensure the future sustainability of the freight transport sector and to help achieve the NSW Government’s commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, we have identified ways to work with industry to reduce the sector’s carbon emissions.”
Related iMOVE content: FACTS: A Framework for an Australian Clean Transport Strategy
READ THE ARTICLEStockholm to ban petrol and diesel cars from centre from 2025
“Stockholm has announced plans to become the first big capital city to ban petrol and diesel cars from its centre, in an effort to slash pollution and reduce noise. From 2025, 20 blocks of Stockholm’s inner city area, spanning its finance and main shopping districts, will be restricted to electric vehicle traffic only. A decision on whether to expand the zone will be made in early 2025.”
READ THE ARTICLEOn-road enforcement for automated vehicles
Australia’s National Transport Commission is looking to develop “… a nationally consistent approach to on-road enforcement for automated vehicles (AVs). Through this work, we are exploring how state and territory law enforcement officers may interact with and respond to the road safety risks associated with AVs.”
Available at the link are several downloadable documents including NTC’s policy positions on AVs, plus papers on law enforcement and AVs.
Related iMOVE articles: Autonomous Driving Info, Projects & Resources and Autonomous Driving Technology
READ THE ARTICLEWalkable neighborhoods associated with lower risk of some cancers – study
An article about a new academic paper, Long-Term Exposure to Walkable Residential Neighborhoods and Risk of Obesity-Related Cancer in the New York University Women’s Health Study (NYUWHS).
“Urban planning is related to the health of individuals,” said Sandra India-Aldana, the report’s lead author and a researcher at the Icahn School of Medicine in New York. “Improving built environments can promote healthy habits that protect people from obesity-related disease.”
Related iMOVE article: Active Transport
READ THE ARTICLE“A Play Street is a simple concept, it is a quiet residential street where children and neighbours of all ages connect and play together on the street, without car traffic, normally lasting 2-3 hours. Play Streets are not large-scale community events, they are small-scale gatherings for neighbours, ideally coordinated by residents themselves.”
Available at the link is Merri-bek City Council’s Play Streets Toolkit.
Related iMOVE project: Your Street, Your Say: Better streets for Darebin
READ THE ARTICLEWhen was the last time you caught a bus?
A 50-minute recording of ABC’s The Conversation Hour program. “Over 80% of Melburnians live within a 5-minute walk of a bus stop, yet only 1 in 3 consider occasionally travelling by bus. There are more than 400 bus routes across Melbourne, but most people don’t even know where their local bus route goes. In this edition of The Conversation Hour we explore why our bus system is under utilised.”
READ THE ARTICLEHow do commuting distances vary across Australian cities?
Chris Loader’s latest Charting Transport article. “Having previously analysed commuting distances in Melbourne and Victoria, this post turns attention to other Australian cities. I’ll answer questions such as: Where are there longer commutes? What might explain differences in commute distances? How long are commutes in outer urban growth areas in different cities?”
READ THE ARTICLE‘They pay for themselves’: why more Australian families are ditching cars for e-bikes
“As electric bike uptake grows and rental companies spread across Australia, advocates call for more bike lanes and financial incentives.”
Related iMOVE project: Safer cycling and street design: A guide for policymakers
READ THE ARTICLEDiscover more from iMOVE Australia Cooperative Research Centre | Transport R&D
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