ITS Monday: Edition 12, 2023

Rising prices hurt public confidence in transport

A snapshot of findings from the 2023 edition of the Institute of Transport and Logistics‘ Transport Opinion Survey. “The March 2023 survey was conducted between March 1-9, collecting responses from 1,029 adults on topics including their income, expenses, public and private transport use, and transport infrastructure.”

Australia hits peak ‘return to office’, transport experts say

Another look at the ITLS 2023 Transport Survey, with quotes from David Hensher, accompanied by graphs from the report.

iMOVE has a dedicated page on all things Working From Home. See also the first published final report from our suite of WFH projects, downloadable from COVID and Working from Home: How has it impacted transport?

Mobility as a feature (MaaF): rethinking the focus of the second generation of mobility as a service (MaaS)

A new paper by Professor David Hensher and Sampo Hietanen. “Recognising that transport and travel are derived demand constructs, mobility offers should be seen as an input into a larger activity-based paradigm of service delivery. This service-delivery-paradigm offers a wide range of non-transport mobility services that are essential to customers, and we argue that it is in this service delivery setting that transport integration might flourish. We call this Mobility as a Feature (MaaF) as a nice way of moving away from a dominating multi-modal perspective to a multi-service perspective.”

For more on MaaS, visit iMOVE’s MaaS in Australia page.

What can the 2021 census tell us about commuting to work in Australia’s big CBDs during the COVID19 pandemic?

The latest from Chris Loader’s Charting Transport blog. “So what might be the new normal in a post-pandemic work for commuting to our CBDs? Will people shift from public to private transport, driving up traffic congestion? How many – and what sorts of people – might work from home? This post will try to shed some light on those questions by examining what the 2021 Australian census can tell us about how travel to our CBDs altered during the COVID19 pandemic, particularly the differences between locked-down and COVID-free cities. I’ll look at patterns and trends by age, occupation, and commuting distance.”

A Systematic Review of the Role of Land Use, Transport, and Energy-Environment Integration in Shaping Sustainable Cities

A new paper by Dorsa Alipour and Professor Hussein Dia of the Swinburne University of Technology. “Land use, transport, and energy-environment integration (LUTEI) is receiving considerable attention as an elaborate approach to improving urban resilience. Research evidence on this multidisciplinary topic tends to be fragmented, hindering constructive analysis of its role in shaping sustainable cities. This paper addresses this by undertaking a holistic systematic review to consolidate diverse perspectives.”

Warning of ‘carmageddon’ in push to limit car parking in developments

“In a major new report, Infrastructure Victoria said the change to car-parking requirements would improve choice and affordability of new homes in established areas close to good public transport.”

Related iMOVE project: Brisbane parking management: An integrated, strategic approach

Exploring a quantitative assessment approach for car dependence: A case study in Munich

“This study aims to quantitatively evaluate car dependence in Munich after merging these three aspects—car use, ownership, and lack of public transportation—and identify its associated potential spatial predictors.”

Why traffic studies are ‘junk science’ — And why we rely on them anyway

“Land use experts Kenneth Stahl and Kristina Currans explored why “Traffic Impact Analyses,” or TIAs, hold so much sway over U.S. planning decisions, despite the fact that countless examples have shown that most of them wildly overestimate future car travel.”

The overlooked transport project planning process — What happens before selecting the Locally Preferred Alternative?

A new paper from University of Sydney’s Yadi Wang and David Levinson. “This study investigates the transport investment decision process of judging the robustness and viability of the selected option compared with the rejected alternatives.”

Australia should catch more electric buses, study finds

“A “pitifully small number” of electric buses are operating on Australian roads, despite state government commitments to transition to zero-emission transport, a new study has found. The Australia Institute report, released on Wednesday, revealed that just 200 of almost 100,000 buses registered in Australia were electric, even though the vehicles were growing in popularity in China, Europe and North America.”

Transperth buses help spark WA PT bounce back

“The WA government says Transperth monthly bus patronage numbers have reached its highest level in three years, with a total of 11.1 million passengers using public transport in the state in February.”

Sydney train patronage shows Monday most popular day to work from home

Meanwhile over in Sydney, it’s public transport, in this case trains, have not had the bounce back that Perth is experiencing. “Three years after the COVID-19 restrictions were first put in place, new patronage figures for the state’s railways show that the pandemic has left a long-lasting mark on commuter behaviour. Trips taken on the rail network on Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays are at about 75 per cent of the levels before the pandemic but still significantly busier than Mondays and Fridays.”

iMOVE has a dedicated page on all things Working From Home. See also the first published final report from our suite of WFH projects, downloadable from COVID and Working from Home: How has it impacted transport?

Why EV conversions could become more mainstream for classic cars through to 4WD utes

Electric cars can be both difficult to acquire the ones you want (or need), and expensive. Some across the country are finding a way into them by retro-fitting retro vehicles with battery power.

Related iMOVE project: Electric vehicles: Supporting uptake, investigating smart charging

Gold Coast on-demand transport trial gits special milestone

In just its first year of of a two-year trial the On Demand Transport trial in the Gold Coast’s northern region has reached a milestone, with more than 50,000 trips taken since the service commenced.

Related iMOVE project: Community transport: Defining the problems, fixing the future (final report)

‘A divisive form of transport’: Sydney’s cycling wars head to Oxford Street

“The NSW government is planning to more than double the amount of dedicated bicycle lanes in Sydney in the next five years, despite objections from local businesses and residents worried about construction impacts and the loss of car parking.” Sigh. In regard to he comments regarding divisiveness in this article … the numbers are well and truly in on the value add to local business when active transport is given a boost in what was a car-heavy precinct.

Related iMOVE project: Safer cycling and street design: A guide for policymakers (final report)

The e-scooter loophole that left crash victim struggling to get by

“A major law group says Victoria needs to expand compulsory third-party insurance for electric scooters to protect people injured in crashes, after the Andrews government last week extended its trial of e-scooters, giving two hire companies another six months’ operation and lifting a ban on riding privately owned devices on public roads.”

Changes in E-bike awareness and consideration for commute

“This paper examines changes in e-bike awareness and consideration among commuters to the University of California, Davis campus using data from an annual travel survey. The analysis shows that awareness of e-bikes increased among commuters while consideration declined between 2019 and 2021. Awareness significantly increased among staff and undergraduate students and also increased among those who feel safe biking to campus. Consideration declined significantly among undergraduate students and commuters who bike to campus or use other modes.”

While on-road driverless slows, ag-tech autonomy players are plowing ahead

An overview of recent developments in the world of autonomous farming vehicles.

Switching the world to renewable energy will cost $62 trillion, but the payback would take just 6 years

Last, but very much not least, this article should generate discussion!

“Mark Jacobson and his colleagues at Stanford University have published a new study in the journal Energy & Environmental Science that claims 145 of the world’s nations could switch to 100% renewable energy in a few years using renewable energy technologies available today. They recommend the world make the switchover by 2035, but in no event later than 2050. Their goal is to have 80% operating on renewable energy by 2030.

The cost of making the changeover to 100% renewable energy would be a staggering $62 trillion. Wow! That is a ton of money, people. But here’s the thing. Jacobson and his team say the savings from switching the world to 100% renewable energy would be $11 trillion a year.”