ITS Monday: Edition 37, 2023

High court strikes down Victoria’s electric vehicle tax in ruling that could threaten other state levies

This week’s decision by the High Court of Australia to rule that the “… imposition of a tax by the Victorian government per kilometre ​driven (by electric vehicles) was unconstitutional because the states do not have the power to impose such excise taxes on consumption” certainly generated a bit of newsprint last Thursday! And as mentioned in a few of those new articles this decision will affect upcoming plans of NSW and WA to impose a similar EV-only tax.

There’s more details about the ruling, and opinions of transport industry players at the link above, and at It’s good the High Court overturned Victoria’s questionable EV tax. But there’s a sting in the tail and ‘Caught everyone off guard’: High Court zaps state electric vehicle tax.

One of these articles closes as follows:

The Electric Vehicle Council’s chief executive, Behyad Jafari, said there is “nothing inherently wrong with road user charges, but they should never be calibrated to discourage the take up of electric vehicles”.

“Any road user charge scheme should be national and we now look forward to working with the federal government on sensible road funding reform, without singling out drivers who are trying to do the right thing.”

As mentioned in these articles this ruling certainly invites more debate about a now national decision on the topic of appropriate pricing mechanism for the use of the road network.

Related iMOVE content: Road pricing reform: a thorny issue

Transit Fleet Electrification Barriers, Resolutions and Costs

Staying on the topic of the electrification of vehicles, this new paper “… synthesises insights from a workshop on fleet electrification at the 2023 Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting, which included participants from transit agencies, national labs, industry, government and academia. Participants identified barriers to fleet electrification including lack of knowledge on fleet electrification, high utility demand charges, lack of charging infrastructure, delays in grid infrastructure upgrades and high up-front costs.”

Related iMOVE content: The Conductor Series: The electrification of transport

More Australians head back to the office and most prefer Thursday or Friday, study finds

This article reports results from the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies‘ 2023 Transport Opinion Survey, in particular regarding changes in people’s Working from Home habits. Numbers in the survey show that in September workers spent 21% of their week working from home, down from 27% in March. “We suspect this has got to do a lot with the pressure big companies are placing on professionals to come into the office,” said Professor David Hensher.

What public transport use tells us about post-pandemic life in NZ’s biggest city

“The recurring headline in Auckland has been about public transport patronage rising to near pre-Covid levels – 90% on the buses – but the detailed view tells a story of how different our lives are now.”

‘People are happier in a walkable neighborhood’: the US community that banned cars

The tale of the Arizona town of Culdesac, the first “car-free neighbourhood built from scratch in the modern US”.

“On a 17-acre site that once contained a car body shop and some largely derelict buildings, an unusual experiment has emerged that invites Americans to live in a way that is rare outside of fleeting experiences of college, Disneyland or trips to Europe: a walkable, human-scale community devoid of cars.”

Assessing the risks of crediting alternative fuels in Europe’s CO2 standards for trucks and buses

“The European Parliament and the Council of the EU are currently discussing modifications to the European Commission’s proposal to revise the CO2 standards for trucks and buses, the main legislative file to reduce emissions from the heavy-duty sector in the EU until 2050. These modifications include plans to introduce the crediting of alternative fuels towards a vehicle’s certified CO2 emissions. This study assesses the proposed mechanisms and identifies potential risks that would dilute the climate benefits of the Commission’s proposal.”

Related iMOVE article: Alternative Fuels Info, Projects & Resources

Los Angeles Metro Tests Universal Basic Mobility Program

“A newly unveiled pilot program at L.A. Metro gives $150 a month to 1,000 residents to be used for transportation across the region’s public and private networks. The program is similar to work being done in some other major cities.”

Related iMOVE content: Mobility as a Service in Australia

Pittsburgh’s MovePGH experiment is over, but it could still shape the city

The article above about the Los Angeles Metro Universal Basic Mobility Program mentions that it is, “similar to work being done in some other major cities.” One such US city was Pittsburgh and its MovePGH program.

“DOMI expects to release a final report on the MovePGH initiative in the next few weeks, Montaño said. She added it would be premature to comment on the program’s successes or challenges, or conjecture about future mobility decisions in the city.”

npj Sustainable Mobility and Transport

Last, but not least this week, is the announcement of a new journal from the Nature stable, npj Sustainable Mobility and Transport, open now for submissions.

“npj Sustainable Mobility and Transport is an online, open-access journal publishing impactful and high-quality research that explores and supports the transition from current mobility systems towards more inclusive and sustainable transport and mobility solutions. We envision a future where transportation systems, both for passengers and freight, have substantially reduced negative environmental impacts while still fulfilling their fundamental function of promoting economic and social development. To support this transition, the journal adopts an interdisciplinary perspective, incorporating various fields such as engineering, social sciences, environmental sciences, urban sciences, and behavioral sciences. Research published in the journal is related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals in particular 3, 9, and 11.”

Click through on the link for more details, including how to submit papers, and how to apply to join its editorial team.

Related iMOVE article: Sustainable Transportation