ITS Monday: Edition 10, 2021

The perception of access in Sydney

A new paper by David Levinson, co-authored with Louise Aoustin. The abstract: Based on a survey of 197 Sydneysiders, this study shows residents overestimated the attractiveness of the city centre compared to the entire metropolitan area, as well as the number of jobs they can reach from home. They also overestimated travel times compared to Google Maps, especially for travel times by car.

Minister says White Bay is a test case for Sydney’s new vision

There’s been plans to do something for quite some time now with the land that houses the decommissioned power station at White Bay, but all have come to nought. Now, a new plan, a new vision. But not certainty to happen, as the opening paragraph in this article lays out: ‘It’s an ambitious plan, and perhaps the only certainty is the expectation of more than a little blow-back along the way, but according to NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes, “it has to be done”.’

Baraja raises $40m to make driverless vehicles see better

‘The Sydney-based makers of a light detection and ranging system (LiDAR) for autonomous vehicles, has raised $40 million to accelerate development, including strategic investment from a global construction machinery giant.’

Kiwis urged to swap the car for a cycle, walk or scoot on short trips

In NZ, some data, observations, and hopes generated by a survey by the Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority (EECA). ‘Kiwis are being urged to rethink how they use cars, as new research reveals six in 10 people don’t know their car use is likely to be the biggest contributor to their carbon footprint. This comes at a time when Kiwis are owning more cars than ever before as more than 3.3 million cars are on the road, with nearly of third of their trips less than two kilometres.’

City council to lose $3m bikeway funding after rejecting latest plan

‘The State Government will take back $3 million in bikeway funding granted to Adelaide City Council and spend it on other transport projects in the CBD, after the council last night voted to scrap long-touted plans for an east-west cycling route.’

Navigation apps are becoming a threat to road safety (beyond distraction)

A paper from CARRS-Q’s (Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety-Queensland) Oscar Oviedo-Trespalacios and Barry Watson. ‘Recently, navigation apps such as Google Maps and Waze allow drivers to view and share information showing the location of speed cameras and other police operations along their route. This feature is available in 40+ countries,6 which raises three key concerns. First, the audio alerts can interrupt drivers and encourage them to use their devices while driving, to report and/or confirm the location of the police enforcement. A large body of evidence now confirms that mobile phone distractions while driving are risky and can have life-threatening consequences.’