ITS Monday: Edition 11, 2023

We don’t need an array of pricey policies to reduce emissions from vehicles, just one good one

Co-authored by Marion Terrill and Natasha Bradshaw, both of The Grattan Institute. “An emissions ceiling is the most effective solution and costs far less than the fringe benefits tax exemption on EVs.”

Related iMOVE projects: Electric vehicles: Supporting uptake, investigating smart charging and Innovative road network pricing models

Talking Headways Podcast: Fixing Mobility as a Service

Professor David Hensher interviewed on a US-based podcast, in which amongst other things he discusses the idea of Mobility as a Feature.

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

The end of thermal cars: why electric vehicles aren’t a silver bullet

From The Conversation, this article looks at the state of play of EV policies and needs in Europe. “The end of the internal combustion engine car in 2035 should not be synonymous with their systematic replacement by electric cars, but rather with a profound questioning of the place of the vehicle in our daily lives.”

A wolf in sheep’s clothing: Exposing the structural violence of private electric automobility

A provocative title for an academic paper! Keyvan Hosseini and Agnieszka Stefaniec are the authors, both from the Centre for Transport Research, Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland. “The strategy of private automobility electrification does not look beyond the problem of tailpipe emissions and hence cannot eliminate the deficiencies of the car-dependent system that require system-wide solutions, such as traffic congestion and road accidents. Prioritising this strategy not only maintains existing inequities but also increases social injustice and delays the implementation of more effective interventions.”

Saving public transportation is going to require ‘fast, frequent and reliable’ service

“As the current debate in New York over how to fund the Metropolitan Transportation Authority clearly shows, public transportation is in trouble. Ridership crashed during the pandemic and still has yet to fully recover, and it’s not just New York City that’s suffering. Cities all over the country are dealing with funding gaps and struggling to figure out how to get riders back. Is it just inevitable that public transportation in the U.S. will eventually collapse and disappear?”

Tackling London’s sexist roads: Why it’s time for a safe cycle network

“On International Women’s Day 2023, Georgia Corr, Public Policy Manager – UK & Ireland at Lime, and Eilidh Murray, Chair of Trustees at London Cycling Campaign, consider the reasons why only a third of cycling trips in London are made by women, despite the number of people cycling in the City of London having increased, and outline what can be implemented throughout the city in order to make the roads safer and more equitable for female cyclists.”

Related iMOVE project: Safer cycling and street design: A guide for policymakers

Electrifying ferries can help us leverage crucial waterways while reducing emissions

“Ferries are a critical transportation method for many communities near bodies of water. How can we make them more sustainable?”

Tracking parking search and occupancy in Zurich

“This article describes how parking search times and occupancy in a highly attractive area in central Zurich (Switzerland) develop on a weekday morning when a farmer’s market takes place on Bürkliplatz, a central market place inside the study area. Individual vehicles were tracked by bike, drivers were interviewed about their parking behaviour and their route was tracked using GPS. Additionally, the parking occupancy was registered every fifteen minutes during a five-hour time period. A connection between market opening hours and parking dynamics within the perimeter was observed. Drivers usually overestimate their parking search duration.”

Related iMOVE projects: Parking management in the smart mobility age and Brisbane parking management: An integrated, strategic approach

Personal e-scooters given the green light to join controversial trial

A two-pronged news piece about e-scooters in Melbourne. The first is that the share scooter suppliers Lime and Nueron have had their trials for the 2,500 scooters deployed across the Melbourne, Yarra and Port Phillip council areas extended by another six months. Secondly, as of 5 April 2023, private e-scooters are now legal on Melbourne roads … with power limits, and the legal ride age has dropped from 18 to 16 years old. The article contains more details on speed limits and other legal and safety concerns.

Also, here’s the media release from Victorian Government: E-Scooter Trial Extended Across Victoria