ITS Monday: Edition 13, 2026

Is the debate on Net Zero emission targets in Australia aligned with political preference bias?

This looks to be a meaty topic to kick off this week’s ITS Monday, It’s a working paper from the Institute of Trnsport and Logistics Studies, and is co-authored by David Hensher, Edward Wei, and William Greene. The abstract:

Net Zero emission targets have become a politically sensitive policy in many, but not all, countries. It is suggested that they are not achievable and are potentially misaligned with energy security as Net Zero becomes intertwined with the move towards renewables and away from fossil fuel energy sources, where the latter is widely seen as the baseload for many nations.

Australia is embroiled in a political debate on whether Net Zero as a target will achieve its emission objectives in the presence of escalating energy prices and uncertainty in respect of cost and damage to an economy, given a wealth of fossil fuel resources, as well as some support for nuclear power which currently is not sanctioned by the Federal government. There has been a lot of media attention to Net Zero (CO2) or greenhouse gas emissions, and it is unclear whether it is well understood, and what it might mean for Australia, given there are views that it is either a great idea or a bad idea.

This paper draws on a new survey in Australia to gain an appreciation of public understanding of Net Zero and what the public thinks it might mean for Australians, and how their preferences are aligned with support for political parties. We estimate a hybrid logit choice model of support for political parties that encapsulates the endogeneity of “soft” variables such as latent attitude variables that are driven by observable “causes,” and unobservable heterogeneity, which together with contextual and socioeconomic characteristics provide evidence on preference bias for or against Net Zero associated with political affiliation.

Related iMOVE article:

• FACTS: A Framework for an Australian Clean Transport Strategy
• The Conductor Series: The electrification of transport
• Sustainable Transportation: Info, projjects, and resources/

Related iMOVE projects:

• An afterlife ecosystem for electric vehicle batteries
• Leading the charge in bi-directional charging
• Utrecht to Australia: Unlocking scalable, low-cost V2G

The happy commuter: A comparison of commuter satisfaction across modes

A new academic paper, co-authored by Evelyne St-Louis, Kevin Manaugh, Dea van Lierop, and Ahmed El-Geneidy. The abstract:

Understanding how levels of satisfaction differ across transportation modes can be helpful to encourage the use of active as well as public modes of transportation over the use of the automobile. This study uses a large-scale travel survey to compare commuter satisfaction across six modes of transportation (walking, bicycle, automobile, bus, metro, commuter train) and investigates how the determinants of commuter satisfaction differ across modes.

The framework guiding this research assumes that external and internal factors influence satisfaction: personal, social, and attitudinal variables must be considered in addition to objective trip characteristics. Using ordinary least square regression technique, we develop six mode-specific models of trip satisfaction that include the same independent variables (trip and travel characteristics, personal characteristics, and travel and mode preferences).

We find that pedestrians, train commuters and cyclists are significantly more satisfied than drivers, metro and bus users. We also establish that determinants of satisfaction vary considerably by mode, with modes that are more affected by external factors generally displaying lower levels of satisfaction. Mode preference (need/desire to use other modes) affects satisfaction, particularly for transit users. Perceptions that the commute has value other than arriving at a destination significantly increases satisfaction for all modes.

Findings from this study provide a better understanding of determinants of trip satisfaction to transport professionals who are interested in this topic and working on increasing satisfaction among different mode users.

Kinetic secures five-year on-demand contract on the Gold Coast

“Australian bus and coach operator Kinetic has been awarded a long-term contract to deliver on-demand transport on the Gold Coast, with electric buses to be introduced to the network this year.”

Related iMOVE project:

• Building community transport: Gippsland eBus pilot lessons

Related iMOVE article

• Equity in Transportation: Info, projects, and resources