ITS Monday: Edition 39, 2022

Push to convert thousands of CBD parking spots into green space

“Ten thousand parking spots in Melbourne’s CBD would be turned into green spaces under a plan by RMIT researchers who say replacing asphalt with trees could bring people back to the city and kick-start its post-COVID recovery.” This article is via  recent RMIT research, published last week in npj Urban Sustainability, in the article titled Finding space for nature in cities: the considerable potential of redundant car parking.

Related iMOVE project: Your Street, Your Say: Better streets for Darebin

ULEZ: Ultra Low Emissions Zone to cover all of London

“London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) is to be expanded to cover all of London, the mayor has announced, despite “overwhelming” opposition. From 29 August, drivers of the most polluting cars will have to pay £12.50 a day to enter to the Greater London Authority boundary.”

Related iMOVE project: Developing a low/zero emission transport strategy for Australia

Road trip could deliver solar-powered cars

“A journey around Australia’s coast – and a mini-tornado – could help pioneer cheap and lightweight solar technology worldwide. Environmental advocate Stuart McBain finally returned to Newcastle this week after completing an epic 14,500 kilometre road trip around the country in an electric car.”

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

Car-sharing service to shake-up holidays

A new player in the share car biz has landed on Australian roads. That company is Turo, already in operation in the US, UK, Canada and France. “The Turo platform will also feature more electric vehicles than many of its competitors, Mr Rossanis said, with 18 per cent of cars listed on the platform powered by batteries, including models from Tesla and Polestar.”

Public transport use is still down on the Gold Coast — but don’t blame COVID or commuters

“The Gold Coast City Council’s annual transport snapshot has revealed residents are continuing to shy away from public services – patronage is down 35 per cent compared to pre-COVID levels.” The reasons, according to Griffith University City Research Institute deputy director Matthew Burke, are “poor land-use planning and financial incentives.”

City of Darwin 2030 Movement Strategy

A direct link to Darwin’s first ever movement strategy, its aim to ” to make it easier for people to move around the city by improving streetscapes, infrastructure and connectivity while helping to reduce the impact of transport on the environment.”

Oxford Street cycleway construction to begin after WorldPride festival

“A 1.7-kilometre cycleway along the northern edge of Oxford Street between Taylor Square and Hyde Park, as well as part of Liverpool Street, linking to bike paths in the CBD, as well as the restored College Street cycleway.” Construction will commence in the middle of 2023.

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

Construction of Harbour Bridge cycleway ramp set to start mid-2023

Staying in Sydney, and with cycling, this too is set to commence construction in mid-2023. “Subject to planning approval, the government expects construction of the 200-metre-long ramp at Milsons Point to start in the middle of next year and take 18 months to complete.”

Estimating the steps made by public transport commuters using a synthetic population enriched with smart card data

Co-authored by Lauren Del Rosario, Shawn W.Laffan, and Christopher J.Pettit, all from the University of New South Wales. “Big data, in the form of smart card data, combined with a synthetic population, was used to estimate the access, transfer and egress distance of public transport commuter journeys in Sydney, Australia. A spatial network analysis of the access, transfer and egress segments of commuter journeys was performed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS).”

Volvo Volgren BZL electric buses successfully delivering cleaner transport to Perth

‘Following the February and March deliveries of the first two Volvo BZL Electric units to PTA, Volvo Bus Australia has since delivered two additional units to PTA in June for the Joondalup Electric Bus Trial as part of Volvo and Volgren’s existing bus supply agreement. For more than five months, the first two Volvo BZL Electric units for PTA have been operating on the Joondalup CAT service with their bright red liveries on display. Since June, the third and fourth buses have been servicing the streets of the northern suburbs, operating on routes from the Joondalup bus depot.”

Related iMOVE content: Read our interview with Tim Camilleri, e-Mobility Solutions Manager at Volvo Group Australia

Climate change: Funding an early hurdle for Auckland’s emissions plan

“Funding could be an early hurdle for Auckland’s plans to cut transport emissions by 64% over the next eight years to curb global warming. Auckland Transport said it is working on the immediate actions it can take under the council’s Transport Emissions Reduction Pathway (TERP) but these “require additional funding in the upcoming budget”.”