ITS Monday: Edition 45, 2021

‘The holy grail’: Rob Stokes’ vision for transport and planning

‘Simultaneously holding the massive portfolios of Transport and Planning for only a few months, Rob Stokes says he’s focused on using the ministerial “holy grail” to set in motion the transformation of Sydney’s active transport network.’

Set electric bikes free in Sydney: productivity report

Staying in NSW, it’s also asking for a national review of the laws relating to electric bicycle. ‘In all Australian jurisdictions, e-bikes are subject to speed and power limits which are modest by international standards,” NSW Productivity Commissioner Peter Achterstraat said. The growth potential of e-bikes is enormous and increased uptake would mean less congested cities and faster travel for their riders.’

How Brisbane public transport explains COVID’s impact on tourism, city work

Another of how people are moving around again, and how they are not  post-lockdown. Here the Brisbane Times analyses Brisbane’s ‘… top 10 train, busway and light rail stations with the biggest drops in the average number of people hopping on board on weekdays as a result of COVID lockdowns, a work-from-home trend and concerns about infection.’

Wellington to trial free public transport on weekends

Public transport in the New Zealand city of Wellington has some big changes ahead, one of which is a one-month trial of free public transport, which is likely to apply to all bus and train services.

Covid-19: Traffic up 50 per cent on Auckland roads since move to alert level 3.2

Elsewhere in New Zealand, this time Auckland, the congestion numbers are in as the city moves away from COVID restrictions. It’s not back to the numbers of pre-pandemic times, but it is steadily climbing.

Nation’s first commercial green hydrogen station set for Melbourne

‘Australia’s first commercial-scale green hydrogen refuelling station is being developed on a site in Melbourne’s west and backers say it will be the first in a network to power vehicles all the way to Sydney.’ And importantly it’s the right colour of hydrogen!

New clean hydrogen production tax credit of up to $3/kg approved by US House, paving way for cheap green H2

Staying on things hydrogen but shifting to the USA, ‘A ten-year tax credit worth up to $3 per kilogram of “clean hydrogen” was approved by the US House of Representatives on Friday as part of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Bill.’

Grid locked: the UK’s e-mobility conundrum

‘The transition to electric vehicles is proving complex in the UK, as the public and private sectors struggle to reconcile the demand for greener motoring with infrastructural constraints.’

The technical challenges still to be solved before eVTOLs can become air taxis

And finally this week, and finally for ITS Monday for 2021, flying taxis. eVTOL. Calle them what you will. There’s been a lot of talk about them for quite some time. And as this article points out, before anything much in this area takes to the skies there’s a LOT of work that would need to be done.