ITS Monday: Edition 26, 2020

Perth congestion soars as commuters returning to work shun public transport

For some time now there has been a fear that this would happen, and in one of the first Australian states to relax restrictions the data is disappointingly, but perhaps expectedly, pointing to this situation becoming a reality.

Calls for face masks grow as restrictions ease on transport system

More news from the realm of public transport, this time from NSW. ‘As restrictions on Sydney’s public transport capacity begin to ease, the NSW government is under pressure to implement the wearing of face masks on the network to prevent the spread of COVID-19 while increasing patronage.’

Transport slump during lockdown reduced Australia’s carbon pollution by 7% in April, but experts warn of rebound

‘An audit shows the drop in carbon pollution was due to a decline in sales of fuel for light vehicles and domestic aviation.’

Western Sydney facing planning ‘nightmare’ because of lack of jobs, report warns

‘Western Sydney faces a planning “nightmare” with more than half a million people commuting out of the region to get to work in just over a decade, a report warns.’ This via a think tank from the University of Western Sydney.

Accessibility and the pursuit of happiness

A blog post by Professor David Levinson (our interview with David here). ‘Cities and their networks exist to easily connect people with each other. We measure that ability in terms of accessibility. The more accessibility, the more opportunity. Opportunity gives choices, and better choices make for happiness (too many choices may paradoxically reduce happiness, but surely that is a problem we would prefer to have than too few.) In short cities and networks allow the pursuit of happiness. So accessibility is about freedom: the freedom to pursue happiness.’

Cubic and Moovit to redefine mobile engagement for travelers

iMOVE partner Cubic Transportation Systems is expanding its partnership with Moovit to further co-develop mobile experiences that enable travellers to ‘look, book and pay’ for multi-modal journeys.

Cycling safety, sustainability, and how to reign in vehicle speed

‘On June 11, the European Commission released the latest statistics on the number of fatalities in road crashes across Europe. While we are still far from reaching the EU targets, this is good news, as fatalities have fallen 2% between 2018 and 2019.’

Streets for People Preston Activity Link

Information on what Melbourne’s Darebin Council is doing to improve the experience of walking, wheeling and riding in the local area, including urban design and landscape elements. What’s happened so far, what’s happening now, and what’s next.

Streetspace for London

And just like Darebin, London has plans in the area of a more people-friendly streetscape. ‘Along with London’s boroughs we are creating more space for people to safely walk or cycle as our city emerges from the coronavirus lockdown. Temporary cycle lanes and wider pavements are among the changes we’re making as part of Streetspace for London.’

The UK is set to finally legalise electric scooter rentals from Saturday as it tries to avoid floods of people on public transport

Good (legal) news from the UK in the troubled area of e-scooter use. ‘The new framework is expected to allow rental scooter users to use the road and cycle lanes, set a speed limit of 15 mph, and would not require that riders wear a helmet by law.’ No helmets? That could raise the debate temperature!