ITS Monday: Edition 3, 2021

Observational-based study to explore pedestrian crossing behaviors at signalized and unsignalized crosswalks

A new journal article,co-authored by Nirajan Shiwakoti.

‘Despite many studies on exploring the behaviors of pedestrians crossing the road, there is a need for comprehensive studies that identify the factors that may influence pedestrians crossing behavior at signalized and unsignalized intersections. This study aims to comprehensively examine the influence of gender, age group, group-crossing, technological devices and carrying items on pedestrians crossing behaviors at signalized and unsignalized crosswalks simultaneously.’

Road traffic almost back to pre-COVID levels as commuters shun public transport

It’s not the first time here in ITS Monday that we’ve included an article on the uptake in public transport post-COVID, and it won’t be the last I suspect!’ This article focuses on the story in Sydney during December 2020, and includes quotes from David Levinson.

Auckland Transport car ban on Queen St through-traffic by mid-2021 enrages stakeholders

There’s changes headed the way of the Auckland CBD, and local retail traders, property owners and the Automobile Association are none too happy. The terms dishevelled state, low ebb, significant unanswered questions and disgruntled stakeholders have been thrown about by the unhappy group.

Distance-based road charges will improve traffic — and if done right won’t slow Australia’s switch to electric cars

Road use charges and electric cars … there’s two items to tick off on your Transport Controversies bingo card! This article is by Phillip Laird, from the University of Wollongong. ‘The emergence on our roads of electric vehicles that don’t generate fuel excise revenue has led to growing calls for road-user charges on these vehicles …’.

How is Australia travelling with the switch to electric cars?

Speaking of Australia’s snail-like embrace of electric cars, this. ‘Electric cars will become a part of the power grid one day – and many countries are speeding ahead with uptake. So why is Australia stuck in the slow lane?’ A strong opening, and a good read.

Make your next car electric: a behavioural science messaging trial

And in the final on our trio of electric car stories this week, here’s some results from a trial of messaging to ‘best encourage the uptake of electric vehicles’ by the UK’s Department for Transport.

Why e-bikes can succeed where earlier bike-share schemes failed

To wrap up this week we stay with electric vehicles, but mode shift to bicycles. Are electric share bikes the great hope for this corner of the transport market? Might it be because they’re heavier and harder to lift into trees, lakes, and the like? Three academics from Griffith University have a look at the what, how, and why of this new mode of transport that’s slowly rolling out across Australia.