ITS Monday: Edition 32, 2024

Wondering how to get from Brisbane to Melbourne without wrecking the climate? Our transport choices make a huge difference

Robin Smit, Adjunct Professor, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney writing for The Conversation (and he’s lined up to present a session at iMOVE’s National R&D Conference 2024). “Australian transport emissions are still growing. As a result, transport is expected to be our biggest-emitting sector by 2030. So, cutting transport emissions is crucial to Australia’s net-zero strategy. Studies show electrifying passenger vehicles and trucks will greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But the switch to electric vehicles is slow. It won’t be enough to reach net-zero by 2050. Other strategies are needed. That’s where the concept of “mode shift” comes in. It involves shifting passengers and freight to lower-emission forms of transport such as electric rail and shipping.”

Related iMOVE articles:

• FACTS: A Framework for an Australian Clean Transport Strategy
  
• Transport is NOT on track
• Sustanable Transportation: Info, Projects & Resources

Related iMOVE project:

• • Behavioural change for sustainable transport
  • Environmental impacts of Connected and Automated Vehicles
  • Second lives for electric vehicle batteries

Shared e-scooter trial scrapped by Sunshine Coast Council

Continuing ructions in e-scooterland. This is the first of two such stories in this week’s ITS Monday, and both emanate from Queensland. This follow similar troubles reported in last week’s ITS Monday. In this instance it’s on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, the scooter supplier is Neuron, and the reason, apparently, is public dislike of the share scooter scheme. It’s a cutting short of what was to be an 18-month trial.

Related iMOVE articles:

• Micromobilty: Info, Projects & Resources
• Active Transport: Info, Projects & Resources
  

Related iMOVE projects:

• OneDock: Supercharging e-micromobility
• Road use activity data: Cyclists, pedestrians and micromobility
• Impacts of eRideables on the transport task in WA

Brisbane cancels Beam contract as e-scooter company accused of misleading councils

And shifting down the road from the Sunshine Coast, Brisbane it also cancelling an e-scooter contract, this time the scooter supplier is Beam. In this case it’s due to an accusation of Beam “significantly under-reporting the size of its fleet.” A similar accusation was last week levelled at the company in Auckland, New Zealand.

Are electric vehicles riskier? A comparative study of driving behaviour and insurance claims for internal combustion engine, hybrid and electric vehicles

A new academic paper, co-authored by Kevin McDonnell, Barry Sheehan, Finbarr Murphy, and Montserrat Guillen, The abstraxct:

“Electric vehicles (EVs) differ significantly from their internal combustion engine (ICE) counterparts, with reduced mechanical parts, Lithium-ion batteries and differences in pedal and transmission control. These differences in vehicle operation, coupled with the proliferation of EVs on our roads, warrant an in-depth investigation into the divergent risk profiles and driving behaviour of EVs, Hybrids (HYB) and ICEs. In this unique study, we analyze a novel telematics dataset of 14,642 vehicles in the Netherlands accompanied by accident claims data.

We train a Logistic Regression model to predict the occurrence of driver at-fault claims, where an at-fault claim refers to First and Third Party damages where the driver was at fault. Our results reveal that EV drivers are more exposed to incurring at-fault claims than ICE drivers despite their lower average mileage. Additionally, we investigate the financial implications of these increased at-fault claims likelihoods and have found that EVs experience a 6.7% increase in significant first-party damage costs compared to ICE. When analyzing driver behaviour, we found that EVs and HYBs record fewer harsh acceleration, braking, cornering and speeding events than ICE.

However, these reduced harsh events do not translate to reducing claims frequency for EVs. This research finds evidence of a higher frequency of accidents caused by Electric Vehicles. This burden should be considered explicitly by regulators, manufacturers, businesses and the general public when evaluating the cost of transitioning to alternative fuel vehicles.”

Related iMOVE article:

• Electric Vehicles: Info, Projects & Resources
  
• Alternative Fuels: Info, Projects & Resources
• FACTS: A Framework for an Australian Clean Transport Strategy
• The Conductor Series: The electrification of transport

Related iMOVE projects:

• EV batteries: Repair, refurbish, repurpose, recycle
• Second lives for electric vehicle batteries

Lower speeds on local streets cut deaths and injuries by a quarter in Wales. Over 100 experts want Australia to do the same

From The Conversation is this article by Jennifer L. Kent, Senior Research Fellow in Urbanism, University of Sydney. “The Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Research Economics (BITRE) has released its latest road deaths bulletin. The results are terrifying. Each month, someone at the bureau has the bleak task of contacting state police to determine how many people have been killed on our roads. If the bureau had a tendency to shoot its messengers (and I’m not saying it does), this month’s courier would have tabled the stats and quickly ducked for cover.

Related iMOVE articles:

• Road Safety: Info, Projects & Resources
  
• Vulnerable Road Users: Info, Projects & Resources
• Effects of COVID on the transport sector

Related iMOVE projects:

• Speed and safety evaluation of shared spaces in NSW
• Road use activity data: Cyclists, pedestrians and micromobility

Green hydrogen fuel station to fuel Brisbane bus network

“A new major hydrogen fuel station is set to be built at the Port of Brisbane as part of a deal between Lion Energy, Mitsubishi and Samsung. The project will consist of green hydrogen production and dispensing infrastructure, producing more than 300 tonnes of hydrogen per year. ”

Related iMOVE article:

• The future for hydrogen heavy vehicles & infrastructure in NSW
  
• Alternative Fuels: Info, Projects & Resources
• Prospects for decarbonising freight transport in Australia

Related iMOVE projects:

• Simulation and modelling of a hydrogen-electric aircraft

Disability charity says e-cycle bans are an “inappropriate, disproportionate and discriminatory” response to the low fire risk they represent

Fires from electric batteries have been a growing concern. In London there’s some consideration being given to “… banning e-cycles from being parked or used on their premises, and that insurers and landlords are removing permission for e-cycles to be stored in homes.” This article documents the reaction to this by Wheels for Wellbeing, a disability charity. “We must ensure that measures taken to reduce fire risk are evidence-based, proportionate and appropriately targeted.”

Walking and cycling funding halved in Govt’s transport programme

Change is afoot in how transport funding is being allocated in New Zealand. ” In response to whether it was fair that walking and cycling funding had been halved, Brown said a lot of money had been spent on “nice-to-haves” and the new programme was about “getting back to basics” and focusing on road maintenance.”