Architecture, Building and Planning - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableThe case for 'public' transport in the age of automated mobility(ELSEVIER SCI LTD, 2022-09)This paper highlights the extent to which a future mobility system dominated by Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) poses profound challenges to the ‘publicness’ of the transport and mobility systems of many cities. This is evident at different policy levels: the regulatory posture of governments, changing notions of the contributions of mobility to wider ‘public value’, and the underpinning shared experiences of urban life and citizenship or civitas. There is relatively little discussion of how widespread automation might reduce the ‘publicness’ of transport systems in terms of the range of mobility opportunities they offer, how changing patterns of mobility across neighbourhoods and social groups will contribute to urban restructuring, and the implications of this for public value and the character or civitas of cities. In particular, we note how the huge expansion in mobility choices made possible by CAVs might lead to circumstances in which the outcome of individuals exercising that choice is to change the nature of urban mobility profoundly. We identify a number of key challenges that policy makers will need to address in managing the introduction of CAVs in their cities, and how using the lens of ‘publicness’ might help them do so.
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ItemChallenges for Government as Facilitator and Umpire of Innovation in Urban Transport: The View from Australia(Emerald Publishing Limited, 2020-01-01)New economies based on emerging technologies for shared mobility and autonomous vehicles will shape future urban transport systems, but their potential impacts are uncertain. Internationally, government agencies face difficult challenges to effectively plan and regulate the deployment of these technologies for the common good, whilst simultaneously encouraging innovation. Being both a facilitator and an umpire is not an easy task. This chapter draws on a series of interviews with public and private-sector actors in urban transport in Australia. Unsurprisingly, all private-sector respondents had significant concerns for the sustainability of their business in the emerging mobility markets, but it was generally acknowledged that without government support and partnership, a lack of structure and clarity could lead to natural monopolies with negative consequences for competition and the public good. Strong and clear government regulation is seen to be necessary to allow the sector to reach its maximum potential and have positive ramifications for both the public and the private good - outcome not always seen as compatible. Public-sector interviewees generally recognised that much of the necessary innovation was being shaped by the market, and that there had been a considerable loss of skills over decades from the state because of neo-liberal policies. So, some doubted the ability of the state to shape developments using currently available planning and public policy methods and feared that it would be difficult to regulate emergent markets to prevent monopolies emerging. On the other hand, some argued that many firms are looking to government for frameworks in which businesses can operate successfully by setting conditions in which risks could be managed. This chapter discusses these issues, seeking to guide research agendas and to foster further debate. The evidence gained from these in-depth interviews helps focus attention on which forms of regulation might be required by industry. It also raises questions about the capacity of government agencies to effectively manage these complex transitions.
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ItemPlanning Urban Futures for Autonomous and Shared Vehicles: The Role of Planning Support Tools as a Policy Instrument(Emerald, 2020)Modelling has been a mainstay of conventional planning support tools (PSTs) since the 1960s and is instrumental in transport and land use planning decision-making. Numerous studies have been conducted to model the potential impacts of emerging vehicle automation and sharing technologies. A systematic review of recent modelling studies of autonomous and shared vehicles in the research literature examines the extent of their contribution to ‘smart’ mobility knowledge. The findings suggest a limited knowledge base from which to support future planning. PSTs that can offer more pluralistic, discursive, and transparent methods in order to understand and proactively shape a transition to a planned urban future are also needed.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableAn Investigation of Institutional Arrangements for Design and Delivery of Multimodal Public Transport(Australasian Transport Research Forum, 2010)Intermodal service coordination designed to achieve a 'seamless network' is a common feature of high-quality public transport systems. This paper explores the intention and the reality of the institutional arrangements that govern the coordination of bus, tram and train services in Melbourne under the franchise agreements. State Government policies and contractual obligations set out the intended lines of responsibility for the planning of transport networks in relation to design and delivery of coordinated multimodal services. Interviews, designed to examine the practical application of these policies and obligations, were conducted during 2009 with staff from the Department of Transport, the private operators, the Bus Association and from Metlink - the company established to improve communication and coordination of public transport services. The results of this investigation highlight the significant differences between actual practices and the stated intentions of both government policies and existing contracts with private sector organisations. The lack of effective designation of responsibilities, ineffective communication at many levels across numerous institutions, and an absence of skilled staff will continue to impede the development of a cohesive transport network in Melbourne. These problems were not addressed in the design of the new franchise agreements that began in December 2009.
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ItemConsensus planning in transport: The case of Vancouver's transportation plebiscite(Elsevier, 2019-02-01)In 2015, a plebiscite was held on a new source of funding to support the expansion of the transit network in the Lower Mainland of Vancouver. Thus, in a region that has achieved admirable results over several decades through a strategic planning system based on a consensus model, civic leaders were forced to step outside this model to argue the case for a 0.5% increase to a local goods and service tax. This pitted a ‘no new tax’ grouping against a Better Transit and Transportation Coalition which brought supporters from across the community including from business, the unions, the environmental sector and students in support of the ‘yes’ case and the package of works crafted by consensus among municipal leaders. In this paper, we draw on in-depth key informant interviews with transportation and land use planners, municipal politicians and individuals involved in the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ campaigns built around the 2015 transport plebiscite. We show how the plebiscite was framed and how a critical component of Vancouver’s planning ethos – consensus decision-making – catalysed the formation of the coalition of ‘yes’ campaign supporters. Despite its defeat, this coalition remained persistent and unified in their support for the development of a new funding stream and for the continued expansion of transit infrastructure across the Lower Mainland. The paper draws lessons from the transit plebiscite and how its outcome highlight the unique role that consensus planning can play in achieving progressive outcomes to politically vexing questions in transport planning in Vancouver and elsewhere.
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ItemPlanning the driverless city(TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2019-01-02)
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ItemThe role of planners in contention over transport policy: Contrasting behaviour and outcomes in Melbourne and Vancouver since 1970(Ministry of Transport, New Zealand, 2009-12-01)
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ItemNetwork planning for more effective public transport in New Zealand cities(World Conference on Transport Research Society, 2010)
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ItemContrasts in Reform: How the Cain and Burke Years Shaped Public Transport in Melbourne and Perth Winner of the 2009 McLoughlin Award(ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2009)
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ItemPlanning Public Transport Networks in the Post-Petroleum Era(Routledge, 2010)Oil depletion scenarios suggest that public transport powered largely by electricity, together with cycling and walking, will be the mainstays of future urban mobility. This paper argues that there is great scope, in a time-scale of years rather than decades, for transport planners to increase the number and types of trips for which public transport is a convenient option. Our argument begins with a snapshot of Melbourne during the last period of intense and sustained constraints on oil supply and an overview of the performance of various transport modes in the three decades from 1976 to 2006. The decline of public transport since 1950 occurred at a faster rate than changes in density and can be reversed without the need for widespread re-creation of the urban form. The key to making these changes lies in the approach to public transport planning used in successful European and North American cities: service-based network planning. This model offers hope for greater public transport use in Australian cities, and is outlined in the central part of the article. We conclude with some comments on the forms of transport governance required to deliver 'networked' public transport services. © 2010 Planning Institute Australia.