Architecture, Building and Planning - Theses
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ItemBus Network Accessibility in Thu Duc City, Vietnam: An Analysis Through the Lens of Public Transport Planning Principles for Network Effect( 2024)Effective public transport hinges on accessibility, enabling seamless travel across a city. To compete with private vehicles, public transport systems must offer a level of convenience comparable to car ownership. This necessitates a well-integrated network, where buses and trains connect through coordinated routes and schedules, facilitating transfers and minimizing disjointed journeys for passengers navigating diverse destinations. This powerful concept is called the "network effect". This thesis evaluates how Thu Duc City's planned bus system aligns with network approach principles to enhance public transport accessibility compared to the current system. It investigates two key questions: 1) the accessibility levels of the current and planned bus systems, and 2) how well their route configurations and service frequencies promote network effect. To answer these questions, the research employs established accessibility indicators developed by Australian researchers: transfer intensity and ease of movement. Transfer intensity measures the minimum number of bus changes required to reach an activity node, with lower values indicating a more transfer-free network. Ease of movement, focusing on user experience, considers both travel time and service frequency. Lower values represent a more convenient travel experience. Utilizing secondary data from the Department of Transport and analyzed with GIS and Excel, the study assesses these indicators for both the current and planned bus systems in Thu Duc City. Results reveal that both the current and planned systems exhibit similar average transfer intensity – 0.90 and 0.96, respectively. This suggests that most trips within the systems can be completed with one transfer. However, the current system faces challenges. Inconsistent and infrequent services at main transfer points, coupled with route overlaps on major corridors, create obstacles for passengers. The planned system addresses these issues. By increasing service frequency on key routes, implementing better schedule coordination at transfer points, and removing overlapping routes, it promises a 23% improvement in ease of movement during transfers, leading to a more seamless transfer experience for users. This thesis underscores the importance of network effect in improving public transport accessibility. By analyzing Thu Duc’s bus systems, the study demonstrates how network design with coordinated schedules and service frequencies can optimize user experience and promote a more competitive PT system within a bustling city.
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ItemTransportation disadvantage in Brimbank, Victoria: The importance of local knowledge to improve public transport( 2023)Combs et al. (2016) noted that transportation planning decisions are mainly based on priori determinations of the community's needs based on their socio-demographic features (Combs et al., 2016). This research investigates to what extent people of the City of Brimbank, Victoria, are at risk of experiencing transportation disadvantage (TD). Also, how do secondary data reflect the community's perception of the problem in the study area. A mixed-method research approach was used based on the methodological framework presented by Shay et al. (2016). It includes analysing secondary data as a first step. Then, it uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to visualise seven indicators: age, income, disability, unemployment, single-parent families, English proficiency, and cultural background. Finally, semi-structured interviews with seven community members were conducted to analyse the secondary data through the maps and a guiding questionnaire that addressed transportation topics and perceptions of walking distance to stops, travel times and other PT commuting features. General findings from the research suggest the existence of TD communities in the study area while being unseen by other community members. However, participants showed a general concern about accessibility barriers that the elderly and disabled populations can face while commuting. Additionally, participants demonstrated a lack of knowledge of the reality of suburbs different to where they live or work. PT was perceived as accessible, and a range from 15 to 20 minutes of walking distance was perceived as acceptable. Nevertheless, even when participants generally used PT, they noted they would use private vehicles if possible. This research contributes to the research on TD in Melbourne and generates more insights for TD studies as a general field. The findings will help policymakers, researchers, and advocacy groups to understand better (1) the TD characteristics for the City of Brimbank and (2) to give visibility of the challenges that secondary data present when used for the decision-making process as it could reflect disparities with people’s perception of the problem.
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ItemIs money everything? Impact of free public transport on Melbournians’ mode selection( 2023)Car-dependency is a phenomenon that is commonly found in most Australian cities, including Melbourne, in which majority of its employed population (50.9%) use cars to commute (ABS, 2022). The high car dependency costs Melbournians both fiscally and healthily through pollutions and traffic congestions. Encouraging the use of public transport have been recognised as an effective way on altering such phenomenon and its associated adverse effects. In Melbourne, the Free Tram Zone is introduced in the CBD in 2015 (PTV, 2022). Since its introduction there have been voices for expanding the Free Tram Zone for further encouraging the usage of public transport (Parliament of Victoria, 2020). This research will study the potential effect of free public transport on mode shift from cars. It will examine whether provision of metropolitan-wide free public transport would attract car users in Melbourne to switch to public transport and the underlying motivators and obstacles for the usage of public transport.
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ItemCar dependency in metropolitan Melbourne: a travel pattern analysis of journey to work( 2022)Car dependency is one of the most complex transport issues in Australia and other developed countries worldwide. From traffic congestion to health problems, the negative impacts of car dependency are critical and multifaceted. In Melbourne, despite public transport services covering 31 local government areas (LGAs), about 64% of trips to work are made by private vehicle, making car-driving the most preferred travel mode among Melbournians and making use of public transport relatively low. This situation is due in part to the failure of policies implemented to reduce congestion and in part to politics that favoured road-oriented design. However, studies of car dependency tend to focus on broader rather than small-scall demographic and geographic aspects. Therefore, this research has focused on comparing inner with outer Melbourne LGAs by analysing Victoria Integrated Survey of Travel and Activity (VISTA) data from 2012 to 2018 to find out who is car-dependent and why they are car-dependent. The detailed analyses focus on travel to work by different demographic groups and the cost of various travel modes. The study is guided by the following research question: What makes people choose cars over other transport modes in metropolitan Melbourne? There are two sub-questions. The first relates to the demographic factors (income, age, and gender) and compares inner-city and outer-city LGAs. The second compares motor vehicle drivers, public transport users, and walking/cycling users in both inner-city and outer-city LGAs in metropolitan Melbourne, examining cost, travel time, and distance. The results reveal the distribution of motor vehicle users appears to be higher in the outer suburbs of Melbourne where there are lower incomes and longer travel distances, implying that forced car ownership affects people’s choice of travel. Furthermore, the analysis of public transport travel patterns found that people choose motor vehicles because of a lack of connectivity between home and public transport, security concerns around public transport, and the reliability and flexibility of having private transport. The cost of various travel modes is somehow difficult to measure, therefore, further studies on how policies can influence people’s travel choice will help better understand the causes of car dependency in the urban areas.