Singapore’s success in managing congestion
Following our recent post on congestion charging in New York City, we’ve updated one of our most popular posts to continue the discussion on strategies to reduce traffic congestion. Let’s explore Singapore’s recent advancements in their “two-prong” carrot and stick strategy to tackle congestion: implementing a harsher and more advanced “user pay” strategy alongside premium […]
Liv Indigo, Mirvac’s first build-to-rent
Liv Indigo is the build-to-rent component of the Pavilions, a four-tower development located at Sydney Olympic Park. Designed by architectural firm BVN in collaboration with Mirvac Design, Pavilions comprises 696 apartments, 730 car parking spaces and over 1,000 bicycle parking spaces. Mirvac’s CEO & MD Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz was joined by NSW Minister for Planning & […]
How much parking is enough?
An article about Union Station in Washington, DC caught our attention this week. We are so used to hearing about complaints of the lack of parking in developments that it is surprising to see the opposite reaction. The Station was designed in 1908 and is in need of an upgrade to meet current accessibility standards […]
Liverpool Council grants approval to Elizabeth Street tower
Binah Group recently received approval for Elizabeth Street tower development, a 34-storey building comprising residential apartments, a hotel, 5,500 m2 of office space and a roof-top restaurant. Designed by Rothelowman, the mixed-use development will be the tallest tower in Liverpool. ptc. was engaged by Binah Group to prepare a traffic impact assessment for the development […]
Change staff travel mode and save tonnes of carbon emissions per year
In September 2019, the ptc. family moved into a new home at 1 James Place, North Sydney. Located just 1.3kms from our previous address in Cammeray, the new office, with its stunning wraparound views, has been a hit with both staff and clients. Interestingly, despite the short distance of the move (admittedly closer to […]
The case for congestion charging in Australia
A couple of weeks ago NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance said: “there will be no congestion tax in Sydney”. At the same time, a report from the Grattan Institute documented the potential benefits of the adoption of this type of charge in Sydney and Melbourne. The Institute estimates that congestion pricing would decrease the number […]
How do you feel about losing 5.7 days per year due to congestion?
Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are amongst the 25 most congested cities in the world, according to Inrix 2018 Global Traffic Scorecard. On average, Australian drivers commuting on those cities lost 137.6 hours (or 5.7 days) in congestion last year[1]. If you drive to work, perhaps this can make you think of alternative ways to […]
Integrated multi-modal trip planner
Public and private organisations are all out there in the race to provide a seamless customer experience. In the transportation environment, including the parking industry, this has resulted in the development of numerous apps. Currently, drivers can use parking apps to plan their trip ahead and find available parking spaces. However, often these solutions are […]
Psychology applied to traffic engineering
Although traffic engineering is in the realm of the exact sciences, understanding human behaviour and applying psychological principles can be useful to increase safety and compliant behaviour by road users. This is illustrated by an experiment conducted in the US, which was designed to increase the number of drivers stopping for pedestrians at crosswalks. According […]
“A Smarter City” is a winning presentation (and a great initiative by Wollongong Council)
We are pleased to announce that “A Smarter City – Wollongong City Integrated Parking Guidance System” was awarded the best presentation within the Traffic Engineering and Road Management stream at the 2018 AITPM Conference. We congratulate Andrew Morse, partner and Senior Traffic Engineer, who presented the case study at the conference and Grant Mclean, Senior…...
Who owns the city?
What is the current space allocated to cars in your city? And to bikes and rail? What is the fairest way to share the public space between different mode shares? We have touched on this topic in a previous article Cities are for people. In this article, we detailed the US National Association of City […]
Walking and cycling to work may feel longer than it is
A recently published study, conducted with students and staff members of Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), found that people tend to overestimate the time it takes to walk or cycle to their destination. The issue is that the perceived travel time is often pointed out as one of the barriers to choosing these types of […]
Road signs and the way we process information
Road signs should convey the maximum amount of information with the minimum amount of content, as it is not possible for drivers to stop their vehicle and carefully read the instructions presented. Therefore, images, typeface, colours and shapes of road signage are designed, or at least should be, in a way that their meaning […]
Where are the cyclists and pedestrians?
According to 2016 Census data, only 1.1% and 3.9% of Australian commuters chose cycling and walking to work respectively. These active mode rates remained practically constant since the 2011 Census (1.2% and 4.2%). In other capital cities the percentage of commuters walking or cycling ranges from 3.8% (Perth) to 8.4% (Canberra). However, as reported by […]
Sydney Trains disruptions – poll results
Last week, we conducted a quick poll via Twitter and email to get a feel for the potential impacts of the train disruptions on commuters. We asked a simple question: Are you going to avoid public transport? We received 170 responses, 48 on Twitter and 122 via email. Compared to 2016 Census data regarding travel […]
Sydney train strike – Are you going to avoid public transport?
We would like to know the effects of the upcoming disruptions to Sydney trains on commuters. Answer our poll on Twitter: The upcoming disruptions to Sydney Trains will affect many. Are you going to avoid public transport? #ptcSydneyTrainsPoll #SydneyTrains — Cristina Lynn (@Aus_Parqueen) January 24, 2018 Image credit: Sydney Trains
Under utilised car park areas – how to use them better?
When you are familiar with a car park, you know which floor or secret corner you will most certainly find an available spot. Those “always empty” areas may be a blessing for the regular customer, but parking managers and operators probably don’t have the same view. Underused space means that the car park is not […]
Sydney is not full yet
A recent poll conducted for Fairfax Media indicated that 66.4% of the 1,647 respondents believe that Sydney is full and that property development should be pushed out of the Sydney metro area. Although the local population may feel that the city is crowded, there are 103 cities in the world with a larger population than […]
Car sharing at its best
One of the most interesting things about travelling overseas is to see how different cities address congestion in a practical sense. Whilst in Milan we discovered ENJOY, a car sharing business providing one-way rides within the metropolitan area in suitably branded Fiat 500s (red of course). According to its website there are currently 564 vehicles […]
Commuting in Melbourne versus Sydney
It may be commonplace to state that traffic in Sydney is worse than in Melbourne. After all, Sydney’s population is larger and the harbour splits the city in two making it harder to cross from one side to the other. Surprisingly, a new study challenges this common notion, as reported by The Conversation. Researchers from […]
Curb extension to increase walkability
Los Angeles civic centre, one of the most walkable, transit and bike-friendly areas of the city, became more pedestrian-friendly with the added improvements at the intersection of First and Main streets. Similarly to what we reported on our recent post Design interventions for safer streets, the city Department of Transportation new treatments aims to make […]
Design interventions for safer streets
New design strategies are being tested in Mumbai to improve road safety. Last week, a temporary artwork was installed in the Mithchowki intersection, a risky road area in Mumbai, according to Global Designing Cities Initiative (GDCI). The redesign was based on principles of the Global Street Design Guide which focuses on distributing the road space […]
In-ground traffic lights
A trial of in-ground traffic lights is being conducted by the NSW state government to reduce accidents involving pedestrians, especially those addicted to their mobile phones. In-ground traffic lights were installed at the intersections of Pitt and Goulburn streets, and Hay and Dixon streets, as reported by SMH. The lights turn red to signal pedestrians […]
From car to transit-centred city
Almost half of commuters choose public transport to reach downtown Seattle.
How cities are restricting private cars to tackle air pollution
Fossil fuelled vehicles are the major culprit when it comes to air pollution in large urban centres. Paris, London, Madrid, Barcelona and Mexico City are some of the cities that are developing plans targeting private cars as part of the solution to improve air quality…. Please Register or Log In for more....
Back to school: how to improve traffic and safety
Have you noticed how there is less traffic during school holidays? You are not mistaken, data reveals that the school holidays have a noticeable and positive effect on traffic and public transport usage. During that period in 2016/17, traffic volumes fell by 15% between 8:30 and 9:00 am on Victorian state roads. However, between 10:00…...
Strategies to reduce air pollution
Marylebone Road, in Westminster City, was recently named one of the 20 sites in London with very high pollution. As part of the plan to address the issue, the council wants to discourage the use of diesel vehicles by introducing a parking surcharge, as reported by The Telegraph. Therefore, from April, diesel drivers will pay […]
Will autonomous cars drive people away or to suburbs?
Autonomous vehicles may ease common problems of suburban life such as deliveries, grocery shopping and going to the city for work or leisure. The new technology will probably decrease the cost of deliveries and will facilitate driving for long distances or in intense traffic. At the same time, urban living will become easier as well, […]
Cycling uptake, safety and social equality
Last week, the USA’s National Association of City Transport Officials (NACTO) released a study showing the correlation between protected bicycle lanes, bike share increase and safety. NACTO compared data from 2006 to 2013 of seven American cities regarding the number of bike lanes miles (excluding signed paths with no other enhancements), the number of cyclists […]
Cities are for people
The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) from the USA presented in the 2016 Transit Street Design Guide a comparison between different modes of transportation regarding their capacity to move people within a single lane of road. Traditionally, streets are evaluated according to vehicle traffic throughput and speed, the proposition being that as a…...