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 […]
Cycle lanes do not harm local businesses
As the restrictions are gradually eased in Australia, cities prepare for more people returning to their workplace. Sydney is implementing pop-up cycle lanes and Melbourne is fast-tracking the delivery of 40km of new lanes. Both initiatives aim to provide a safe alternative for people to move around whilst, hopefully, removing cars from the road and […]
The hospital parking paradigm
As part of their election campaign, the Conservative Party in the UK is proposing to provide free hospital parking for a range of people including disabled drivers and passengers, frequent outpatients, gravely ill patients, visitors to relatives in hospital for extended periods and staff on night shifts who cannot use public transport. According to The […]
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 […]
What makes a great commuter car park
The Federal Government plans to invest $500m in commuter car parks across Australia. As we have posted in the past, the first step is to understand if a commuter car park is the best alternative for each location. Assuming that this is the case the next step is to ensure that the facilities will serve […]
Can commuter car parks reduce congestion?
An interesting article published on The Conversation discusses the government’s Commuter Car Park Fund, a $500 million, ten-year package to facilitate commuters from suburbs and regions to drive to the nearest railway station with the objective of removing cars from the roads. The key question asked by the authors with regard to this package […]
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 […]
Is driving to school becoming the norm?
To shed some light in the much-debated issue of school traffic, we gathered data from six schools we have worked at in the last couple of years (click on the image above to see the details). In most of the charts, you can see that at least half of the students arrive by car (blue […]
It’s not easy to enjoy the world’s whitest sand
With only 400 parking spaces and around 4,000 vehicles per day during peak season, there is little hope of finding parking at Hyams Beach, as reported by The Sydney Morning Herald. The desire of thousands of day-trippers to get a spot at the acclaimed “world’s whitest sand” results in traffic jams, illegal parking and stressed […]
Barcelona’s Superblocks – two years later
Have you heard about Barcelona’s “Superblocks”? We posted in the past about Barcelona’s initiative to encourage active transport by creating “Superblocks”, areas where vehicular traffic is limited creating more space for pedestrians and cyclists. The Superblocks are polygon grids measuring 400 by 400 metres where non-resident traffic and on-street parking are not allowed. Inside the […]
Creating great Australian cities
In this article, we discuss the recently published study, Creating Great Australian Cities[i] , commissioned by The Property Council of Australia. Australian cities benchmark When comparing major Australian cities to the world’s top 100, what would you say Australia’s overall average position is? If you guessed that on average Australia would figure amongst…...
“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…...
A Smarter Town Centre
Andrew Morse, Partner and Senior Traffic Engineer, will be presenting the case study “A Smarter Town Centre – Wollongong City Integrated Parking Guidance System” at the 2018 AITPM National Conference in Perth. Our team, led by Grant McLean, Senior Consultant, designed an integrated Parking Guidance System (PGS) combining 10 car parks within the CBD with […]
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 […]
French Grand Prix faced major traffic issues
Any team responsible for the organisation of a major event will spend many hours covering all the details in regards to what attendees will encounter once they arrive at the venue. The organisers of the French Grand Prix probably made sure that drivers had the infrastructure they needed, VIP guests received the best service and […]
Park and ride trials in NSW
The NSW Government recently announced the Opal Park & Ride trial at the Ashfield commuter car park. In the same way as the trial occurring in Dee Why, the scheme is designed to offer free parking for users who combine private vehicle and public transport use in their commute. How that works is that commuters […]
Looking into the future, that’s how you win!
Eric Ye, Junior Traffic Engineer at ptc., received, on the 27th February 2018, the GHD Undergraduate Student Award promoted by the Institute of Transportation Engineers Australia New Zealand (ITEANZ). Eric was awarded for his thesis: Lane Distribution Optimisation of Autonomous Vehicles for Highway Congestion Control, which he authored as part of his studies in […]
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 […]
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 […]
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…...
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…...
Navigating the future of mobility
The shift from a driver-controlled and personally-owned car system to an autonomous shared vehicle model The future of the automotive industry is in a state of flux, as major shifts in technology and consumer behaviour take place. The industry structure will be particularly affected by the emergence of autonomous cars and the younger generation’s preference…...
Bikes vs cars – a new film looks at the race for bike mobility in our modern world
Bikes are more than a tool for recreation and fitness. They are fast becoming the main source of transportation for many communities around the world. But more needs to happen for people to make the initial decision of putting the bike first. A new film by Fredrik Gertten, Bikes vs Cars, looks at the battle […]
Can Sydney develop its own digital traffic plan?
The world is embracing digital transformation with gusto and speed. Smart cities around the globe are reshaping and rebuilding themselves for the better and creating a more liveable and safe environment for residents. But for some reason Sydney is lagging behind. According to a recent report released by the Committee for Sydney, as reported in […]
Sustainable public transport the key to Shanghai’s bold development program
According to ShanghaiDaily.com, the city is set to be developed into a ‘megacity’. However, it will be a long journey for planners and policy makers. The thoughts of local residents resonate with many residents here in Sydney – ‘long commutes and traffic jams’. Planners in both cities are faced with massive challenges to make them […]
Will driverless cars survive the test?
On 8th November, media and key industry personnel were exposed to the first demonstration of driverless cars in Adelaide. The SMH reported a ride in a driverless car was seamless. The feeling was the same – smooth, safe and structured. According to the reporter Adam Carey, the car cruised leisurely along the highway at […]
Is Sydney Ready for a Congestion Tax?
The topical and contentious issue of a congestion tax was again discussed in the SMH this week. As major transport projects are completed over the next few years, the Baird government has left the door open to consider introducing a congestion tax, whose aim would be to charge motorists to enter the CBD to […]
Fast cars and freeways come to an end in Los Angeles
Los Angeles City Council takes a leap of faith and approves a new transportation plan, (Mobility Plan 2035), that would remodel the LA streetscape over the next 20 years. The new plan could see the “sacrificing of car lanes to make way for bikes and buses”, according to the NY Times. The plan aims to […]
Roads: Were they built for cars?
Separate cycle paths or fully integrated with roadways? These early debates of the 1860’s till mirror the discussion today. A recent article posted on Sustainable Cities Collective, explains that roads were not built to cater specifically for cars. Modern day commuters assume that roads became the way they are today, because of the infrastructure […]