Is public transport the future of our cities?
Crikey | The Urbanist | Discussion about cities
by Alan Davies
4y ago
Prior to the pandemic, it was pretty much taken for granted by most of those interested in cities that the long-term future of Australia’s capitals would be public transport. But now the great advantage of public transport – shifting large numbers of people in a small space – looks like it could be a serious weakness. Absent a vaccine or breakthrough therapies, will Australia’s capital cities grind to a halt, choked by endless streams of dirty, dangerous and noisy cars? As travellers seek an alternative to trains, buses and trams, will traffic congestion spread across most of the day and acros ..read more
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What should we do to civilise driving?
Crikey | The Urbanist | Discussion about cities
by Alan Davies
4y ago
It seems likely that traffic on the roads of Australia’s cities will balloon in coming months, boosted by workers avoiding using public transport. The key impacts will probably be: Higher levels of congestion i.e. slower speeds, longer delays. Extended AM and PM peak periods. More roads subject to congestion. More traffic in both peak and non-peak periods on previously relatively quiet streets. More driving also means more noise, more pollution and emissions, and more danger for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers themselves. Governments haven’t shared much information with the public about ho ..read more
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Is this the hour of the two-wheeler?
Crikey | The Urbanist | Discussion about cities
by Alan Davies
4y ago
Bicycle Boulevard, Netherlands I noted last time there could be an extended post-lockdown period when public transport has insufficient capacity to cope with demand (see How will the pandemic impact public transport?). I’m not so pessimistic that I think trains will operate at just 30% – 50% capacity, but the fear of coronavirus and possibly other pandemics is likely to be a major deterrent to peak-period use of public transport. There are various ways of dealing with this problem as I’ve discussed before. But here’s an important one. Governments should get off their collective arses and urgen ..read more
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How will the pandemic impact public transport?
Crikey | The Urbanist | Discussion about cities
by Alan Davies
4y ago
The coronavirus pandemic is upsetting the standard view on many things, not least cities. Economist John Quiggin has gone from optimism to pessimism about the role of mass public transport: Challenge: Covid pandemic proved I was wrong all along about … My answer: mass public transport as the way of the future Professor Quiggin doesn’t state his reasoning, but it’s certainly plausible the longer-term impact of the current outbreak on mass transit could be severe. How harsh will depend on factors like the duration of the lockdown, the expectation of further outbreaks, how well we go with a vac ..read more
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Is High Speed Rail the economic game-changer we need now?
Crikey | The Urbanist | Discussion about cities
by Alan Davies
4y ago
A long wait until the benefits flow – East Coast HSR reference case economic cash flows per year (undiscounted, $2012, $billion). Source: HSR Study, Phase 2 Report.https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/rail/publications/high-speed-rail-study-reports/ There’s no shortage of advocates arguing we should rebuild the economy and society ‘on the other side’ of the pandemic with whatever solution they’re convinced is the right one. So it’s really no surprise Federal Labor is selling east coast High Speed Rail (HSR) as an ‘economic game-changer’ to drive post-pandemic recovery: Labor has called on the ..read more
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Will the Western Sydney Aerotropolis really deliver on jobs?
Crikey | The Urbanist | Discussion about cities
by Alan Davies
4y ago
Land uses proposed in stage 1, Western Sydney Aerotropolis The Greater Sydney Region Plan pitches the Aerotropolis – essentially a fashionable name for a cluster of airport-related businesses – as underpinning the creation of hundreds of thousands of high-skill jobs in the Western Parkland City in “aerospace and defence, manufacturing, healthcare, freight and logistics, agribusiness, education and research industries”. The planned Western Sydney Aerotropolis at Badgerys Creek is the NSW government’s rationalisation for hiving-off the far western suburbs of Sydney as a separate, mostly self-con ..read more
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Is ending Melbourne Bike Share the right decision?
Crikey | The Urbanist | Discussion about cities
by Alan Davies
4y ago
Bright, shiny Bixis ready to go in 2010 The Age reports Melbourne Bike Share (MBS) now costs $2 million per year and will terminate in December 2019 after nearly ten years operation. Each bike is only used once per day on average (Goodbye blue bikes: Melbourne’s bike share scheme canned). It was evident from the outset in 2010 that the scheme would be a white elephant, a prediction confirmed within months of MBS commencing. Yet successive governments from both sides of politics let it drag on and on. Why did it fail? There’s a number of possible explanations: Australia’s mandatory helmet law ..read more
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Is labelling the outer suburbs as ‘job deserts’ helpful?
Crikey | The Urbanist | Discussion about cities
by Alan Davies
4y ago
THE % SHARE OF JOBS IN ONE KILOMETRE WIDE CIRCULAR BANDS RADIATING FROM MELBOURNE TOWN HALL First there were ‘food deserts’, then ‘transit deserts’, now ABC TV News informs us Australian cities also have ‘job deserts’ in the suburbs, especially in newer, fringe areas (7:00 pm, 11 June 2019): Newsreader: Matching where people work and where they live is a growing issue for state governments. New analysis has revealed outer urban areas of capital cities like Melbourne are effectively job deserts while the city centres attract jobs like a magnet. The narrative here is the jobs aren’t where peop ..read more
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Is Paris the right model for the Sydney of 2050?
Crikey | The Urbanist | Discussion about cities
by Alan Davies
4y ago
Paris Metro overlaid on Sydney train network. Green circle is 15 km radius (source: Tipping Point) Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, architect Phillip Vivian reckons Sydneysiders should look to the history of Paris – specifically to the wholesale changes wrought by Baron Haussmann – for inspiration on the Sydney of the future (Think London or Paris, not Blade Runner, for your Sydney of the future): If the Sydney of tomorrow sounds more like cities such as Paris and London than the Blade Runner dystopian vision often touted, that is because infrastructure makes positive evolution possible ..read more
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Should public transport fares be abolished?
Crikey | The Urbanist | Discussion about cities
by Alan Davies
4y ago
Tallinn’s fare-free rapid public transport network There was lots of public commentary last week on the ill-advised idea currently under consideration by Victoria’s Legislative Council of expanding Melbourne’s CBD free tram zone. The consensus of critics is that it would exacerbate existing overcrowding of trams in the city centre, replace even more walking trips, and continue to provide no financial benefit to the great majority of commuters. Largely overlooked in the argument was the parallel proposal to make public transport fare-free for students and seniors. This idea would exempt 60% of ..read more
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