tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/light-rail-10758/articlesLight rail – The Conversation2023-08-22T18:55:31Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2116622023-08-22T18:55:31Z2023-08-22T18:55:31ZSlow train coming: only a genuine shift to rail will put NZ on track to reduce emissions<p>Both the <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/5-billion-boost-transport-funding-2024-27-208-billion">Labour government</a> and the opposition <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/5-billion-boost-transport-funding-2024-27-208-billion">National Party</a> have now released major transport polices that put the emphasis on maintaining and expanding roads.</p>
<p>The cost and priority of various projects will clearly be an election issue. But at the heart of the debate lies an inconvenient truth about climate change: encouraging road transport while needing to reduce carbon emissions simply does not add up.</p>
<p>We can see this tension in transport agency Waka Kotahi’s own <a href="https://www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/annual-report-nzta/">policy statements</a>: road safety and better travel options on the one hand, addressing sustainability on the other. But transport is <a href="https://environment.govt.nz/publications/aotearoa-new-zealands-first-emissions-reduction-plan/transport/">responsible for 17%</a> of New Zealand’s total greenhouse gas emissions.</p>
<p>Furthermore, road vehicle use has been increasing, as has the popularity of larger cars and SUVs that create more emissions per kilometre. Road congestion has become worse, with the popular response being to expand road capacity. </p>
<p>Hence the present government’s recently announced plans for a <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/phased-tunnels-second-harbour-crossing">second harbour crossing</a> in Auckland involving two road tunnels. And the main thrust of National’s Transport for the Future policy is on more urban and intercity roads. Both Labour and National favour a second Mount Victoria tunnel in Wellington.</p>
<p>In the background sits the government’s <a href="https://www.transport.govt.nz/area-of-interest/infrastructure-and-investment/future-of-rail/">Rail Plan</a>, which sets out the “vision and priorities for rail over the next decade and beyond”. But given the clear need for New Zealand’s transport policies to change, the planned improvements need to be on a fast track.</p>
<h2>Light rail right next door</h2>
<p>Cars and planes are convenient, but both have low energy efficiency compared to rail. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317520/original/file-20200227-24701-1gktt92.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317520/original/file-20200227-24701-1gktt92.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317520/original/file-20200227-24701-1gktt92.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=205&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317520/original/file-20200227-24701-1gktt92.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=205&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317520/original/file-20200227-24701-1gktt92.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=205&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317520/original/file-20200227-24701-1gktt92.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=258&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317520/original/file-20200227-24701-1gktt92.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=258&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317520/original/file-20200227-24701-1gktt92.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=258&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greenhouse-gas-reporting-conversion-factors-2019">Data source: Greenhouse gas reporting: conversion factors 2019</a></span>
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<p>A car’s carbon emissions per passenger kilometre can be around four times that of domestic rail (as shown by the graph above, based on UK data).</p>
<p>The government’s transport plans for Auckland do <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/02/auckland-light-rail-survives-policy-purge-but-completed-plans-still-two-years-away.html">include light rail</a>, but National has <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/national-to-scrap-governments-146-billion-light-rail-project-in-auckland-and-spend-on-seven-roading-and-public-transport-projects/UVUSFZ2N7VH77BKM4LWVH6R5X4/">promised to scrap</a> the scheme if elected. Looking across the Tasman, however, there is good evidence that light rail should not be this contentious.</p>
<p>Few might have predicted that Queensland’s Gold Coast light rail network – <a href="https://ridetheg.com.au/">G:link</a>, which opened in July 2014 – would see six million riders in its first 12 months of operation. Work started on a second stage within 24 months, with construction of a third stage now under way.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/70-years-of-road-based-policies-created-todays-problems-does-nationals-transport-plan-add-up-210696">70 years of road-based policies created today's problems – does National’s transport plan add up?</a>
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<p>The system has now seen more than 73 million paid passenger trips since it opened, with upwards of <a href="https://translink.com.au/about-translink/reports-and-publications/performance">ten million trips likely</a> in the 2022-23 year.</p>
<p>In 2019, three other new light rail systems opened in Australia: a short section in Newcastle, another in Canberra (where post-COVID patronage is recovering), and Sydney’s <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-finally-embraces-cbd-light-rail-as-patronage-surges-20230404-p5cxx3.html">CBD and south-east line</a> (where patronage is also bouncing back). Adelaide’s single line was also extended during the 2010s. </p>
<p>However, the combined patronage of all of these new light rail systems is far exceeded by Melbourne’s trams, now building back to pre-COVID levels of <a href="https://www.ptv.vic.gov.au/footer/data-and-reporting/annual-report">205 million rides</a> in 2018-19.</p>
<p>This is all part of a remarkable renaissance of light rail around the world. New Zealand could be part of this – if the will was there.</p>
<h2>The freight factor</h2>
<p>New Zealand’s historical shift from rail to road as the primary mode of freight transport has seen an ever-increasing dependence on trucks. While road freight grew steadily in the first two decades of this century, <a href="https://www.kiwirail.co.nz/who-we-are/publications-and-resources/annual-reports">rail freight</a> in 2021-2022 was the same as it was in 1999-2000.</p>
<p>Road freight does have some advantages, including point-to-point delivery and flexibility. But for many freight movements, using trucks rather than rail <a href="https://www.railfutures.org.au/2017/07/submission-to-inquiry-into-national-freight-and-supply-chain-priorities/">increases emissions</a> by a factor of three. If reducing freight emissions is the goal, shifting some from road to rail is a logical solution.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-zealand-must-get-over-its-obsession-with-big-cars-and-go-smaller-or-electric-to-cut-emissions-183424">New Zealand must get over its obsession with big cars and go smaller or electric to cut emissions</a>
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<p>Rail will therefore have to increase its own energy efficiency, including through more electrification of rail routes such as the Auckland-Hamilton-Tauranga and Palmerston North-Waikanae links. </p>
<p>While this was hinted at in the government’s 2023 budget, it doesn’t appear in the recently released <a href="https://consult.transport.govt.nz/policy/government-policy-statement-on-land-transport-2024">draft government statement</a> on land transport.</p>
<p>Increasing the allowable axle loading for freight wagons across the rail network would also allow trains to carry heavier loads, improve efficiency and reduce emissions. </p>
<p>Finally, the North Island main trunk needs upgrading to make the track straighter and allow trains to go faster. In turn this will make rail more attractive and help reduce emissions. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-get-new-zealanders-out-of-their-cars-well-need-to-start-charging-the-true-cost-of-driving-166167">To get New Zealanders out of their cars we'll need to start charging the true cost of driving</a>
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<h2>When’s the next train?</h2>
<p>Clearly, roads need to be maintained, and New Zealand’s road network has to be made more resilient to adverse weather impacts. But expanding road capacity at the expense of a more efficient rail system and improved public transport is a recipe for increasing emissions.</p>
<p>While road congestion in major cities is a problem, overseas experience tells us that more road capacity only increases vehicle use. The net result is more, not fewer, transport emissions.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-restoring-long-distance-passenger-rail-makes-sense-in-new-zealand-for-people-and-the-climate-199381">Why restoring long-distance passenger rail makes sense in New Zealand – for people and the climate</a>
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<p>It would make more sense to upgrade the rail network to move more freight and transport more urban and intercity passengers. In fact, the Transport and Infrastructure Select Committee has <a href="https://selectcommittees.parliament.nz/v/2/571a0392-4dbf-4623-9953-7b06f3cf4aef">recently recommended</a> that the Ministry of Transport investigate how the Rail Plan could better incorporate inter-regional passenger rail.</p>
<p>But New Zealand needs to move beyond recommendations. As the International Energy Agency <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050">has noted</a>: “Rail transport is the most energy-efficient and least carbon-intensive way to move people and second only to shipping for carrying goods.”</p>
<p>Whichever parties form the next government have an opportunity to put New Zealand transport on the right track. On the evidence so far, however, it could be a slow train coming.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211662/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Laird owns shares in some transport companies. He is affiliated with the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, the Railway Technical Society of Australasia, and the Rail Futures Institute. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
</span></em></p>Both major parties are promising major road projects this election. Meanwhile, the potential for passenger and freight rail to help meet the country’s climate goals seems stuck at the station.Philip Laird, Honorary Principal Fellow, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2106962023-08-01T00:40:02Z2023-08-01T00:40:02Z70 years of road-based policies created today’s problems – does National’s transport plan add up?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/540309/original/file-20230731-255453-hk7shy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C8%2C5570%2C3997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The old joke about “just one more lane” being all that’s needed to solve traffic congestion has been heard a few times since the National Party released its <a href="https://www.national.org.nz/speech_national_s_transport_for_the_future_plan">transport policy</a> this week.</p>
<p>The plan is nothing if not ambitious: more and bigger roads worth nearly NZ$25 billion over ten years, including a four-lane motorway from Whangārei to Tauranga at a stated cost of $6 billion.</p>
<p>That might sound like a lot, with the cost per kilometre of road being about $20 million. But recent big road projects suggest it could be a significant underestimate. </p>
<p>Wellington’s Transmission Gully spans just 27km and cost an <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/analysis-taxpayers-in-the-dark-over-final-cost-of-transmission-gully/L4H226JFRKC4DHNCDMQTXCNRZY/#:%7E:text=Taxpayers%20still%20don%27t%20know,much%20remains%20to%20be%20seen">estimated $1.25 billion</a> – that equates to over $46 million per kilometre. The recently opened Ara Tūhono (dubbed the “holiday highway”) from <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300906854/prime-minister-cuts-ribbon-to-open-aucklands-new-1-billion-motorway">Puhoi to Warkworth</a> north of Auckland cost about $1.05 billion for just 18.5km – almost $57 million per kilometre. </p>
<p>A four-lane motorway between Whangarei and Tauranga would face more challenging terrain than Transmission Gully or Ara Tūhono and would span much longer distances. </p>
<p>Given the significant cost overruns of recent big roading projects, as well as the time it will take to build these roads, it’s likely the bill will be much more than $6 billion.</p>
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<h2>Private versus public transport</h2>
<p>The opportunity cost of these projects also needs to account for those who don’t – or don’t want to – drive a car.</p>
<p>National’s proposal calls for scrapping most of the “<a href="https://www.thepost.co.nz/a/politics/350045125/national-axe-lets-get-wellington-moving-promises-four-lanes-planes">Let’s Get Wellington Moving</a>” project, including a long-planned light rail line. This is on top of the party’s promise that it will axe the proposed Auckland light rail scheme.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/nationals-housing-u-turn-promotes-urban-sprawl-cities-and-ratepayers-will-pick-up-the-bill-206762">National’s housing u-turn promotes urban sprawl – cities and ratepayers will pick up the bill</a>
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<p>Both light rail proposals have been a point of contention: National argues that additional motorways and tunnelling in Wellington would be more cost-effective, and tunnelled light rail in Auckland has an enormous price tag. </p>
<p>But the transport mode itself is fast, efficient and equitable. A similarly controversial <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-finally-embraces-cbd-light-rail-as-patronage-surges-20230404-p5cxx3.html">light rail line in Sydney</a> opened a few years ago, with patronage more than doubling in a single year, despite the pandemic.</p>
<p>Public transport pollution is far less than that from personal vehicles. Buses and trains produce about <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/17/10652">80% less carbon emissions</a> per passenger kilometre than personal vehicles.</p>
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<h2>Roads versus climate</h2>
<p>Around the same time National was releasing its transport policy, July was confirmed to be the <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/july-2023-is-hottest-month-ever-recorded-on-earth/">hottest month ever on Earth</a> (though August could replace that soon). </p>
<p>The northern hemisphere is experiencing extreme heatwaves. Some places are reaching the <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/global-heat-wave-weather-temperatures-07-18-23/">upper limits of human survival</a>. In the American southwest, the pavement got so hot people were treated for <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/07/16/second-degree-burns-heat-dome-us-116-farenheit-california/">second-degree burns</a>.</p>
<p>Records are also breaking around Antarctic sea ice melt, with the most significant deviations from historical averages ever recorded. Wildfires have raged across Canada, Sicily, Algeria and other countries. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/too-big-too-heavy-and-too-slow-to-change-road-transport-is-way-off-track-for-net-zero-208655">Too big, too heavy and too slow to change: road transport is way off track for net zero</a>
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<p>Human-generated carbon emissions have exacerbated these extremes. Of those emissions, <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions-from-transport">almost 25% are from the transport sector</a>, and passenger transport (cars and light trucks) accounts for about 45% of the sector’s emissions.</p>
<p>Given the observable realities of the climate crisis, many have questioned the logic of leaning into road expansion as a policy, especially at the expense of efficient public transport. </p>
<p>More roads encourage <a href="https://www.wired.com/2014/06/wuwt-traffic-induced-demand/">more traffic and more driving</a>, often leading to even worse congestion. Expanded road networks also encourage development in lower-density areas by making them more accessible, at least in the short term. </p>
<p>While this is a selling point in National’s transportation plan, it often leads to more car-dependent development that make <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S136192091830628X">traffic congestion even worse</a>. Combined with National’s proposal to <a href="https://theconversation.com/nationals-housing-u-turn-promotes-urban-sprawl-cities-and-ratepayers-will-pick-up-the-bill-206762">build housing in “greenfields” zones</a> away from cities, it risks locking the country into a car-dependent, high-carbon future.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/electric-cars-alone-wont-save-the-planet-well-need-to-design-cities-so-people-can-walk-and-cycle-safely-171818">Electric cars alone won’t save the planet. We'll need to design cities so people can walk and cycle safely</a>
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<h2>The EV mirage</h2>
<p>National leader Christopher Luxon has <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/nationals-new-transport-policy-laughable-at-best-according-to-labour/PUPHBLW2MVBHVN6RJ6PQSOGYO4/">made the point</a> that “even electric vehicles need adequate roads”. But this begs a bigger question about <a href="https://theconversation.com/electric-cars-alone-wont-save-the-planet-well-need-to-design-cities-so-people-can-walk-and-cycle-safely-171818">relying on EVs</a> to solve transport and climate problems.</p>
<p>Despite years of generous subsidies, battery-electric vehicles still make up just <a href="https://evdb.nz/growth-evs-nz">1.3% of New Zealand’s total fleet</a>. This is nowhere near the numbers needed to make a meaningful dent in transport emissions. </p>
<p>EVs require the same amount of road space and, due to their increased weight, potentially cause more road damage. But EV owners don’t buy petrol, which means they don’t pay excise tax – the same tax that pays for expanding roads.</p>
<p>Even with inflation around 7%, the excise tax has not increased in more than four years, meaning every year the tax’s purchasing power diminishes.</p>
<p>National’s plan to build more roads rather than focus on better public transport is reminiscent of transport policies from the 1950s and 1960s. That era saw the construction of the car-centric cities we now struggle to maintain and move around in. </p>
<p>That era also moved us closer to climate disaster, and generally made transport less efficient and less equitable. In hindsight, massive roading infrastructure projects weren’t the solution they might have seemed 70 years ago. But they have at least provided a lesson in what not to do today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210696/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Welch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The National Party’s transport policy risks locking the country into a car-dependent, high-carbon future.Timothy Welch, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2049202023-05-05T01:03:55Z2023-05-05T01:03:55ZBus rapid transit can avoid traffic chaos for the AFL’s new stadium and transform Hobart – and other cities too<p>Following a decision to <a href="https://theconversation.com/devils-in-the-detail-an-economist-argues-the-case-for-a-tasmanian-afl-team-and-new-stadium-204678">fund an AFL stadium</a> on Hobart’s waterfront, the <a href="https://www.premier.tas.gov.au/site_resources_2015/additional_releases/ferries-and-rapid-bus-rapid-transit-to-get-people-to-and-from-macquarie-point">Tasmanian premier announced</a> plans for a new bus rapid transit (BRT) system and ferry services to avoid traffic congestion. These plans are linked to Hobart’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-name-new-look-for-latest-national-urban-policy-but-same-old-problem-59084">City Deal</a> and promise to reinvigorate the city’s ailing public transport system.</p>
<p>Hobart once led transport innovation. It was the first city in the southern hemisphere with an electric <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-21/curious-what-happened-to-hobart-trams/9150104">tram system</a>. At its peak, these trams handled 40% of journeys in the city. </p>
<p>Since the 1970s, though, following the closure of Hobart’s last passenger rail service, the city’s public transport network has suffered from dwindling investment and patronage (now under 5% of journeys). Could bus rapid transit help combat the city’s notorious <a href="https://theconversation.com/growth-pains-and-gridlock-come-to-hobart-and-building-more-roads-is-not-the-best-way-out-92258">car dependence</a>?</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/growth-pains-and-gridlock-come-to-hobart-and-building-more-roads-is-not-the-best-way-out-92258">Growth pains and gridlock come to Hobart, and building more roads is not the best way out</a>
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<h2>What is bus rapid transit?</h2>
<p>Bus rapid transit systems typically run buses along dedicated corridors, taking the bus out of traffic. They can be highly effective people-movers. Many such systems have achieved passenger capacities comparable to light rail. </p>
<p>For example, bus rapid transit systems move more than <a href="https://use.metropolis.org/case-studies/transmilenio-bus-rapid-transit-system">40,000 passengers per hour</a> in Bogota, Colombia, and around 20,000 in Brisbane. The vehicles are no ordinary bus – they can carry nearly 200 passengers in comfort. </p>
<p>Modern <a href="https://www.urban-transport-magazine.com/en/56-ordered-electric-bi-articulated-buses-for-greater-paris/">articulated electric BRT vehicles</a> provide a similar ride experience to light rail. And bus rapid transit stations have the look and feel of rail stations.</p>
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<img alt="A rapid bus transit station next to lanes of traffic in Bogota, Colombia" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524306/original/file-20230504-22-8hro6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/524306/original/file-20230504-22-8hro6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524306/original/file-20230504-22-8hro6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524306/original/file-20230504-22-8hro6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524306/original/file-20230504-22-8hro6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524306/original/file-20230504-22-8hro6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/524306/original/file-20230504-22-8hro6g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The rapid bus transit system in Bogota, Colombia, can carry 40,000 passengers an hour.</span>
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<h2>Is this system a better choice than light rail?</h2>
<p>A key question some Hobart residents are asking is why the Tasmanian government has chosen bus over light rail. A major reason is the cost-effectiveness of this sort of bus system. A state government-funded <a href="https://www.hobartcitydeal.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/271707/Northern_Suburbs_Transit_Corridor_Transport_Mode_Study_Final_Summary_Report.PDF">report</a> estimated the construction cost of Hobart’s rapid bus transit system at A$445 million, versus $596 million for light rail. </p>
<p>Recognising that these are pre-COVID numbers, costs will now be much higher. For example, while Canberra’s light rail cost $675 million, the cost of stage 3 of the Gold Coast light rail has blown out from around $600 million to $1.2 billion. </p>
<p>Bus rapid transit vehicles also cost less, but their passenger capacities are comparable to light rail vehicles. The Canberra light rail vehicle can carry 207 passengers. Brisbane’s Metro rapid transit bus will have a capacity of 150-180 people.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-cities-planning-to-spend-billions-on-light-rail-should-look-again-at-what-buses-can-do-156844">Why cities planning to spend billions on light rail should look again at what buses can do</a>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The benefits of bus rapid transit for fighting congestion.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>How do we ensure it works in Hobart?</h2>
<p>Research has identified <a href="https://www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/publications/report-research-perspectives-merits-light-rail-vs-bus-prof-graham-currie">several important principles</a> that need to be met if the new Hobart bus system is to be effective. These include reliable, high-frequency services, effective station design, quality station amenities, ride quality and passenger experience.</p>
<p>Investing in quality infrastructure will be essential. As Brisbane’s busway has shown, it is vital that buses coming into a station don’t clog up the corridor when passengers alight. Station designs must allow room for multiple vehicles, with by-pass lanes around stations to allow express services to continue unimpeded. </p>
<p>The vehicles must have multiple doors so passengers can get on and off quickly.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1517595201623232516"}"></div></p>
<p>As <a href="https://australasiantransportresearchforum.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2013_currie_burke.pdf">research on Melbourne’s tram system shows</a>, if public transport gets stuck in traffic, patronage will suffer. That’s because the system is then slower (average 15 kilometres per hour) than taking a car and much more unreliable. </p>
<p>For this reason, the new bus rapid transit system must have its own dedicated corridor and not share intersections with other traffic – or else traffic lights must give priority to the buses. <a href="https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1282&context=jpt">Research shows</a> this will enable the vehicle to increase its average speed to more than 50km/h (maximum 80km/h). Because the Gold Coast light rail does not have a dedicated corridor for parts of its route, its average operating speed is only 27km/h.</p>
<p>The passenger experience will also be crucial for the system’s success. <a href="https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1286&context=mti_publications">Research shows</a> passengers have a low tolerance for waiting around and having to transfer between routes and to other transit modes (such as ferries). </p>
<p>Experience elsewhere also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2014.09.012">shows</a> it is important that passengers get tickets at the station, not on the bus. A ticketing system that allows seamless transfer between bus rapid transit, regular buses and ferries will be vital to maximise efficient travel. It’s also important to design stations and vehicles to provide universal access, so everyone can use the new system.</p>
<h2>Rapid bus transit has broader impacts too</h2>
<p>The impacts of bus rapid transit on a city are broader than transport. It has important <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1077291X22003393">land-use planning benefits</a>. A well-designed system can increase housing densities and thus improve housing options, including affordable housing, along the corridor. </p>
<p>A bus rapid transit network can also connect people with jobs, education, healthcare, childcare and recreation opportunities. Councils along the new transit corridor in Hobart will need to protect adjoining land from speculative investment to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01441647.2019.1649316">manage gentrification</a>. They will also have to develop sound design guidelines to steer desirable types of development, such as medium-density neighbourhoods – the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/becoming-more-urban-attitudes-to-medium-density-living-are-changing-in-sydney-and-melbourne-84693">missing middle</a>”.</p>
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<p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/people-want-and-need-more-housing-choice-its-about-time-governments-stood-up-to-deliver-it-122390">People want and need more housing choice. It's about time governments stood up to deliver it</a>
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<p>Bus rapid transit is <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01441647.2017.1301594">emerging as a very viable way</a> to deliver quality transport solutions for cities. It’s especially suitable for those with limited resources, such as smaller cities and those in the developing world. While Hobart’s bus rapid transit is explicitly linked to the new stadium, cities like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9906.2012.00626.x">Barcelona</a> have shown such urban revitalisation investment can have transformative benefits for cities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204920/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Byrne receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is an ARC Future Fellow, working on green-space and thermal inequity. Jason is also a recipient of a Natural Disaster Risk Reduction Grant, assessing exposure to extreme heat events in Launceston and Hobart, Tasmania.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Graham Currie receives funding from the Australian Research Council. The chair of public transport is funded by Government and transport authorities in Victoria to provide independent advice on improving public transport systems. He is also a researcher and advisor on transport systems development in every State and Territory of Australia and many overseas authorities.</span></em></p>Bus rapid transit is more than a way to get thousands of people to the game. Used in cities globally as an alternative to light rail, it can be a cost-effective way to transform cities for the better.Jason Byrne, Professor of Human Geography and Planning, University of TasmaniaGraham Currie, Professor of Public Transport, Director Public Transport Research Group, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1986542023-01-30T21:05:18Z2023-01-30T21:05:18ZPublicly owned land should be used for affordable housing, not sold to private developers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507018/original/file-20230130-24-9z07f6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=111%2C208%2C2779%2C1823&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">When land is publicly owned, it can be used to build the kind of housing the market is unwilling, or unable, to build.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>On Jan. 25, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to <a href="https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-region/2023/01/25/hamilton-affordable-housing-lrt.html">“ensure” affordable housing is built along Hamilton’s light rail transit (LRT) route</a>. While this is welcome news, there are many uncertainties about how this will actually happen. </p>
<p>Building and maintaining affordable housing near good transit is one of the biggest challenges cities face today. It’s not just Hamilton, Ont.: <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/streets-parking-transportation/transit-in-toronto/transit-expansion/">Toronto</a>, <a href="https://www.mississauga.ca/projects-and-strategies/city-projects/hurontario-light-rail-transit">Mississauga, Ont.</a>, <a href="https://www.brampton.ca/EN/residents/transit/Projects-Initiatives/Pages/Welcome.aspx">Brampton, Ont.</a>, <a href="https://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/exploring-the-region/stage2ion.aspx">Waterloo, Ont.</a>, <a href="https://ottawa.ca/en/planning-development-and-construction/major-projects/stage-2-light-rail-transit-project">Ottawa</a>, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-city-third-link-tramway-1.6029933">Québec City</a>, <a href="https://dailyhive.com/montreal/rem-light-rail-train-mcgill-station">Montréal</a>, <a href="https://www.calgary.ca/green-line.html">Calgary</a>, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/8737356/bc-government-legislative-powers-land-transit-hubs/">Vancouver</a> and <a href="https://www.edmonton.ca/projects_plans/transit/future-lrt-projects">Edmonton</a> are all constructing or planning new transit lines. </p>
<p>However, without proactive approaches from all levels of government, <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262536851/transit-oriented-displacement-or-community-dividends/">gentrification and displacement</a> will accompany these new trains.</p>
<p>Fortunately, there are solutions right in front of us.</p>
<h2>Public vs. private ownership</h2>
<p>Metrolinx, a provincial government agency, has <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/metrolinx-lrt-demolition-1.6207825">acquired large sections of land</a> for the construction of many of these LRTs, including in Hamilton. Once trains are running, most of this land will no longer be needed. Typically, surplus public land is sold on the open market to the highest bidder. But that’s not the only approach.</p>
<p>What happens to publicly owned land along new transit lines will determine whether or not they will be affordable places to live. </p>
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<img alt="A man in a blue dress shirt and suit jackets speaks from behind a podium" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506884/original/file-20230127-25-6v77bq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506884/original/file-20230127-25-6v77bq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506884/original/file-20230127-25-6v77bq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506884/original/file-20230127-25-6v77bq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506884/original/file-20230127-25-6v77bq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506884/original/file-20230127-25-6v77bq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506884/original/file-20230127-25-6v77bq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to the media at the McMaster Automotive Resource Centre, in Hamilton, Ont., during the Liberal Cabinet retreat on Jan. 25, 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nick Iwanyshyn</span></span>
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<p>If this land is <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ryerson-university-report-affordable-housing-downtown-parcel-sold-1.5115645">sold to private developers</a>, Canadians are unlikely to see significant amounts of affordable housing built for low- or moderate-income households. </p>
<p>This is a triple blow to these communities: new housing is too expensive, existing affordable housing is being lost through <a href="https://acorncanada.org/resources/save-rental-replacement-bylaws-protect-affordable-housing/">demolition</a>, <a href="https://www.homelesshub.ca/sites/default/files/attachments/august-financialization-rental-housing-ofha-en.pdf">renoviction</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2017.04.011">gentrification</a>, and people who rely on transit will have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12203">few housing options</a> along routes.</p>
<p>But if this land is kept in public ownership, the future of affordable housing is brighter. Although Metrolinx has no history of doing so, the pieces are in place to use this publicly owned land to build the kind of housing the market is unwilling, or unable, to build.</p>
<p>The province could retain this land and transfer it to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and use it for social housing. Even if the province wants to sell the land, there are possibilities.</p>
<h2>A culture shift is needed</h2>
<p>In Ontario, provincially owned land — <a href="https://www.metrolinx.com/en/about-us/doing-business-with-metrolinx/development-opportunities/land-opportunities">including land owned by Metrolinx</a> — is subject to the <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/ontarios-realty-directive">Ontario Realty Directive</a>. This directive gives other public entities, like the federal government or municipalities, the right to acquire surplus provincial properties before they are sold on the open market. </p>
<p>Cities <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9300122/ontario-metrolinx-affordable-housing-surplus-land-criticism/">rarely exercise their option to buy surplus provincial land</a>, partly because it takes time (and money) to do so, but also because of a culture that emphasizes <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/2870-capital-city">the role of the private sector</a>, rather than the public, in developing housing.</p>
<p>The federal government could also acquire land under the directive and build housing on it funded by the <a href="https://www.placetocallhome.ca/what-is-the-strategy">National Housing Strategy</a>. So far, this strategy has produced very little affordable housing for households in need. <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-governments-across-canada-need-common-income-based-definition-of/">A change is clearly necessary</a>.</p>
<p>The provincial government can also be much more proactive. The <a href="https://files.ontario.ca/mmah-housing-affordability-task-force-report-en-2022-02-07-v2.pdf">Ontario Housing Affordability Task Force</a> recommended that all future government land sales have a 20 per cent affordable housing requirement. Unfortunately, this recommendation has not been adopted. </p>
<p>In 2022, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/provincial-land-transit-hub-private-developer-sale-1.6330555">Metrolinx sold a parking lot in Port Credit</a> — located next to a GO station, right at the start of the Hurontario LRT line — to a private developer for $64.5 million, with no requirement for any affordable housing.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/has-ontarios-housing-plan-been-built-on-a-foundation-of-evidentiary-sand-198133">Has Ontario’s housing 'plan' been built on a foundation of evidentiary sand?</a>
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<p>A culture shift around provincially owned land needs to come from the top — from Minister of Transportation Caroline Mulroney, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark, and from Premier Doug Ford himself. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-passes-housing-bill-23-1.6666657">With the passing of Bill 23</a>, Ford has an ambitious plan to build new homes in Ontario, but <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2022/10/26/the-province-is-setting-a-housing-affordability-trap-for-toronto.html">more direction is needed</a> to shape what kind of housing gets built and for whom.</p>
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<img alt="A GO Transit train sits parked at a station" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506907/original/file-20230127-14-dsg1vf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506907/original/file-20230127-14-dsg1vf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506907/original/file-20230127-14-dsg1vf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506907/original/file-20230127-14-dsg1vf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506907/original/file-20230127-14-dsg1vf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506907/original/file-20230127-14-dsg1vf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506907/original/file-20230127-14-dsg1vf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Building and maintaining affordable housing near good transit is one of the biggest challenges cities face today.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tara Walton</span></span>
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<h2>Genuinely affordable housing</h2>
<p>The private market is <a href="https://theconversation.com/housing-is-both-a-human-right-and-a-profitable-asset-and-thats-the-problem-172846">very good at building a lot of small condo units</a>, especially along new transit lines. In <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.06.013">Waterloo</a>, where I work, more than $4 billion has been invested along the LRT corridor. Most of this investment was made before the line opened, meaning these kinds of conversations need to happen today, not five years from now.</p>
<p>What the private market is not good at is <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-housing-supply-isnt-a-cure-all-for-the-housing-crisis-188342">building genuinely affordable housing</a> and <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/environment/news/renters-kitchener-waterloo-are-diverse-their-rental-options">family-sized units</a> for households on a range of incomes.</p>
<p>Not all the new housing on publicly owned land has to be social housing, though we do need a lot more of it. A <a href="https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/about/economics/economics-publications/post.other-publications.insights-views.social-housing--january-18--2023-.html">recent Scotiabank report</a> noted that even if Canada doubled its percentage of social housing, we would only be at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and G7 averages.</p>
<p>Within our current planning rules, the questions of what to build and for whom are left to the market. One of the few tools cities have to shape private development is <a href="http://justwebsites.ca/inclusionaryhousing/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2019/10/August-CIP-2018.pdf">inclusionary zoning</a>, which requires a certain percentage of affordable housing be built in new developments.</p>
<p>Most cities have yet to establish their policies, but <a href="https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-43/session-1/bill-23">Bill 23 will restrict affordable housing</a> to five per cent of units for a maximum of 25 years, with rents at 80 per cent of market rates. This approach won’t do anything for families in <a href="https://www.placetocallhome.ca/national-housing-council/media-newsroom/analysis-affordable-housing-supply-created-unilateral-nhs-programs">core housing need</a> — households that spend more than 30 per cent of their income on shelter. It is also a far cry from the <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/planning-development/planning-studies-initiatives/inclusionary-zoning-policy/inclusionary-zoning-overview/">City of Toronto’s inclusionary zoning plan</a> which called for 22 per cent of new units to be affordable by 2030.</p>
<h2>Thinking beyond the market</h2>
<p>When land is publicly owned, we can set the terms of development and be much more ambitious and creative. It would be possible, for example, to stipulate that new owner-occupied units be the primary residences of their owners, a model <a href="https://whistlerhousing.ca/">already practised in Whistler, B.C.</a>.</p>
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<img alt="A street car drives down the centre of a two-way street. Condos and apartment buildings are seen in the background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507149/original/file-20230130-7092-7ufo5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507149/original/file-20230130-7092-7ufo5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507149/original/file-20230130-7092-7ufo5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507149/original/file-20230130-7092-7ufo5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507149/original/file-20230130-7092-7ufo5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507149/original/file-20230130-7092-7ufo5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507149/original/file-20230130-7092-7ufo5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Along new transit lines, the private market is good at building a lot of small condo units, not family-sized units for households on a range of incomes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Brian Doucet)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>In Ontario, where <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/investors-in-ontario-real-estate-market-1.6258199">a quarter of all homebuyers are investors</a>, this would <a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-solve-the-housing-crisis-address-super-charged-demand-169809">reduce demand by eliminating speculation</a> on publicly owned land.</p>
<p>Cities could use their land for <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2023/01/07/why-dont-we-zone-for-rental-apartments.html">purpose-built rentals</a>, with rents set at a ratio of a tenant’s income, rather than a little bit below market rates. They could also lease sites to non-profits to build supportive housing, as <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/blockline-road-new-supportive-housing-erin-kloos-1.6456499">Kitchener recently did</a>. Publicly owned land also plays a key role in <a href="https://www.landbackcamp.com/">reconciliation with Indigenous communities</a>, who disproportionately struggle to find adequate and affordable housing.</p>
<p>In a housing crisis, publicly owned land should never be sold to private developers in the hopes of getting <a href="https://www.ohba.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/cur_report_surplus_lands_april2019.pdf">a few crumbs of affordable housing</a> out of the deal. By assuming the private market has a monopoly on housing development, we ignore the genuinely transformative solutions that are hiding in plain sight. </p>
<p>Thinking beyond the market, and using publicly owned land creatively, is the only way Trudeau’s pledge to ensure affordable housing along Hamilton’s LRT corridor will actually result in housing for the people who need it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198654/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Doucet receives funding from SSHRC, the Canada Research Chairs program and the Hamilton Community Foundation. Some of his research is conducted in partnership with the Social Development Centre Waterloo Region. He has co-written reports on housing and mobility for local governments in Ontario. . </span></em></p>In a housing crisis, publicly owned land should never be sold to private developers and should instead be used to build the kind of housing the market is unwilling and unable to build.Brian Doucet, Canada Research Chair in Urban Change and Social Inclusion, University of WaterlooLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1585892021-05-21T12:27:08Z2021-05-21T12:27:08ZPandemic-stricken mass transit would get $85 billion in Biden stimulus plan – a down payment on reviving American cities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401721/original/file-20210519-13-1is09cw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=36%2C0%2C5993%2C4013&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority was hit hard by a 79% ridership reduction during the pandemic. It needs an extra $8 billion through 2024 to avoid service cuts and layoffs.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pedestrians-pass-by-a-subway-station-in-manhattan-on-may-17-news-photo/1318524077?adppopup=true">Spencer Platt/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Congress now has control over what kind of commute – good, bad, awful – workers returning to offices in the U.S. will have.</p>
<p>President Joe Biden’s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/31/fact-sheet-the-american-jobs-plan/">American Jobs Plan</a>, released in March 2021, includes US$85 billion for city transit agencies to improve their systems by purchasing new buses and train cars and maintaining subway stations and tracks. </p>
<p>If passed in Congress, the dollars would explicitly build on the relief already provided to cities in last year’s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/legislation/2021/01/20/president-biden-announces-american-rescue-plan/">American Rescue Plan</a>, according to the White House. That coronavirus relief bill, passed in March 2020, kept fare-starved buses, trains and subways running throughout the pandemic, often with scaled-back service, <a href="https://transitcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/TC_Covid_FINAL_Pages-1.pdf">helping millions of U.S. workers</a> to reach jobs providing essential services. The money covered <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/ncsl-in-dc/publications-and-resources/american-rescue-plan-act-of-2021.aspx">payroll, rider safety measures and pandemic protective equipment for drivers</a>.</p>
<p>Each of these bills supports <a href="https://www.democrats.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/American%20Rescue%20Plan%20Act%20-%205307%20Runs%20(Tentative)%203.8.21.pdf">public transit systems</a> in different but critical ways. U.S. transit agencies have always maintained a delicate balance in how they spend scarce taxpayer money, between <a href="https://infrastructurereportcard.org/cat-item/transit/">operations and capital investment</a>. </p>
<p>In practice, both are necessary to keep subway and bus systems running – and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=zbew56MAAAAJ&hl=en">as a scholar of urban planning</a> who studies transportation systems, I emphasize the necessity of reliable mass transit to revitalize American cities post-pandemic. </p>
<h2>Languishing systems</h2>
<p>Even before COVID-19, transit agencies lacked the money to maintain their systems. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://infrastructurereportcard.org/cat-item/transit/">recent report</a> the American Society of Civil Engineers gave a D minus to American transit infrastructure. The country’s aging “fixed-rail” systems, <a href="https://eh.net/encyclopedia/urban-mass-transit-in-the-united-states/">a category that includes subways, commuter rail and light rail</a>, are in chronic disrepair. Boston’s subway system opened in 1897 and others shortly thereafter, or in the 1960s and 1970s. Over time, these systems require more investment just to maintain reliable service. </p>
<p>During recessions, however, many have foregone it out of financial necessity. And starting around 2014, <a href="https://www.apta.com/wp-content/uploads/APTA-2020-Survey-Impact-COVID-19-Agencies.pdf">transit agencies saw declining ridership</a> – and resulting revenue decreases – as on-demand services like Uber and Lyft expanded nationwide. </p>
<p>The American Society of Civil Engineers documented the predictable consequences. The industry has $176 billion in needed investments that is expected to grow to <a href="https://infrastructurereportcard.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Transit-2021.pdf">$250 billion by 2029</a>. Currently, 19% of transit vehicles and 6% of tracks and tunnels are rated in “poor condition.” </p>
<h2>Essential service for all workers</h2>
<p>The pandemic further upset the fragile <a href="https://www.apta.com/wp-content/uploads/APTA-COVID-19-Funding-Impact-2021-01-27.pdf">financial balance of American mass transit</a>.</p>
<p>Ridership on subways, trains and buses nationwide plummeted <a href="https://www.apta.com/wp-content/uploads/2020-Q4-Ridership-APTA.pdf">80% during April 2020</a> as people who could work remotely did. Large-scale events, like sports and concerts, were canceled. People increasingly ordered goods online.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401723/original/file-20210519-12241-s5mwrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Four gleaming, clean and unused ticket-vending machines in a subway station" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401723/original/file-20210519-12241-s5mwrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401723/original/file-20210519-12241-s5mwrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401723/original/file-20210519-12241-s5mwrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401723/original/file-20210519-12241-s5mwrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401723/original/file-20210519-12241-s5mwrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401723/original/file-20210519-12241-s5mwrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401723/original/file-20210519-12241-s5mwrm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An empty Metro station in Los Angeles, Calif., on March 19, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-empty-metro-subway-station-is-seen-during-the-covid-19-news-photo/1217215255?adppopup=true">Morgan Lieberman/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some people – those who deliver goods, pick up trash and take care of patients – never stopped reporting to work during the pandemic. Other essential workers, such as construction and restaurant staff, soon resumed on-site work. But cities saw <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/03/08/climate/nyc-transit-covid.html">much less daily movement</a> of people. </p>
<p>Studies suggest that the sharpest decline in transit ridership occurred in regions with higher percentages of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2020.102654">white, educated and high-income workers</a>. Regions with more jobs in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2020.102654">trade, transportation and utilities</a> saw lower declines. So did transit systems in <a href="https://www.govtech.com/fs/after-a-devastating-year-transit-is-adapting-to-the-future.html">the South</a>, where a higher percentage of riders may be essential workers.</p>
<p>Less money from fares was compounded by reductions to the various local and state taxes and other revenue sources that <a href="https://www.apta.com/wp-content/uploads/APTA-COVID-19-Funding-Impact-2021-01-27.pdf">help support transit operations</a>. New York’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/03/08/climate/nyc-transit-covid.html">Metropolitan Transportation Authority</a> says it will require an additional <a href="https://new.mta.info/document/30186">$8 billion through 2024 to avoid service cuts and layoffs</a>.</p>
<h2>Everyone wants good transit</h2>
<p>Many essential workers are what transportation planners often refer to as “captive riders” – they have to use public transit. They contrast with higher-income “choice riders,” who sometimes own cars. </p>
<p>This longstanding distinction between “captive” and “choice” transit riders, however, <a href="https://usa.streetsblog.org/2016/07/12/the-choice-vs-captive-transit-rider-dichotomy-is-all-wrong/">ignores that most people who live in cities</a> want affordable and convenient ways to reach a diversity of destinations, not just their offices but also <a href="https://nytransit.org/resources/public-transit-facts">shops, their friends’ houses, parks and theaters</a>.</p>
<p>Ultimately, how urbanites get to those places depends on where they live. According to a <a href="https://transitcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/TransitCenter-WOB-2016.pdf">survey of 3,000 transit riders</a> nationwide conducted by the New York nonprofit TransitCenter, “in walkable neighborhoods with frequent transit service, people with and without cars both ride transit more than people in areas with poor transit.”</p>
<p>This is why public transit’s societal benefits extend beyond shuttling people to and from work. It offers choice about how they travel, which reduces congestion. According to the <a href="https://static.tti.tamu.edu/tti.tamu.edu/documents/mobility-report-2019.pdf">Texas A&M Transportation Institute</a>, the average driving commuter wastes 54 hours per year in traffic, costing them $1,080 in wasted time and fuel. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401725/original/file-20210519-21-1w5vw3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Congested highway with a city in background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401725/original/file-20210519-21-1w5vw3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/401725/original/file-20210519-21-1w5vw3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401725/original/file-20210519-21-1w5vw3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401725/original/file-20210519-21-1w5vw3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401725/original/file-20210519-21-1w5vw3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401725/original/file-20210519-21-1w5vw3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/401725/original/file-20210519-21-1w5vw3n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Boston at evening rush hour on Aug. 6, 2020. By then, state data suggested that traffic was approaching pre-pandemic levels.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/boston-traffic-at-evening-rush-hour-on-aug-6-2020-state-news-photo/1227951361?adppopup=true">Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many large urban areas can expect extreme <a href="https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2020/06/05/transportation-lab-predicts-extreme-traffic-for-some-cities-following-covid-19/">traffic congestion this year as workers stop working remotely</a> – if they choose cars over public transportation. Fifty-five percent of Americans <a href="https://infrastructurereportcard.org/cat-item/transit/">have access to transit</a>. But car owners will drive if subways and buses cannot maintain frequent, convenient and reliable service. </p>
<h2>Transit is safe</h2>
<p>As for COVID-19 risk on public transportation, evidence shows <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/08/10/nyregion/nyc-subway-coronavirus.html">it is quite low</a>.</p>
<p>The ventilation systems in most transit systems are better than many other indoor spaces. In addition to mandatory mask-wearing, many cities – including Detroit and San Antonio – made transit free or enabled back-door entry <a href="https://nacto.org/covid19-rapid-response-tools-for-transit-agencies/">to limit rider-driver interactions</a>.</p>
<p>These COVID-19 safety protocols, along with good air flow, ensured the safety of transit passengers throughout the pandemic. Enforcing the <a href="https://theconversation.com/public-transit-drivers-struggle-to-enforce-mask-mandates-154689">mask requirement will remain a challenge</a>.</p>
<p>Worldwide, transit agencies in Korea, China and Taiwan continued to carry between 70% and 90% of typical ridership without new local cases among riders. Studies in Japan and France, using contract tracing, showed <a href="https://transitcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/FactSheetFinal.pdf">limited connections between transit usage and COVID-19 clusters</a></p>
<p>If Congress passes the American Jobs Plan, the infrastructure funding it sends to cities and states will encourage American transit agencies to upgrade their buses, trains and subways, improve tracks or expand service <a href="https://apta.com/wp-content/uploads/TRANSIT_PRIORITIES_POST_PANDEMIC_Nov_2020.pdf">for all workers returning to their regular lives</a>. The package allows cities to spend their portion of the $85 billion to <a href="https://escholarship.org/content/qt15t657r2/qt15t657r2.pdf?t=qpo52c">provide the kind of frequent, reliable and less costly service</a> that makes mass transit a more appealing option than a rideshare service. </p>
<p>Good mass transit also encourages people to travel in cities – fueling the pandemic recovery that people badly want and the economy so desperately needs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158589/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ruth Steiner receives funding from United States Department of Transportation (under their University Transportation Center Program (see <a href="https://www.transportation.gov/content/university-transportation-centers">https://www.transportation.gov/content/university-transportation-centers</a>)) and Florida Department of Transportation. </span></em></p>Transit agencies could use the money to buy new subway cars, buses and maintain rails. The funding is designed to build on last year’s emergency aid, which kept transit operating through the pandemic.Ruth Steiner, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of FloridaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1568442021-04-05T20:07:39Z2021-04-05T20:07:39ZWhy cities planning to spend billions on light rail should look again at what buses can do<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392737/original/file-20210331-21-cpalne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C15%2C5184%2C3430&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many cities in <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/parramatta-light-rail-costs-blow-out-to-more-than-35-billion-20161015-gs300q.html">Australia</a> and <a href="https://wrirosscities.org/our-work/project-city/brtdataorg-global-database-bus-rapid-transit">around the world</a> have recently made or proposed investments in new light rail systems. They often do so in the belief this will not only increase public transport use, but also lead urban renewal and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016718517300210">improve a city’s global image</a>. However, compared to light rail, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213624X21000018">my research</a> shows a system of buses running along dedicated corridors, known as <a href="http://bic.asn.au/information-for-moving-people/bus-rapid-transit">bus rapid transit</a>, has many advantages for Adelaide (the focus of my research) and cities like it.</p>
<p>The advantages include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>a bus rapid transit system is cheaper to construct and run</p></li>
<li><p>it takes less time to introduce with less disruption</p></li>
<li><p>being able to leave designated lanes offers greater flexibility to pick up passengers where and when needed.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>In contrast, retrofitting light rail onto arterial roads has proven <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/parramatta-light-rail-costs-blow-out-to-more-than-35-billion-20161015-gs300q.html">expensive</a>, slow and <a href="https://www.railway-technology.com/features/sydney-light-rail-fiasco/">highly disruptive</a>. For example, 12.5km of arterial-based <a href="https://www.railexpress.com.au/auditor-general-calculates-cost-of-sydney-light-rail-at-3-1bn/">light rail in Sydney</a> cost over A$150 million per kilometre and took more than five years to complete. Given these inherent problems, Australian cities such as <a href="https://www.transportplan.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/117444/Our_Plan.pdf">Adelaide</a> with new light rail systems on the drawing board should first take another look at bus rapid transit.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/trackless-trams-v-light-rail-its-not-a-contest-both-can-improve-our-cities-125134">Trackless trams v light rail? It's not a contest – both can improve our cities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Australian cities face hurdles to public transport use</h2>
<p>Most Australian state and territory governments have <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264837718316983">similar transport-related goals</a>. These include to become more environmentally sustainable and reduce traffic congestion, which saps productivity. They typically aim to achieve these goals <a href="https://www.transport.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/1613302/200601-ACT-Transport-Strategy_web.pdf">by increasing public transport use</a> at the expense of cars. </p>
<p>Globally, affluent cities with high levels of public transport use have <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S136192091400114X">comprehensive public transport networks</a>. These systems allow people to travel from one place to another anywhere in the city quickly, cheaply and conveniently with minimal interchanges. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/our-new-pm-wants-to-bust-congestion-here-are-four-ways-he-could-do-that-102249">Our new PM wants to 'bust congestion' – here are four ways he could do that</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In contrast, Australian cities are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S136192091400114X">car-oriented</a>. Their radial <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07293682.2013.795179">“hub and spoke” public transport systems</a> primarily allow people to get to central business districts and occasionally major regional centres quickly, cheaply and conveniently. They struggle to do so for suburb-to-suburb trips. </p>
<p>In Australian cities, <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/2071.0.55.001%7E2016%7EMain%20Features%7ECommuting%20Distance%20to%20Place%20of%20Work%7E30">75-90% of jobs and commerce</a> are located in their suburbs. This means the structure of public transport is a major challenge for increasing patronage at the expense of cars. But what if existing arterial roads can be converted for use by rapid bus transit?</p>
<h2>Adelaide: a case study</h2>
<p>My research looked at the alternative of bus rapid transit along a corridor in metropolitan Adelaide where a <a href="https://www.transportplan.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/117444/Our_Plan.pdf">new light rail track</a> is proposed. From the CBD, this corridor runs about 7km east to the hills and 9km west to the sea. As an indication of the likely cost, a 1km extension along North Terrace of an existing line cost <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/cost-of-adelaide-tram-to-blow-out-to-124m">more than $A120 million</a> in 2018. </p>
<p>The area within 3km of the corridor contains around <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213624X21000018">40% of metropolitan Adelaide’s jobs</a>, major recreation and shopping facilities, most of its universities, and the airport.
Buses running in often highly congested and slow traffic provide the only public transport in the area. As a result, public transport use is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213624X21000018">very low</a> compared to similar areas in other Australian cities. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-avoid-cars-clogging-our-cities-during-coronavirus-recovery-140744">How to avoid cars clogging our cities during coronavirus recovery</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Bus rapid transit services run along designated lanes down the centre of arterial roads, as would an arterial-based light rail. </p>
<p>Stops are spaced at similar intervals to light rail and resemble stations rather than a typical bus stop. Such systems are in place around the globe, one of the most famous being in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/26/curitiba-brazil-brt-transport-revolution-history-cities-50-buildings">Curitiba, Brazil</a>. </p>
<h2>The advantages of buses add up</h2>
<p>The great advantage a bus-based system has over light rail is cost. They can run along existing roads and don’t need expensive tracks and overhead wires. </p>
<p>As a result, bus rapid transit <a href="https://www.itdp.org/library/standards-and-guides/the-bus-rapid-transit-standard/">can be built</a> for <a href="https://wrirosscities.org/our-work/project-city/brtdataorg-global-database-bus-rapid-transit">less than 10% of the cost of light rail</a>. The buses are also <a href="https://wrirosscities.org/tags/brtdataorg">cheaper to run</a> per passenger journey and have similar journey speeds to light rail. Bus rapid transit can be established in <a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4sn2f5wc">months rather than years with minimal disruption</a> to surrounding businesses and residents.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/trees-versus-light-rail-we-need-to-rethink-skewed-urban-planning-values-57206">Trees versus light rail: we need to rethink skewed urban planning values</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Buses do have some disadvantages compared to light rail. For a start, when diesel buses are used, they cause significant <a href="https://ppiaf.org/sites/ppiaf.org/files/documents/toolkits/UrbanBusToolkit/assets/1/1b/1b12.html#:%7E:text=Buses%20may%20contribute%20to%20atmospheric,fuel%20and%20emit%20excessive%20exhaust.">noise and air pollution</a>. Using electric buses can overcome these problems. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Electric bus being charged on a road" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392736/original/file-20210331-23-1pxifuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392736/original/file-20210331-23-1pxifuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392736/original/file-20210331-23-1pxifuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392736/original/file-20210331-23-1pxifuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392736/original/file-20210331-23-1pxifuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392736/original/file-20210331-23-1pxifuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/392736/original/file-20210331-23-1pxifuz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Using electric buses overcomes the problems of noise and air pollution.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/electric-bus-on-city-street-1452327569">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-forget-buses-six-rules-for-improving-city-bus-services-94984">Don't forget buses: six rules for improving city bus services</a>
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<p>In addition, individual vehicles normally carry fewer passengers than light rail. However, my research shows low passenger capacity per vehicle is an advantage in low-density suburban areas, such as those along the proposed corridor in Adelaide. That’s because it means the buses have to run more often, making the service more regular, convenient and reliable. </p>
<p>Another advantage over light rail is that in low-density areas, vehicles can leave designated lanes and venture for 2-4km into suburbs to pick up and drop off passengers. This vastly expands the number of households in the system’s catchment and means passengers can get to their destinations with no interchange or just one. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/1-million-rides-and-counting-on-demand-services-bring-public-transport-to-the-suburbs-132355">1 million rides and counting: on-demand services bring public transport to the suburbs</a>
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<p>Finally, the inner and middle suburbs of Adelaide, where most residents live and work, have many wide straight roads suitable for bus rapid transit services. It would be possible to develop around 100km of BRT lanes connecting existing light rail, heavy rail and busway infrastructure. I estimate a comprehensive network could be built for well under a billion dollars in a few years. </p>
<p>A similarly sized light rail network would cost tens of billions of dollars and take decades to complete, if it was to happen at all. </p>
<p>Therefore, if cities want people to switch from cars to public transport, bus rapid transit is the superior option in metropolitan Adelaide and potentially other cities with arterial road networks and low suburban densities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/156844/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael McGreevy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In many cities contemplating new light rail systems, bus rapid transit offers a cheaper, faster and more flexible solution.Michael McGreevy, Research Associate, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1251342019-10-22T18:56:56Z2019-10-22T18:56:56ZTrackless trams v light rail? It’s not a contest – both can improve our cities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/297614/original/file-20191018-156314-8tirid.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Yibin is the latest Chinese city to get the Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit (ART) system, or trackless trams.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Yibin_Tram#/media/File:Yibin_ART_System_10_12_45_035000.jpeg">来斤小仓鼠吧/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A Greenpeace <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=357699401718122">video</a> of me plugging a trackless tram that went viral with 4 million hits has caused a few eyebrows to be raised over whether I think light rail is dead. So let me be clear: light rail remains the gold-standard technology for providing high-quality, rapid, zero-emissions public transport along a street corridor. </p>
<p>There is a strong case for using light rail in many cities with sustained all-day ridership. This includes Sydney, where <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/a-fantastic-milestone-as-first-tram-in-60-years-rolls-along-george-street-20190625-p52192.html">trials of a newly built light rail system</a> have begun. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Trials of Sydney’s light rail network began in June.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Light rail also has a clear ability to attract quality urban development.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-gold-coast-light-rail-was-worth-it-its-about-more-than-patronage-78190">Why Gold Coast light rail was worth it (it's about more than patronage)</a>
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<p>So why am I <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-trackless-trams-are-ready-to-replace-light-rail-103690">promoting trackless trams</a>? My interest is in cities and places that lack the population density or capital funding necessary for light rail (or heavy rail). Just because you live in Hobart, Liverpool or Fremantle doesn’t mean you aren’t entitled to something that is “more than a bus” for your daily commute. </p>
<p>How can we provide those communities with the same quality of public transport as light rail provides? Trackless trams may be an option that can help urbanism flourish around stations along corridors limited until now to cars or buses.</p>
<h2>What sets trackless trams apart?</h2>
<p>This research interest took me to the world’s largest manufacturer of railway stock, <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Companies/CRRC-Corp.-Ltd">CRRC</a>, in Zhuzhou, China. CRRC has produced Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit (ART), or what <a href="https://m.scirp.org/papers/89661">I call the trackless tram</a>.</p>
<p>The trackless tram seeks to replicate the light rail experience. The differences are that optical guidance systems replace rails, with rubber tyres on railway-type bogeys replacing steel wheels. Many of the track-laying and utility relocation costs of light rail construction can be avoided. </p>
<p>The capital cost of Sydney’s light rail has risen to <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-light-rail-cost-blows-out-to-at-least-2-7b-after-settlement-20190603-p51tvc.html">around A$210 million per kilometre</a>. For a <a href="https://sbenrc.com.au/app/uploads/2018/10/TRACKLESS-TRAMS-MANUAL-GUIDE_email.pdf">fraction of that cost</a>, as little as A$4m/km, trackless trams can be introduced very quickly on a road of acceptable quality. Traffic engineers advise us good-quality road base is sufficient. </p>
<p>Optical guidance delivers very precise ride quality, without the sway of buses. Multiple carriages offer greater capacity – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_Rail_Rapid_Transit">up to 500 passengers</a> – than buses.</p>
<p>The first, four-stop trial <a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201805/09/WS5af2687fa3105cdcf651ce27.html">began in Zhuzhou</a> in 2017. Trackless trams have since been launched in <a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-07/17/c_138234419.htm">Yongxiu and Yibin</a>. </p>
<h2>Cities around the world are interested</h2>
<p>The trackless tram is <a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-07/17/c_138234419.htm">attracting interest</a> from cities <a href="https://www.lovemoney.com/gallerylist/74915/30-jawdropping-innovations-that-show-why-chinas-leading-the-world">worldwide</a>. <a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201907/16/WS5d2d4057a3105895c2e7dab7.html">Trials have begun in Qatar</a> in advance of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Qatar is the latest site of trackless tram trials.</span></figcaption>
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<p>I am leading a <a href="https://sbenrc.com.au/research-programs/1-62/%5D">team at Curtin University</a> to investigate how various levels of government in Australia (and New Zealand) can support trialling and testing of this technology and, if appropriate, introduce it in a controlled way. We have been approached to help cities in Africa, Europe, Asia, the US, Australia and New Zealand.</p>
<p>Among other things we need to be sure the technology is reliable, provides the promised level of service, doesn’t damage road surfaces and complies with regulations required for safety and sustainability.</p>
<p>We also need to be certain construction and long-term operations can produce the promised cost savings. Not all public transport innovations, such as <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327709647_Why_Do_Some_BRT_Systems_in_the_Global_South_Fail_to_Perform_or_Expand">bus rapid transit</a>, have lived up to their promise. </p>
<h2>Complementing light rail</h2>
<p>Some people are concerned the trackless tram might be a stalking horse for ideological opponents of light rail who wish to reduce investment in public transport. </p>
<p>In my case, I would point to my record in attracting rail investment in Perth. I started the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-03/fremantle-train-protests-turkey-sweat-russian-war-and-angry-mob/10767962">Friends of the Railways 40 years ago</a> to save our train. We now have a system where at the last Western Australian state election money was <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/wa-election-labor-win-stops-roe-8-in-its-tracks-20170313-gux6da">taken from the Roe 8 freeway proposal and put into the MetroNet heavy rail package</a>.</p>
<p>People are also concerned that we risk being left with a poorer public transport service if we replace a proven technology such as light rail with a less proven technology such as the trackless tram. These concerns are fair, which is why I see continued advocacy for light rail as a critical part of the trackless tram story. But the trackless tram might enable us to build the same quality service and a lot more of it. </p>
<p>Both technologies are likely to play complementary roles. In Sydney, for example, light rail makes sense for Parramatta into the city. The trackless tram may stack up for lower-density areas such as connecting Liverpool to the new Western Sydney International Airport. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Parramatta City Council has expressed interest in a local trackless tram system.</span></figcaption>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/western-sydney-aerotropolis-wont-build-itself-a-lot-is-riding-on-what-governments-do-97462">Western Sydney Aerotropolis won't build itself – a lot is riding on what governments do</a>
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<p>In Perth, we certainly need such a service in many inner and middle suburbs, or for connecting major outer suburban centres to the new MetroNet lines.</p>
<p>Smaller and less well-off communities as well as outer suburbs are now in focus for the trackless tram. A lack of public transport means these areas have a reliance on private car use which is now not acceptable. </p>
<p>To avoid <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1525/cmr.2011.54.1.64">greenwashing</a>, and ensure we remain on a pathway to sustainability, we need a strategy underpinned by a thorough understanding of the technology. The aim is to achieve high-quality, zero-emissions, reliable and affordable public transport that can help reshape our cities.</p>
<p>The tram once ruled our cities as the preferred public transport mode from the 1890s to the 1940s. Through a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy">calculated campaign</a> trams were denigrated in favour of the bus and car. Cities around the world tore up their tram tracks. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/kyoto-has-many-things-to-celebrate-but-losing-its-trams-isnt-one-of-them-95052">Kyoto has many things to celebrate, but losing its trams isn't one of them</a>
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<p>Not every old tram route can have a new light rail. The trackless tram presents an opportunity to rebuild high-quality public transport along major road corridors and connect suburbs with poor linkages. I would hope for a more sophisticated approach to planning transport networks, recognising that both light rail and trackless trams could play important roles.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125134/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Newman receives funding from the Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (SBEnrc). </span></em></p>Installing light rail is costly, as Sydney has found, but it’s the gold standard for public transport along road corridors. What trackless trams can do is rapidly expand such services at low cost.Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1070922018-12-05T18:53:41Z2018-12-05T18:53:41ZLooking past the hype about ‘trackless trams’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/247840/original/file-20181128-32180-1pv7kjo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">CRRC's version of the optically guided bus, now operating in Zhuzhou, is more like light rail than its predecessors.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">CRRC</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The optically guided bus is the latest in a long line of initiatives to repackage the bus as premium rail-derived technology. The name “trackless trams”, the vehicle design, and the modest deployment costs all have broad appeal. The concept has gained traction in Australia, with prominent advocates including <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-trackless-trams-are-ready-to-replace-light-rail-103690">Professor Peter Newman</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-trackless-trams-are-ready-to-replace-light-rail-103690">Why trackless trams are ready to replace light rail</a>
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<p>Recognition of the role of upgraded buses and bus rapid transit is welcome. However, a certain level of dogma, fuelled by inflated claims about the technology and its potential, has taken hold. </p>
<p>This article aims to debunk some misconceptions.</p>
<h2>Myth 1: It’s revolutionary technology</h2>
<p>Optical guidance systems date back to the late 1980s and have had limited commercial success since the early 2000s. We count just three applications: in the French city <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Est-Ouest_Rouennais">Rouen</a>, <a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRAM_de_Castell%C3%B3n">Castellón</a> in Spain, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Area_Express_(Las_Vegas)">Las Vegas</a> in the United States. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Rouen’s TEOR optically guided bus transit system.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The mechanically guided bus remains the most popular — including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O-Bahn_Busway">Adelaide’s O-Bahn-style</a> kerb-guided bus — and, to a more limited extent, rail guidance systems. Magnetic and wire guidance technologies have also been trialled to deliver the same benefits — including precision docking, lane assist, reduced road footprint and better ride quality — but at lower cost than physically guided systems due to the absence of continuous guidance infrastructure.</p>
<p>The systems in Rouen, Castellón and Las Vegas all use the French-developed <a href="http://citytransport.info/Buses03.htm">Visée (later renamed Optiguide)</a> “self-steering” optical guidance system.</p>
<p>This technology uses a roof-mounted camera to detect a “virtual rail” — twin dashed lines painted on a darker road surface. An on-board computer combines the image with the speed, yaw and wheel angle of the bus to determine the path to be followed and steers the vehicle. </p>
<p>In partnership with Renault, the Civis guided bus concept was developed into a transport system using <a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irisbus_Agora">Irisbus Agora</a> articulated buses fitted with the optical guidance system.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The Irisbus Civis using Optiguide technology in Castellon.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The present incarnation is admittedly a more advanced deployment of optical guidance technology. Chinese company <a href="http://www.crrcgc.cc/g5141.aspx">CRRC</a> has used high-speed rail technology to develop what it calls autonomous rail rapid transit, or ART.</p>
<p>The system is more like light rail than its predecessors. The vehicles are larger (2.65m wide by 3.4m high) and can be made longer or shorter by adding or removing sections. </p>
<p>The electric vehicles use supercapacitor batteries mounted on the roof and charged at stations via an electric “umbrella”. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capa_vehicle">Supercapacitor technology</a> is not new, having been used in Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Ningbo over the past decade.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">CRRT unveiled its hybrid rapid transit vehicle in the Chinese city of Zhuzhou in June 2017.</span></figcaption>
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<p>A major advantage of the CRRC system is its multi-axle hydraulic steering technology and bogie-like wheel arrangement, which has less overhang and thus requires less swept path clearance in turns. Each section of the 32m vehicle is around 10.5m long and the minimum turning radius is 15m.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.crrcgc.cc/tabid/5122/sourceId/23683/infoid/286135/Default.aspx">According to CRRC</a>, the cost of deployment is between US$7 million and US$15 million per kilometre. That’s much less than the US$20 million to US$30 million for light rail, and US$70 million to US$150 million for metro. Each vehicle has a capital cost of about <a href="https://www.engineersgarage.com/blogs/china-unwraps-world-first-driverless-rail-transit-system-autonomous-technology">US$2.2 million</a>.</p>
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<span class="caption">CRRC optically guided bus in Zhuzhou, China, a 3.2km system inaugurated in May 2018.</span>
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<h2>Myth 2: Optically guided buses have better ride quality</h2>
<p>This is true up to a point. It has as much to do with traction technology, route alignment and driver behaviour as with optical guidance. Ride quality is a direct result of rubber versus steel traction. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Track_gauge">track gauge</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axle_load">axle loads</a> also determine ride quality on a railway. </p>
<p>Another important factor is the alignment geometry. Light rail can handle only 4-6% gradients. Rubber-tyred traction can manage up to 9%. A higher-quality bus corridor with smoother gradients and curves will offer better ride quality. </p>
<p>Pavement quality is also important. We see an example of this in Melbourne’s Albert Park, where roads are built with high-specification concrete for the Australian Grand Prix.</p>
<p>The optically guided bus offers a much smoother ride, but this is mainly due to its advanced automation.</p>
<p>Existing buses can be “jerky”. This has a lot to do with buses getting more powerful (and lighter) over the years. An average bus engine generated 230 horsepower 20 years ago. Today this can be up to 330hp — that’s good for uphill climbs but also allows the driver to accelerate faster. </p>
<p>One suggestion is to apply an acceleration limiter. The need for harsh braking is also an issue, but this is related to the level of priority given to buses in traffic — such as at signals and in congested lanes — as well as driver training.</p>
<h2>Myth 3: Optically guided buses are game-changing</h2>
<p>The potential success of the technology is not related to whether the buses are optically guided or not, nor to any of the characteristics described above. </p>
<p>The sleek, rail-like appearance of these vehicles is certainly part of their appeal. Optically guided buses could challenge the idea that “buses are boring, and trains are sexy” and what we at ITLS describe as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0739885909800085">choice versus blind commitment</a> in the bus and rail debate. Rather than being emotionally fixated on technology, we should choose the mode best suited to a particular transport requirement. </p>
<p>Operating on the road, right of way remains the critical factor. What good is a “trackless tram” if it gets stuck in traffic? In car-dominated Australia, governments have struggled to reallocate road space away from inefficient private cars (which average just <a href="https://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/media/documents/2017/HTS%20Report%20Sydney%202012-13.pdf">1.1 people per vehicle</a> for work commutes) to spatially efficient mass transit. </p>
<p>Bus priority typically arises from road widening, rather than any redesignation of road space. As long as this mentality holds, we will struggle to improve travel time by bus compared with car — which is the most important element for attracting users onto public transport.</p>
<p>If “trackless trams” can radically alter the political paradigm and garner community support for the sensible reallocation of road space and signal priority, that creates a huge opportunity for cost-effective deployment of high-quality mass transit. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0739885914001024">ITLS research</a> has shown there is huge latent demand for public transport in the middle and outer suburbs of Australian capitals. The latest bus technology can be readily deployed along cross-town and orbital corridors now serviced by, for example, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrobus_(Sydney)">Metrobus</a> in Sydney and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SmartBus">SmartBus</a> in Melbourne. </p>
<p>Time will tell whether “trackless trams” can shift the conversation from the idea of permanent, fixed infrastructure synonymous with rail to the pressing issues of right-of-way quality and public transport priority.</p>
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<p><em>The author thanks Graham Currie (ITS Monash), David Hensher (ITLS), Michael Apps (BIC), Lauran Huefner (BusSA), Stephen Rowe (Busways) and Darryl Mellish (BusNSW) for constructive feedback on an earlier version of this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107092/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yale Z Wong does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The autonomous rail rapid transit (ART) system developed in China might make buses sexy, but the technology alone won’t resolve the issues of road space and right of way in Australia.Yale Z Wong, Doctoral Candidate and Research Analyst, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1036902018-09-25T19:58:15Z2018-09-25T19:58:15ZWhy trackless trams are ready to replace light rail<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237647/original/file-20180924-129850-1dek0jy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">CRRC Zhuzhou Institute developed the rubber-tyred autonomous rail transit (ART) system, or trackless tram, which has already been trialled in Zhuzhou, China</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CRRC_Autonomous-rail_Rapid_Transit_train_at_Metro_Trans_2018_(20180613150358).jpg">Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I began my life as an activist academic in 1979 when the Western Australian government closed the Fremantle railway, saying buses would be better. Patronage immediately fell by 30% and I ran a four-year campaign to save the railway. We won. I have been writing books and running campaigns ever since on why trains and trams are better than buses. But I have changed my mind. The technology has changed, and I think it will end the need for new light rail.</p>
<p>“Trackless trams” are based on technology created in <a href="https://www.alstom.com/aptis-new-experience-electro-mobility">Europe</a> and <a href="http://www.crrcgc.cc/en/g7389/s13996/t286142.aspx">China</a> by taking innovations from high-speed rail and putting them in a bus.</p>
<p>I went to China to check out the CRRC trackless tram (they call it autonomous rail transit, or ART). I came back convinced it’s a transformative transit technology.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/our-new-pm-wants-to-bust-congestion-here-are-four-ways-he-could-do-that-102249">Our new PM wants to 'bust congestion' – here are four ways he could do that</a>
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<p>Light rail is a connecting service. It joins up corridors or links heavy rail stations to surrounding areas and sometimes completes shorter corridors that lack rail lines. Buses were filling these functions in most cities but failing on two fronts: </p>
<ul>
<li>buses were not competing with cars so cities were filling with traffic</li>
<li>buses did not enable denser development to be viable so cities were sprawling rather than redeveloping. </li>
</ul>
<p>Light rail had many success stories of competing with cars and attracting denser development, so commentators like me did our best to make them policy-relevant (see, for example, <a href="https://theconversation.com/all-aboard-the-growth-of-global-rail-and-our-future-cities-10377">here</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-not-in-the-knitting-urban-rails-growing-significance-13754">here</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-needs-to-follow-the-us-in-funding-urban-rail-projects-64666">here</a>).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237648/original/file-20180924-129871-1xcaehy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237648/original/file-20180924-129871-1xcaehy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237648/original/file-20180924-129871-1xcaehy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237648/original/file-20180924-129871-1xcaehy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237648/original/file-20180924-129871-1xcaehy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237648/original/file-20180924-129871-1xcaehy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237648/original/file-20180924-129871-1xcaehy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The battery-powered trackless tram, or ART, in operation in Zhuzhou, showing the trackless autonomous guidance system.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CRRC Zhuzhou Institute</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>So what can the new technology do?</h2>
<p>Trackless trams are neither a tram nor a bus, though they have rubber wheels and run on streets. The high-speed rail innovations have transformed a bus into something with all the best features of light rail and none of its worst features. </p>
<p>It replaces the noise and emissions of buses with electric traction from batteries recharged at stations in 30 seconds or at the end of the line in 10 minutes. That could just be an electric bus, but the ART is much more than that. It has all the speed (70kph), capacity and ride quality of light rail with its autonomous optical guidance system, train-like bogies with double axles and special hydraulics and tyres. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bXB87NWHvDg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The first trackless tram rolled out for a road test in Zhuzhou, south China’s Hunan Province, on October 23 2017.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It can slide into the station with millimetre accuracy and enable smooth disability access. It passed the ride quality test when I saw kids running up and down while it was going at 70kph – you never see this on a bus due to the sway. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237821/original/file-20180924-85776-6jou1l.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237821/original/file-20180924-85776-6jou1l.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237821/original/file-20180924-85776-6jou1l.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237821/original/file-20180924-85776-6jou1l.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237821/original/file-20180924-85776-6jou1l.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237821/original/file-20180924-85776-6jou1l.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237821/original/file-20180924-85776-6jou1l.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A child runs along the trackless tram with the author looking on.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The autonomous features mean it is programmed, optically guided with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System">GPS</a> and <a href="http://www.lidar-uk.com/how-lidar-works/">LIDAR</a> technologies, into moving very precisely along an invisible track. If an accident happens in the right of way a “driver” can override the steering and go around. It can also be driven to a normal bus depot for overnight storage and deep battery recharge.</p>
<p>The standard ART system is three carriages that can carry 300 people, but it can take five carriages and 500 people if needed. In three years of trials no impact on road surfaces has been found. </p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/290106133" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The author discusses his conclusions after visiting China to assess the operation of trackless trams.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How do trackless trams improve on light rail?</h2>
<p>Trackless trams can avoid the worst features of light rail – disruption and cost. It can take years to lay rail tracks, causing major disruption to local economies, as is happening in Sydney.</p>
<p>Similar disruption has happened in the Gold Coast, Canberra and elsewhere, but ultimately light rail systems have been highly successful in attracting patronage and land development. This will happen in Sydney too when the project is complete.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-gold-coast-light-rail-was-worth-it-its-about-more-than-patronage-78190">Why Gold Coast light rail was worth it (it's about more than patronage)</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>However, the cost has been far beyond original expectations. Sydney is costing over $120 million per kilometre. The Gold Coast was similar. Canberra and Newcastle are over $80 million per kilometre, as was the cancelled light rail in Perth. </p>
<p>The trackless tram costs around $6-$8 million per kilometre. And it can be put into a road system over a weekend.</p>
<p>The big test is whether the trackless tram can attract development around its stations as light rail can. That is the missing link in our cities. How can we unlock urban regeneration and prevent our cities sprawling ever outwards with poorer and poorer suburbs while the well-placed inner and middle suburbs become more and more expensive?</p>
<p>The divided city needs something that can unlock affordable medium- and high-density housing in new urban centres across the city. Following many discussions with the urban development industry, I think the trackless tram can do this. The cost can be afforded as a contribution to any new development and will bring the uplift in land value that unlocks investment. </p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/278969345" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Trackless trams could be transformative for a city.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We have developed a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S073988591630097X">model</a> that means governments do <a href="https://vimeo.com/278969345">not need to find all or even any of the capital costs</a>. This is how trams were <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2413-8851/2/3/84/htm">first built as real estate projects</a>.</p>
<p>But governments are needed to manage the process and create the land assembly and other urban regeneration processes as well as community engagement. This will help show where best to route such a system and how to manage it as a transit system operating for the public good. Governments can help with risk management on the financing, as in <a href="https://theconversation.com/spills-and-city-deals-what-turnbulls-urban-policy-has-achieved-and-where-we-go-from-here-102184">City Deals</a>. We have produced a <a href="http://sbenrc.com.au/research-programs/1-55/">guide and manual</a> for how to do this.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sidelining-citizens-when-deciding-on-transport-projects-is-asking-for-trouble-92840">Sidelining citizens when deciding on transport projects is asking for trouble</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Australian cities are lining up</h2>
<p>Cities across the world are lining up to trial these trackless tram systems. So far, Australian cities moving to use them are Townsville, Hobart, Melbourne (in Fishermans Bend and other sites), Sydney (in Liverpool and perhaps Parramatta Road where the first studies were done) and Perth – where five separate corridors are competing to run the first ART trial.</p>
<p>The table below summarises the main characteristics of buses, light rail and trackless trams, showing the improvements the new technology provides on key criteria.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237660/original/file-20180924-88806-u7yo20.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237660/original/file-20180924-88806-u7yo20.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237660/original/file-20180924-88806-u7yo20.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237660/original/file-20180924-88806-u7yo20.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237660/original/file-20180924-88806-u7yo20.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237660/original/file-20180924-88806-u7yo20.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=661&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237660/original/file-20180924-88806-u7yo20.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=661&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/237660/original/file-20180924-88806-u7yo20.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=661&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Others would rate some characteristics higher or lower, but for me the trackless tram looks a winner due to its ride quality, land development potential and cost. </p>
<p>Time will tell if the early demand for ART translates into a real transformative change – a disruptive innovation. It reminds me of the early days of solar and batteries, which are now completely disrupting coal power systems.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103690/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Newman receives funding from the Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (SBEnrc). </span></em></p>For 40 years the author has argued that trains and trams are better than buses. New ‘trackless trams’, which take innovations from high speed rail and put them in a bus, have changed his mind.Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/950522018-04-25T19:12:51Z2018-04-25T19:12:51ZKyoto has many things to celebrate, but losing its trams isn’t one of them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215539/original/file-20180419-163991-eaiq8n.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Remnants of the tram system can be found across Kyoto. Japan’s oldest tram is in the gardens of Heian Shrine in central Kyoto.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Few, if any, of the nearly <a href="http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201706270001.html">57 million tourists</a> who visit Kyoto this year are aware the city once boasted the most extensive tram network in Japan.</p>
<p>Kyoto is a beautiful city and the cultural heart of the nation. It is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiji_Restoration%22%22">Meiji Restoration</a> this year. It’s also the 40th anniversary of a less celebrated episode in the city’s history – the closure of the tram system, or “Shiden” as it was known.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215335/original/file-20180418-163998-1tok962.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215335/original/file-20180418-163998-1tok962.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215335/original/file-20180418-163998-1tok962.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215335/original/file-20180418-163998-1tok962.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215335/original/file-20180418-163998-1tok962.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215335/original/file-20180418-163998-1tok962.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215335/original/file-20180418-163998-1tok962.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215335/original/file-20180418-163998-1tok962.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This tram car is being used as an information centre near to Okazaki Park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Today, we are seeing a new trend of cities trying to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cities-going-car-free-ban-2017-8">ban cars from their centre</a>. And <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-build-light-rail-in-our-cities-without-emptying-the-public-purse-39255">many cities</a>, including <a href="http://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/network-map-shows-sydneys-massive-former-tram-system/news-story/011abaf90477768751377ce7b6689dcf">Sydney</a>, that once boasted extensive tram networks are <a href="https://theconversation.com/trees-versus-light-rail-we-need-to-rethink-skewed-urban-planning-values-57206">struggling to introduce</a> or extend light rail systems. </p>
<p>With hindsight, Shiden’s closure was one of the biggest mistakes in Kyoto’s history. The city is now struggling to break free of car domination.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-gold-coast-light-rail-was-worth-it-its-about-more-than-patronage-78190">Why Gold Coast light rail was worth it (it's about more than patronage)</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Japan’s first tramway</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215340/original/file-20180418-163971-mrrf76.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215340/original/file-20180418-163971-mrrf76.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215340/original/file-20180418-163971-mrrf76.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=628&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215340/original/file-20180418-163971-mrrf76.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=628&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215340/original/file-20180418-163971-mrrf76.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=628&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215340/original/file-20180418-163971-mrrf76.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=789&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215340/original/file-20180418-163971-mrrf76.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=789&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215340/original/file-20180418-163971-mrrf76.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=789&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This map (click to enlarge) by Gabod Sandi, which is available online, shows the tramways in 1961, plus interurban lines that still connect Kyoto to Osaka and Shiga prefectures.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.tundria.com/trams/JPN/Kyoto-1961.shtml">Gabon Sandi</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Shiden operations began in 1895 as part of an economic revitalisation strategy. The first step involved building an 8km canal (including lengthy tunnels) connecting Kyoto to Lake Biwa in 1890. This provided water for Japan’s first commercial hydroelectric plant, which powered the new tramway.</p>
<p>Shiden grew over time. By the mid-1960s 70km of lines connected all the major tourist attractions across the city – the Golden Pavilion, Silver Pavilion, Imperial Palace, Nijo Castle and Kyomizu Temple. </p>
<p>This was still a relatively compact system, especially compared to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Sydney">291km</a> network that once covered Sydney and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Melbourne">250km</a> of Melbourne today, the most extensive in the world.</p>
<h2>Why did Kyoto abandon Shiden?</h2>
<p>Passenger trips on Shiden reached <a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD%E5%B8%82%E9%9B%BB">210 million in 1965</a>. For comparison, tram passenger journeys in Sydney and Melbourne tramways peaked in the 1940s at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Sydney">405 million</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trams_in_Melbourne">260 million</a> trips respectively.</p>
<p>In the 1960s, Japan experienced rapid economic growth and urbanisation. By 1970, the <a href="http://population.city/japan/kyoto/">population of Kyoto</a> had grown to 1.4 million. This had three major impacts on the tramways.</p>
<p>First, car ownership in the city nearly tripled from 140,000 in 1965 to 380,000 in 1980, according to Kyoto City planning documents. Traffic congestion caused tram delays, resulting in reduced passenger numbers and profitability.</p>
<p>Second, Kyoto experienced “doughnut population growth” – a declining urban core and growing suburbs. In response, the municipality chose to service the suburbs with buses.</p>
<p>Third, the municipality developed a subway network. The first north-south line opened in 1981.</p>
<p>Shiden was losing passengers and money. In 1978, the mayor decided to close it down. All that remains today are two small privately run <a href="http://randen.keifuku.co.jp/en/index.html">tram</a>/<a href="https://eizandensha.co.jp/about/hiei/">light rail</a> lines in the north of Kyoto.</p>
<h2>Public opposition ignored</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215341/original/file-20180418-163966-10hx5wb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215341/original/file-20180418-163966-10hx5wb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215341/original/file-20180418-163966-10hx5wb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=627&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215341/original/file-20180418-163966-10hx5wb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=627&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215341/original/file-20180418-163966-10hx5wb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=627&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215341/original/file-20180418-163966-10hx5wb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=788&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215341/original/file-20180418-163966-10hx5wb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=788&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215341/original/file-20180418-163966-10hx5wb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=788&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kyoto’s transport network in 2008 (click to enlarge) with 30km of subway. The Keihan line (connecting with Osaka) and the Keishin line (to Otsu) went from road level to underground tunnels within the city in 1997.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the years leading up to the closure there had been intense public opposition to the move. The Shiden Preservation Group, headed by Kyoto University academics, argued that better management of the tram network and an integrated transport strategy was the way forward.</p>
<p>They organised a petition, signed by over 200,000 citizens, to save the trams. Retaining Shiden would help avoid air pollution from increased road traffic, they argued. In addition, Shiden would become a significant tourist attraction, as well as meeting the needs of local people.</p>
<p>Their pleas fell on deaf ears. The tram system was ripped up and bus routes spread across the city. The first section of a new east-west subway opened in 1997 and the line was completed in 2008.</p>
<h2>Lessons from Melbourne</h2>
<p>In general, public transport networks in Japanese cities are world class. A handful of cities have managed to retain their tramways. Hiroshima, which has a <a href="http://visithiroshima.net/plan_your_trip/transportation.html">35km tram network</a>, is the best example.</p>
<p>To reflect upon the wider consequences of Shiden closure, it may be useful to consider the example of Melbourne. The two cities have some interesting similarities.</p>
<p>Both were former capital cities, built on a grid system. Both were early adopters of trams – 1889 in Melbourne and 1895 in Kyoto. They both host world-class universities and a tourism industry that contributes significantly to the local economy.</p>
<p>And both cities faced a critical decision in the 1970s on whether to retain their tram network.</p>
<p>In Melbourne, pressure to shut down the tram network was resisted, with very strong public and union support (which was lacking in Kyoto).</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215343/original/file-20180418-163995-1xxanyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215343/original/file-20180418-163995-1xxanyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215343/original/file-20180418-163995-1xxanyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215343/original/file-20180418-163995-1xxanyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215343/original/file-20180418-163995-1xxanyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215343/original/file-20180418-163995-1xxanyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215343/original/file-20180418-163995-1xxanyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215343/original/file-20180418-163995-1xxanyw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Trams like Hiroshima’s Green Mover Max could have run in Kyoto if Shiden had remained in operation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima_Electric_Railway#/media/File:Hiroden-5100-2.jpg">Taisyo/Wikipedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Melbourne experience suggests that several key opportunities might have arisen if Kyoto had kept Shiden.</p>
<p><strong>1.</strong> Shiden would have gradually been upgraded with new technologies and longer trams with greater passenger capacity. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Mover_Max">Green Mover Max</a> in Hiroshima is a good example of the sort of tram that could have been running on Kyoto streets today.</p>
<p><strong>2.</strong> Prioritising tramways may have helped to develop more pedestrian spaces in central Kyoto. Bourke Street Mall and Swanston Street in Melbourne are good examples of this. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215342/original/file-20180418-163982-1832xnm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215342/original/file-20180418-163982-1832xnm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215342/original/file-20180418-163982-1832xnm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215342/original/file-20180418-163982-1832xnm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215342/original/file-20180418-163982-1832xnm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215342/original/file-20180418-163982-1832xnm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215342/original/file-20180418-163982-1832xnm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215342/original/file-20180418-163982-1832xnm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Swanston Street in central Melbourne was closed to traffic in the early 1990s and became car-free in 2010.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Z3.215_%2B_B2.2028_swanston.JPG">Bahnfrend/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Kyoto, on the other hand, has struggled to manage city centre traffic and has only made minor changes in recent years, including increasing the size of the pavements on some major avenues.</p>
<p><strong>3.</strong> Shiden could have dealt better than current systems with increased tourist numbers. Recent <a href="https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/02/23/national/kyoto-struggles-keep-buses-running-time-amid-surge-overseas-visitors/#.WsW0gC-B1Bw">media reports</a> indicate that buses are struggling to run on time as more tourists travel around the city. An integrated transport network of bus, tram and subway might have alleviated these problems.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215345/original/file-20180418-164004-m22vmi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215345/original/file-20180418-164004-m22vmi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215345/original/file-20180418-164004-m22vmi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215345/original/file-20180418-164004-m22vmi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215345/original/file-20180418-164004-m22vmi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215345/original/file-20180418-164004-m22vmi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215345/original/file-20180418-164004-m22vmi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215345/original/file-20180418-164004-m22vmi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Looking west along Kyoto’s main shopping street, Shijo Avenue, which carries heavy traffic. In tourist season (below) the narrow pavement is crowded.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215346/original/file-20180418-163971-lj4421.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215346/original/file-20180418-163971-lj4421.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/215346/original/file-20180418-163971-lj4421.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215346/original/file-20180418-163971-lj4421.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215346/original/file-20180418-163971-lj4421.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215346/original/file-20180418-163971-lj4421.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215346/original/file-20180418-163971-lj4421.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/215346/original/file-20180418-163971-lj4421.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong>4.</strong> <a href="http://www.city.kyoto.lg.jp/kankyo/cmsfiles/contents/0000000/328/plan(en).pdf">Kyoto City’s climate plan</a> aims to promote a walkable, low-carbon city. This includes reducing car ownership from 508,000 in 2010 to 475,000 by 2020. Shiden could have supported this strategy and helped to reduce greenhouse gas emissions – something that is very significant for the home of the Kyoto Protocol.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-build-light-rail-in-our-cities-without-emptying-the-public-purse-39255">How to build light rail in our cities without emptying the public purse</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Failed attempt to bring Shiden back</h2>
<p>All of the above reasons suggest Kyoto would benefit from reintroducing Shiden.</p>
<p>In 2006, the Kyoto Municipality began looking at plans for <a href="http://www2.city.kyoto.lg.jp/tokei/trafficpolicy/lrt/index.html">five light rail transit (LRT) routes</a>. The government appointed an expert group to study various options and organised public symposiums. It also conducted experiments where <a href="http://regex.info/blog/2007-01-25/372">buses travelled along “light rail routes”</a> delineated with traffic cones on existing roads.</p>
<p>These activities stopped in 2007 when surveys of the Kyoto public revealed 52% of respondents opposed a new light rail system. The reasons varied, including concerns that it was mainly aimed at tourists and would bring few local benefits while potentially worsening road congestion.</p>
<p>Few people in Kyoto today recall the deep affection that the city’s people once had for Shiden, Japan’s first tramway.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95052/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brendan Barrett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In the 1970s, both Kyoto and Melbourne made fateful decisions about their transport networks. Melbourne today enjoys the benefits of trams, while Kyoto lives with the consequences of losing them.Brendan Barrett, Specially Appointed Professor, Center for the Study of Co*Design, Osaka UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/781902017-05-29T20:08:20Z2017-05-29T20:08:20ZWhy Gold Coast light rail was worth it (it’s about more than patronage)<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170715/original/file-20170524-5752-1x5m65f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Southport station, Nerang Street, soon after the light rail began running in 2014.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthew Burke</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Gold Coast’s light rail scheme has attracted great interest since the streets of Surfers Paradise were torn up and stations and track were built. Was it worth spending <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-13/gold-coast-light-rail-stage-three-state-and-federal-questions/7411588">A$1.5 billion on 13km</a> of light rail and more than $40 million a year in subsidies? </p>
<p>Are we right to be spending another <a href="http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/gold-coast/the-first-sod-has-been-turned-on-420-million-light-rail-stage-2-as-tate-plans-stage-3/news-story/2520cd82de301a34498552b6a6e7dde5">$420 million on an extension</a> to Helensvale in time for the Commonwealth Games? Should we be taking it all the way down to Gold Coast Airport?</p>
<p>Another question is whether gains in property values served by the project could be “<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-value-capture-and-what-does-it-mean-for-cities-58776">captured</a>” to fund such infrastructure. </p>
<p>Previous studies of property values in areas serviced by the light rail showed only modest gains after it opened. <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/business/research/grants/funding_on_the_line">Our research</a> cast a wider net back to when we first started planning the system in 1996 through to the latest data we could get in 2016. </p>
<p>The results were intriguing. We found that prices in the catchment areas started to increase in the earliest planning phases. The effects of the light rail were to push up property values within 800 metres of the stations by more than 30% in total from 1996 to 2016. </p>
<p>This is well above most previous estimates of a light rail system’s effects. This is mainly because we looked earlier for the property value gains and used a carefully designed control to make the comparison. </p>
<h2>Impact after opening seemed modest</h2>
<p>These findings cast a different light on the apparently modest impact of the light rail after it opened. </p>
<p>When the first stage from Broadbeach to our university at Parkwood opened it was well received. But the behaviour change we all hoped for was rather modest at first. After opening in 2014, patronage did not surge compared to bus ridership on the route in earlier years.</p>
<p>New passengers got on board, but it was an uphill climb for the new system. <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/translink-fare-hike-to-make-brisbane-australias-most-expensive-20140103-30910.html">Fare increases of almost 50%</a> from 2010 to 2014 pushed passengers off public transport across southeast Queensland, especially on rail. </p>
<p>Not all passengers enjoyed improved service for their particular journeys either. Those who used to travel through the corridor in a bus now had to break their journey at the light rail terminus and transfer, adding travel time and annoyance. </p>
<p>In the second year of operation, however, <a href="http://www.goldlinq.com.au/news-and-media/g-that-s-successful">patronage jumped 16%</a> and our contacts suggest third-year patronage is tracking well. Subsidies per passenger are falling. The decision to add the connection to Helensvale looks a sound one.</p>
<p>But, seemingly, other changes everyone expected weren’t there. The Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics analysed property values in the corridor <a href="https://bitre.gov.au/publications/2015/files/is_069.pdf">from 2000 to 2013</a> using a coarse geography and didn’t find much evidence of any uplift. This gave many cause for concern. </p>
<p>Reassuringly, Cameron Murray <a href="https://theconversation.com/gold-coast-light-rail-study-helps-put-a-figure-on-value-captures-funding-potential-65084">used valuation data for a similar period</a> using a different geographical scale and found a 10% increase for properties within 400 metres of the new stations. But there was still uncertainty. </p>
<p>Our new research backs up and expands on Murray’s findings, suggesting there was substantial positive impact.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170714/original/file-20170524-5757-j8ghzz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170714/original/file-20170524-5757-j8ghzz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170714/original/file-20170524-5757-j8ghzz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170714/original/file-20170524-5757-j8ghzz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170714/original/file-20170524-5757-j8ghzz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170714/original/file-20170524-5757-j8ghzz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170714/original/file-20170524-5757-j8ghzz.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gold Coast light rail under construction at Surfers Paradise in 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What did our research look at?</h2>
<p>Our research team in the <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/business/research/grants/funding_on_the_line">Funding on the Line</a> Australian Research Council Linkage Project took a different approach. </p>
<p>In a peer-reviewed paper, which will shortly be presented at the <a>World Symposium on Transport and Land Use Research</a>, led by Barbara Yen, we used sales data for residential properties along the corridor. Our study compared areas within 800 metres of the stations with a control area containing locations a little further away but still in the same vicinity. </p>
<p>We used a longitudinal methodology to see when the value uplift occurred from back in 1996, when planning of the system first started, through to the latest 2016 data. Property prices in the catchment areas started to increase very early in the planning phase. The property value uplift was highest in the locations between 100 and 400 metres from the stations. </p>
<p>Values went up 11.9% in these locations compared to our control areas between 1996 and the feasibility study’s announcement in 2002. They increased a further 26.3% from 2002 to 2006 over the control areas when the feasibility study was completed. Prices rose only 2.3% from 2006 to 2011 when the formal funding commitment was made and construction began, and then by another 5.4% after the line opened to the end of the study period in 2016. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170712/original/file-20170524-5749-1f04vgx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170712/original/file-20170524-5749-1f04vgx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/170712/original/file-20170524-5749-1f04vgx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170712/original/file-20170524-5749-1f04vgx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170712/original/file-20170524-5749-1f04vgx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=225&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170712/original/file-20170524-5749-1f04vgx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170712/original/file-20170524-5749-1f04vgx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/170712/original/file-20170524-5749-1f04vgx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=283&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Timeline of the planning and development of Gold Coast Light Rail Stage 1.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The areas less than 100 metres from the stations, and between 400 and 800 metres also recorded strong increases compared to the control areas, though not quite as much. </p>
<p>This is to be expected. Sites closest to the stations received some nuisance from the light rail and road corridor; sites further away obtain fewer advantages in travel time savings for passengers. </p>
<h2>What are the funding implications?</h2>
<p>The property value gains attributable to the project from 1996 to 2016 of more than 30% are very significant. Yet it’s pretty much only the landowners who benefit. </p>
<p>The City of Gold Coast recoups some of its <a href="http://www.goldcoast.qld.gov.au/rapid-transit-6004.html">$120 million investment</a> in the light rail through its rates and its <a>public transport levy on urban residents</a>. The Queensland government may end up getting a little slice via stamp duty as properties are sold. The few pieces of government-owned land likely rose in value. </p>
<p>But the state and federal governments generally have no other mechanisms to take a small sliver of the increased property value their investment generated to help pay for the light rail system or reinvest in public transport elsewhere. We’ve <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-brisbanes-ferries-can-teach-us-about-funding-public-transport-30874">written about this previously</a> in The Conversation and suggested ways we could change the system. </p>
<p>A recent <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/ITC/TransportConnectivity/Report_1">federal parliamentary inquiry</a> and moves to set up “<a href="http://www.luticonsulting.com.au/projects/value-sharing-mechanisms-review-nsw/">value sharing</a>” units in the <a href="http://www.dilgp.qld.gov.au/infrastructure/value-sharing-in-queensland.html">Queensland</a> and <a href="https://www.greater.sydney/digital-district-plan/679">New South Wales</a> governments suggest we are now getting serious about generating alternative funding for public transport. </p>
<p>Our study’s results only add more support to these initiatives. Get it right and we should be able to deliver more metros, busways and light rail to serve our growing population and its increasingly urban way of life.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/78190/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Burke receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Queensland Government Department of Transport and Main Roads, the Motor Accident and Insurance Commission, Transport for NSW, Gold Coast City Council, Logan City Council, Queensland Airports Limited, Lend Lease, and Springfield Land Corporation. </span></em></p>The light rail project pushed up property values within 800 metres of the stations by over 30% from 1996 to 2016. Gains on this scale offer a potential source of finance for public transport.Matthew Burke, Associate Professor, Cities Research Institute, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/683262016-11-17T05:26:41Z2016-11-17T05:26:41ZWhy transport projects aren’t as good for your health as they could be<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146057/original/image-20161115-31144-zjrn5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The two NSW motorway projects were unable to consider the issue of access to a mix of transport options, which is a key factor in public health impacts.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/dylanpassmore/10583179513/in/photolist-h8cyyi-a7uvhn-6g27Tf-4Dkaj5-h7KS4T-j4VCQQ-nRbJuv-a7xmmC-hTVpXU-dNi1sv-9GJ74J-h8cFdT-bmhhvj-bnkzrm-7ZxNGs-4dhgze-bAfyDa-4dmgyj-4dmfEN-5bfEqX-h8csbD-bnkCJ1-8BBMXe-HWHBx-bAfy78-mYDjbK-9xjwAM-ihnrzB-bnkLRE-uGV3h-8sMMoe-8XTL75-bAfCUB-bAfv3a-75Eejm-bzcawF-4dfhpx-9oWXUX-bzbCtV-bmh62m-4dmmxY-GBHpUC-bnkFo3-h7KWcH-2DEyGB-e8HviQ-nksfJi-NkGnG7-MyfVCL-MyfUP1">Dylan Passmore/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Large transport infrastructure projects, which can cost billions of dollars, are major drivers of the economy, and political flagships. They have significant impacts on health and wellbeing. Yet our research finds these impacts are not as well considered in the project assessment phase as they should be.</p>
<p>A recent <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/series/urban-design">Lancet</a> series is the culmination of knowledge linking transport and health. For example, it recommends reducing reliance on private cars and enhancing opportunities for walking, cycling and public transport use. It argues this will improve health both by reducing air and noise pollution, and by promoting physical activity, community connectedness and better access to goods and services, particularly for the socio-economically disadvantaged.</p>
<p>Each transport project’s environmental assessment thus presents a crucial opportunity within the mandated planning process to consider health. This is also when the wider community can engage with the design of projects. The main output of this process, the environmental impact statement (EIS), is available for public scrutiny and comment prior to final project approval. </p>
<h2>A health check on assessments</h2>
<p><a href="http://sydney.edu.au/halloran/resources/index.shtml">We recently compared</a> the inclusion of health issues in four major transport project assessments. Three involved motorways (<a href="http://majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.au/index.pl?action=view_job&job_id=6307">WestConnex M4 East</a> and <a href="http://majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.au/index.pl?action=view_job&job_id=6136">NorthConnex</a> in New South Wales and the 2010 <a href="http://www.infrastructure.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/54304/DTS_Exec_Summary_for_Web.pdf">Darlington Upgrade</a> in South Australia) and the fourth the Sydney <a href="http://majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.au/index.pl?action=view_job&job_id=6042">CBD and South East Light Rail</a>. We did this by first applying a “health audit” to each EIS, then interviewing a range of stakeholders. </p>
<p>The road assessments emphasised risks from air quality and noise, concluding these were minimal. Indeed, each project was predicted to improve air quality and, by extension, health. </p>
<p>When health was assessed, human health risk assessment was the method used, which we judged to be of good quality. The 2010 Darlington upgrade was the only road project not to include health data explicitly in its calculations. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146059/original/image-20161115-31144-cnx165.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146059/original/image-20161115-31144-cnx165.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146059/original/image-20161115-31144-cnx165.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=734&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146059/original/image-20161115-31144-cnx165.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=734&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146059/original/image-20161115-31144-cnx165.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=734&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146059/original/image-20161115-31144-cnx165.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=923&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146059/original/image-20161115-31144-cnx165.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=923&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146059/original/image-20161115-31144-cnx165.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=923&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The light rail EIS considers wider health benefits, which perhaps suggests this was part of the project’s preceding business case.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/beaugiles/22273607416/in/photolist-zWf4u5-kcVEuA-pSFsY-pSFxj-zFXnRL-aEwCBe-kdw5mK-fjTfZd-fAaYES-azUYcX-oao46A-8u3unx-7Tsxt9-2zchX-di3FwW-btw2M4-3P5xwh-gmKTRz-B58r5d-zczzL9-9JRhtk-ebUhNk-pCijVc-aYJrkg-4uZm68-A9r3ex-DkZopm-8PqfSf-bqfZqE-5yDjgJ-8d8HuM-BVNGPv-p2eP7-dKTeqN-A9hQA9-fC8YfE-dKTep7-prCdED-dfhjRd-dKMK1P-bBhKAS-dTwsVp-6GoPuo-nuQ1L7-5Wc7o7-8DsxyP-xPtMDF-dTkyQv-r5LT2x-86K5EX">Beau Giles/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The light rail EIS referred mainly to the connection of the project to health facilities, with some reference to noise and dust in construction. This statement’s chapter on social impacts, in which health featured strongly, reflects the tone of the recent Lancet report, albeit with less detail. It considered wider health benefits of the project, including better access to health facilities and employment opportunities, improved road safety, opportunities for walking and cycling, better air quality and enhanced social interaction. </p>
<p>Of the four environmental impact statements, WestConnex M4 East had the most detailed coverage of mental health issues, mostly related to property acquisition. Despite this, there was limited detail in the health chapter when compared to other issues like air and noise risks. Mitigation measures were limited to the provision of phone counselling services. </p>
<p>The EIS for each of the other projects lacked assessment of mental health impacts due to construction and operation. </p>
<p>As outlined above, evidence that links transport and health advocates for access to a mix of transport options, giving people opportunities to walk, cycle and use public transport. The importance of this mix was excluded from the project and parameters set for the two NSW motorway projects. </p>
<p>While the EIS for each of NorthConnex and WestConnex acknowledged the need for multi-modal transport options, their provision was described as being outside the project’s parameters. It wasn’t clear how or when this was being done elsewhere, only that it was not the proponent’s responsibility and not within the scope of the EIS.</p>
<p>This mix of options was minimal in the 2010 Darlington report we analysed. However, the most recent 2016 iteration of this project design appears to emphasise walking and cycling facilities, with a recent <a href="http://www.infrastructure.sa.gov.au/nsc/darlington_upgrade_project">announcement of a rail link</a> adjacent to the motorway.</p>
<h2>Why were health impacts neglected?</h2>
<p>Stakeholder interviews were held with project co-ordinators, consultants, the health department and affected community members for the NSW-based projects. We were unable to conduct interviews for the Darlington case due to changing and uncertain project parameters at the time of the research. </p>
<p>Informants stressed the importance of the requirements issued to proponents by the state Department of Planning and Infrastructure. Health featured in these requirements, largely on the advice of the state Ministry of Health. </p>
<p>These requirements focused on environmental health risks, particularly concerning air quality. This corresponded to historical community concerns about motorway impacts. </p>
<p>Despite an overall consensus that health was an important issue, there was little appetite for comprehensive consideration of broader health impacts, such as those advocated by evidence-based research. Crucially, as reported in the environmental impact statements and confirmed through stakeholder interviews, the design of each project reflects prior financial and strategic decisions. The purpose of the EIS is focused on minimising these risks within those existing design parameters. </p>
<p>Supporting the considerations behind the light rail, there was reference to the cost savings from the health benefits associated with public transport use. This suggests that health was part of that project’s preceding business case. For the motorway projects, however, our research suggests these early decision points failed to comprehensively consider health impacts. </p>
<p>If health is to be comprehensively included in the environmental impact statement, it is clear that it needs to be considered much earlier on when the decisions are made on the parameters of the project. Our findings suggest the design of these projects – from business case to assessment – lags well behind the evidence surrounding transport and health. </p>
<p>The community can be confident that these assessment processes were conducted thoroughly within their set purpose. But the bar for considering the full range of health impacts needs to be raised. This will ensure communities are aware of the long-term impacts of infrastructure provision, and that opportunities to promote and protect health through transport are maximised.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68326/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Patrick Harris has acted as an (unpaid) expert witness for the NSW Environmental Defenders Office. Patrick receives funding from the Australian Commonwealth National Health and Medical Research Council and the Australian Research Council. The research this article was based on was funded by the Henry Halloran Trust at the University of Sydney.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Riley and Jennifer L. Kent do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Transport infrastructure projects are conceived, planned and assessed in a way that makes it difficult to properly consider their major public health impacts.Patrick Harris, Senior research fellow, University of SydneyEmily Riley, Research Assistant , University of SydneyJennifer L. Kent, Research Fellow, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/650842016-09-19T19:59:25Z2016-09-19T19:59:25ZGold Coast light rail study helps put a figure on value capture’s funding potential<p>Value capture actually can work when it comes to funding new transport infrastructure. My research on the Gold Coast light rail provides the figures to demonstrate the size of the gains to nearby land values, which were around 25% of the <a href="http://www.gclrstage2.com.au/about">A$1.2 billion capital cost</a> in <a href="http://www.goldlinq.com.au/gclr.html">stage one</a> of the project. </p>
<p>Value capture is the idea that new transport infrastructure can be financed, or at least partly, by increases in land value around the project. It’s something Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull <a href="http://www.afr.com/real-estate/malcolm-turnbulls-value-capture-plan-for-infrastructure-splits-developers-20160429-goic5m">has promoted</a> and industry experts have <a href="https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjX5La5xIvPAhWDGj4KHXARCwAQFggdMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fnews%2Fnation%2Fvaluecapture-process-could-help-fund-building-of-very-fast-train%2Fnews-story%2Fadc815db4c51947ed8e401d014c33669&usg=AFQjCNGUjdRodpx9IQg_JkCKWL49WTiMTg">come out in support</a> of, but the proof has so far been elusive. </p>
<p>To shed some light on the potential scale of such property value gains, <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2834855">I studied the changes</a> in Gold Coast land values following the opening of the light rail project in July 2014.</p>
<h2>Why land values?</h2>
<p>The case for this type of “beneficiary pays” view is a moral one more than an economic one. The moral case is that publicly funded transport projects should not be undertaken for the benefit of a select group of landowners. </p>
<p>For example, we know that the planning system is <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2604391">susceptible to favouritism</a> because it gives windfall gains to landowners. The same holds for transport investments. Thus, there is a fairness argument for taxing these “unearned” gains to fund the transport investment that caused them.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-value-capture-and-what-does-it-mean-for-cities-58776">number</a> of <a href="https://theconversation.com/paying-for-infrastructure-means-using-land-value-capture-but-does-it-also-mean-more-tax-58731">recent articles</a> at The Conversation have described some of the options for translating land value gains into a revenue source. </p>
<p>But while we know that transport investments typically increase land values in areas that become more accessible, does a new rail line increase land values by 5%, or 50%? Taken together, what proportion of the transport investment costs can be funded by these gains? Are they 10%, or even perhaps 100%? </p>
<h2>Who benefits, and by how much?</h2>
<p>To answer the question of how large land values gains are, I used the full suite of statutory land valuations data available in the Gold Coast to tease out the land value variation over time at different distances from the light rail stations. By doing this I could see the path of relative land values for properties within 100 metres of the stations, between 100 and 200m, and so forth, up to 2 kilometres. </p>
<p>I found that land within 400m of the stations increased in value by 7% more than land between 400m and 2km from the stations in the year after the light rail began operation. This is in keeping with the results of some previous international studies. </p>
<p>By applying the price deviation to the total value of land in those areas (a little over A$4.2 billion in 2015), I could then estimate that the absolute change in land value was A$300 million. This is the once-off gain to the owners of the 1,324 plots of land within 400m of the light rail stations as a result of this transport investment. </p>
<p>This estimated value gain is net of additional rates and charges that arise automatically from increasing land values. It is also net of the additional charge levied citywide to help fund transport investment in the city. </p>
<h2>How much funding can value capture deliver?</h2>
<p>At a 5% market interest rate, those capital gains are equivalent to an annual revenue stream of A$15 million. This is the total possible revenue from a funding system that perfectly captured all land value gains. </p>
<p>However, state governments already levy taxes on land values, though in Queensland there are many exemptions, including for land holdings under A$600,000 in value. After this, the marginal rate is between 1% and 1.75%. </p>
<p>It is possible to estimate the additional revenue available to the state government from land value gains due to this investment in the hypothetical situation where there are no exemptions. At a 1% land value tax rate, this would be an automatic increase of approximately A$2.5 million in annual land tax income from the value gains due to the light rail. At a 1.75% rate with no exceptions, the revenue would be A$3.9 million per year.</p>
<p>Overall, the land value gains from the Gold Coast light rail were around 25% of the capital cost. One of the simplest ways to capture these land value gains is to expand the existing state land tax system to remove exemptions. That would automatically capture 17-26% of the potential revenue from the value gains.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65084/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cameron Murray does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Land value gains following the opening of stage one of the Gold Coast light rail project were worth around 25% of its cost.Cameron Murray, Economist, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/591612016-05-24T00:54:35Z2016-05-24T00:54:35Z‘30-minute city’? Not in my backyard! Smart Cities Plan must let people have their say<p>The federal government’s <a href="https://cities.dpmc.gov.au/smart-cities-plan">Smart Cities Plan</a> is framed around the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-30-minute-city-how-do-we-put-the-political-rhetoric-into-practice-56136">30-minute city</a>”. In this city, journeys will <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2016/malcolm-turnbull-to-borrow-big-in-multibilliondollar-smart-cities-plan-20160428-gohbym.html">take no more than half an hour</a>, regardless of your location.</p>
<p>The recently released plan has significant implications for population, transport provision and land-use intensity in neighbourhoods – the places where people live and how they get around. The realisation of its goals will require ongoing densification of Australian suburbs.</p>
<h2>Cities with more houses, more people, more NIMBYs</h2>
<p>The doubling of the population in some Australian cities by 2045 is likely to generate fierce opposition to housing and transport projects.</p>
<p>Many medium-density housing projects prompt residents <a href="http://www.ahuri.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/2238/AHURI_Final_Report_No197_Resident_third_party_objections_and_appeals_against_planning_applications.pdf">to act strategically to protect their neighbourhoods</a>, even when these projects improve housing affordability and access to jobs and services.</p>
<p>Resistance is also directed at major infrastructure. Fierce campaigns are being (or have been) waged against Melbourne’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-sky-rail-saga-can-big-new-transport-projects-ever-run-smoothly-54383">“sky rail” project</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/east-west-link-shows-miserable-failure-of-planning-process-40232">East West Link</a>, Sydney’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/trees-versus-light-rail-we-need-to-rethink-skewed-urban-planning-values-57206">ANZAC Parade light rail</a> and <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/opposition-to-westconnex-grows-as-council-blocks-contractors-from-streets-20160407-go0j3i.html">Westconnex</a> projects, and the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-23/shorten-to-commit-to-1bn-metronet-rail-in-wa-if-elected/7436062">Perth Freight Link</a>.</p>
<p>Such opposition is not only felt through the planning system. Residents also <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08111146.2015.1081845">use political channels</a> to stop projects, <a href="http://usj.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/08/27/0042098015602649.abstract">as with the East West Link</a>.</p>
<h2>How should government respond to community resistance?</h2>
<p>Contestation over city planning should not be shut down. Rather, we need to think about citizen opposition as a constructive process for working through difference. Here are five points to consider when including people in the delivery of the 30-minute city.</p>
<p><strong>Point 1: We need active governments and active citizens</strong></p>
<p>Private-sector lobbyists argue government is poorly placed to deliver small- and large-scale infrastructure. But think about a city with no roads, sewers, hospitals or schools. Without government-led planning, our cities would be dysfunctional places to live.</p>
<p>However, governments are not benevolent institutions. Active citizenries have long scrutinised the efficacy of government decisions. </p>
<p>The introduction of private and non-government infrastructure providers <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-uneasy-marriage-planners-public-and-the-market-struggle-to-work-well-together-54405">further complicates</a> the relationship between citizens and governments. Whose interests does urban development then serve – a local community, regional community, or developers?</p>
<p>Governments need to be ready to answer questions about the role of the private sector and to change their plans following <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07293682.2015.1135816">community input</a>. </p>
<p><strong>Point 2: More than finding better participation tools</strong></p>
<p>Urban planning systems play important roles in engaging residents. However, community consultation has been sporadic. Neighbourhood meetings and letterbox notifications often fail to ignite engagement. </p>
<p>Then there is the question of representation. Community consultations attract the “usual suspects”. Time-poor working-age households and young professionals find it difficult to fit engagement with planning into their busy lives. Even more rarely does planning engage with youth and children about their visions and hopes for cities.</p>
<p>Local and state governments are aware of the need for new ways to bring citizens into decision-making. Infrastructure Victoria’s <a href="http://yoursay.infrastructurevictoria.com.au/citizen-jury">citizen jury panels</a> are meeting mid-2016. Social media is also being considered as a way to <a href="http://participate.melbourne.vic.gov.au/future">engage a broader public about city futures</a>. </p>
<p>However, when planning departments use social media the uptake by communities is poor. Our research suggests <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07293682.2015.1019755">opponents to planned projects</a>, rather than planning departments, are more likely to use social media.</p>
<p>The problem with current participation tools is their failure to account for conversations, debates and protests that <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08111146.2015.1077804">take place outside</a> the formal planning process. We need ways to include these discussions.</p>
<p><strong>Point 3: Moving beyond NIMBYism</strong></p>
<p>Not all community campaigns are the same. The dominant narrative around community participation in urban planning centres on the pejorative idea of “the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1745-5871.2012.00751.x/abstract">NIMBY</a>” (not in my backyard). </p>
<p>The term NIMBY is frequently used to delegitimise the claims of citizens opposing planned developments. They are characterised as self-interested residents who resist the inclusion of new social groups in their neighbourhoods, or any change to the built or natural environment.</p>
<p>Deliberately labelling these residents as self-interested fails to recognise the positive roles they can play. Local resident campaigns can focus on city-wide or local issues. They can range from <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07293682.2013.776982">unwavering opposition to more flexible and reflexive engagement</a> in an urban discussion. </p>
<p>Some community campaigns might be viewed as vital forms of urban citizenship. Others are seen as “protecting their patch” against the best interests of the broader citizenry. Both views should be part of our discussion about city planning.</p>
<p><strong>Point 4: The conversation never stops</strong></p>
<p>An active citizenry is involved in short-term “one-off” planning and long-term strategic planning. Too often, public participation roles are confined to one end of this spectrum. For example, the NSW government recently attempted to <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07293682.2014.889183">limit public participation</a> to high-level strategic planning documents, reducing community input into individual developments.</p>
<p>Most people have little knowledge of the urban planning system. A <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837714000301">recent study</a> found only 24% of Sydney residents surveyed were aware of the <a href="http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/Plans-for-Your-Area/Sydney/A-Plan-for-Growing-Sydney">Sydney metropolitan plan</a>. Confining participation to upfront strategic consultation limits community involvement.</p>
<p>For most people, engagement with planning and development issues will be reactionary. People engage with the planning system when a development is proposed for their area.</p>
<p>However, a recent national survey revealed that 65% of responses believed urban residents should be involved in each stage of the strategy-making process. Most will not be involved, but options for participation should not be confined to upfront consultation.</p>
<p>By engaging the community in an ongoing discussion we can listen and respond to local interests without compromising the broader strategic and long-term vision for our cities.</p>
<p><strong>Point 5: Metropolitan-wide but locally situated debate</strong></p>
<p>There will be winners and losers in the 30-minute city. Houses will be acquired, buildings will be demolished and sections of the natural environment will make way for new infrastructure.</p>
<p>Over the last decade, the idea of consensus has dominated participatory approaches. However, consensus-seeking is not always the best way to work through community disagreement. In some cases, consensus can be manipulative, or useful for mobilising resident opposition. </p>
<p>We need to recognise that cities are home to many different people who hold diverse views and values, and who will not always agree. Rather than aiming for consensus, we should set our sights on metropolitan-wide, locally situated debate, which supports an active citizenry. </p>
<p>In the end, the difference between no action and implementation may be in “agreeing to disagree” through open discussion about the planning of the city.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article draws on research by the authors and recent discussions about a possible crisis of participation in Australian cities at a <a href="http://cur.org.au/events/urban-theory-symposium-series/">symposium in Sydney in April 2016</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59161/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Crystal Legacy receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dallas Rogers receives funding from the Henry Halloran Trust.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristian Ruming receives funding from the Australian Research Council and UrbanGrowth NSW.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Cook does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Cities are home to many different people who will not always agree. We need to learn to embrace public debate as an ongoing, constructive process for working through diverse views and values.Crystal Legacy, Australian Research Council (DECRA) Fellow and Vice Chancellor's Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Research, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT UniversityDallas Rogers, Lecturer in Urban Studies, Western Sydney UniversityKristian Ruming, Associate Professor in Urban Geography, Macquarie UniversityNicole Cook, Researcher, School of Geography, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/587312016-05-04T05:36:27Z2016-05-04T05:36:27ZPaying for infrastructure means using ‘land value capture’, but does it also mean more tax?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121138/original/image-20160504-13603-bq3i29.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A special tax paid for the Gold Coast light rail. But there is another way.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AFC_2_test%2C_surfers_paradise_boulevard%2C_March_2014.JPG">Bahnfrend/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With the federal government aiming to kick-start investment in urban infrastructure, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-29/government-to-allocate-50-million-for-infrastructure-projects/7369386">pledging A$50 million of public money in the 2016 budget</a> to look at alternative financing mechanisms, attention is turning to the idea of “land value capture” as a means to attract the necessary funds.</p>
<p>Put simply, land value capture involves using the additional value created on land around urban rail, as a result of the railway’s existence, to fund the rail itself.
This allows private investors to reap the benefits of urban development, for example by developing shopping centres at new train stations, using the projected extra tax revenue as a means of funding the infrastructure in the first place. </p>
<p>Depending on whom you listen to, the idea is either <a href="http://www.afr.com/opinion/value-capture-is-infrastructure-magic-bullet-20151021-gkeqj9">infrastructure’s magic bullet</a>, or <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/28/beware-of-politicians-who-tell-you-they-can-deliver-the-world-for-free">not all it’s cracked up to be</a>. It has become a <a href="http://www.afr.com/real-estate/malcolm-turnbulls-value-capture-plan-for-infrastructure-splits-developers-20160429-goic5m">divisive issue for developers</a>. </p>
<p>It has also been described, most notably by the Property Council of Australia and <a href="http://anthonyalbanese.com.au/coalition-must-rule-out-new-property-tax">shadow infrastructure minister Anthony Albanese</a>, as another sneaky way to tax us. So what is under the hood of land value capture?</p>
<h2>Tax increments, not tax rate hikes</h2>
<p>Value capture can use the idea of <a href="http://infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/policy-publications/submissions/published/files/486_propertycouncilofaustralia_SUB2.pdf">tax increment financing (TIF)</a>, which has been <a href="http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/documents/Tax-Increment-Financing.pdf">used extensively in the United States</a> to deliver urban rail projects.</p>
<p>It works like this. New infrastructure, such as improved transport networks, can raise land values because of the extra amenity that infrastructure provides. Governments can gain extra taxation revenue as a result of the development, without necessarily needing to raise the existing taxation rate.</p>
<p>This increased tax revenue can come in the form of local government rates, state government land taxes and stamp duty, Commonwealth capital gains tax and even GST on property – meaning that all three tiers of governments can benefit. The taxation revenues can be forecast and included in future budgets as a means of paying for the infrastructure costs up front.</p>
<p>The big winners from any infrastructure improvement are adjacent private land owners, as they receive windfall gains in the value of their land without paying for the infrastructure. </p>
<p>The basic TIF model doesn’t involve raising tax rates per se. But governments may create extra taxation levies on particular pieces of land, to fund specific infrastructure projects. </p>
<p>This approach was used to fund the <a href="http://www.goldlinq.com.au/">A$1 billion light rail project on the Gold Coast</a>. A levy was charged to all residents to help raise the initial capital and the operating costs. </p>
<p>These extra levies could also be charged on land where developers will make significant extra profits as a result of the infrastructure being built. This prospect has been used as a <a href="http://www.propertycouncil.com.au/Web/Content/News/National/2016/Infrastructure_deficit_demands_smart_financing.aspx?WebsiteKey=148a29fb-5ee5-48af-954b-a02c118dc5fd">scare tactic by the Property Council of Australia</a>, which would prefer that its members did not have to contribute. </p>
<p>But remember that special levies are not essential for land value capture to work, despite the Property Council and Albanese’s claim. They are optional, and are not the only way to harness land value for infrastructure. </p>
<h2>Lazy land value capture</h2>
<p>In February we released a <a href="http://www.curtin.edu.au/research/cusp/local/docs/Rail_Model_Report.pdf">discussion paper</a> to explain how urban land can be the basis of funding urban rail. </p>
<p>It works like this. Consortia are asked to bid for how they can build, own, operate and finance a rail project through regeneration of “lazy” urban land that has its value unlocked through the building of a rail project. Governments must help with land assembly, zoning and community engagement. But, in essence, it is a competitive private-sector process to provide more yield for developers who create the urban villages increasingly being built around rail stations. </p>
<p>This idea, which we call the “entrepreneur rail model”, will finance new shops, offices, housing and, crucially, new urban rail itself. It involves governments asking for expressions of interest from the private sector to undertake urban rail projects within certain land corridors that include government-owned land. This is then enabled for private development to fund public goods such as transport.</p>
<p>But it doesn’t just depend on handing over public land. Private landowners can also be brought into any development consortium and will gain from the uplift and urban redevelopment as a partner. Because they are adept at recognising how to make money out of urban redevelopment, the process enables the private sector to pay for the rail project as part of the development. </p>
<h2>Overseas approaches</h2>
<p>This is how urban rail is built in <a href="https://trid.trb.org/view.aspx?id=1175245">Japan</a> and <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/national/hong-kong-metro-system-operators-mtr-spread-value-capture-message-to-australia-20151215-glo0wq.html">Hong Kong</a>, and is increasingly coming into new projects in <a href="http://www.ttc.ca/Subway/index.jsp">Canada</a> and the <a href="http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/documents/Tax-Increment-Financing.pdf">United States</a>. There are no extra taxes involved, as the developers in a sense tax themselves to build the rail line as part of the urban regeneration that sees them earn profits they would not otherwise have realised. </p>
<p>The new <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/apr/29/50bn-investment-banking-style-unit-to-fund-transport-projects">Urban Finance Unit</a>, announced by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last month and included in Treasurer Scott Morrison’s budget speech, is designed to facilitate this new process in Australia by creating a way to finance urban rail without significant government support. The unit may fund states and local governments to help facilitate bids and ensure common good outcomes, as suggested in our <a href="http://www.curtin.edu.au/research/cusp/local/docs/Rail_Model_Report.pdf">discussion paper</a>. </p>
<p>The federal government can help in funding urban rail in many other ways, such as through bonds and grants, but the big advantage of using a more entrepreneurial approach is that it builds in urban regeneration as an integral part of the rail project. This is in fact how the first tram and train projects were built around the world. </p>
<p>Such urban development is now much desired in town planning strategies. It is feasible again in our cities because there is a market for urban regeneration based around quality urban rail, with a significant number of people <a href="http://islandpress.org/book/the-end-of-automobile-dependence">choosing this as a lifestyle option</a>. Public transport is no longer just a welfare exercise – there is money to be made. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://cities.dpmc.gov.au/smart-cities-plan">Smart Cities Plan</a> talks about various potential value capture approaches to deliver infrastructure, adding that “done right, value capture can accelerate infrastructure investment alongside urban renewal, and deliver benefits for households, governments, businesses and developers”. Clearly the <a href="https://theconversation.com/smart-cities-plan-offers-signs-of-hope-but-are-turnbull-and-taylor-just-dreamin-58628">details need to be fleshed out</a>, and the government’s forthcoming discussion paper on land value capture will hopefully do that. </p>
<p>Communities will need to be involved in deciding how best to make this happen. Cities will need to identify corridors with significant urban regeneration potential as a basis of all their future urban rail projects. They will take funding wherever they can get it, including various value capture mechanisms. These do not necessarily mean more taxes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58731/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Much of the infrastructure Australia needs will be funded by “value capture” – raising tax revenue by boosting land values. Some have decried it as a tax hike in all but name, but it isn’t really.Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin UniversityJemma Green, Research Fellow, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/572062016-04-06T01:32:00Z2016-04-06T01:32:00ZTrees versus light rail: we need to rethink skewed urban planning values<p>Looking out of the window on my morning bus journey from Kensington into Sydney’s CBD, I saw more trees being cut down to make way for the new light rail. This time, it was the historical fig trees that line Anzac Parade. </p>
<p>Trees like these provide a host of important ecological, environmental and aesthetic benefits. I – like <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/sydney-light-rail-centennial-park-trees-felled-despite-protest-20160107-gm1o4v.html">many Sydneysiders</a> – am deeply saddened by their loss. It leaves me wondering, why can’t we have a modern transport system but also enjoy a nice view along the way?</p>
<p>In meeting the needs of growing populations across our capital cities, it is vital that we have efficient, integrated public transport, with <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/commuter-crush-more-trams-needed-to-cope-with-surge-in-light-rail-demand-20160120-gm9vse.html">enough capacity to meet demand</a>. The challenge of retrofitting transport systems into an established urban fabric means difficult decisions are inevitable. But what if building these new transport systems actually leaves parts of our cities more vulnerable to even bigger challenges, such as climate change?</p>
<p>Sydney and <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/what-would-northbourne-avenue-look-like-without-trees-20151210-gll2id.html">Canberra</a> are <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/northbourne-avenue-trees-set-to-be-cut-down-from-april-20160320-gnmjri.html">forging ahead</a> with light rail projects intended to reduce traffic congestion and improve accessibility. However, in both cities a significant number of mature trees will be impacted.</p>
<p>In Canberra, the ACT government is set to <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/860-trees-to-go-during-light-rail-construction-in-canberra-report-20150622-ghu8ep.html">remove approximately 860 trees</a>. In Sydney, about <a href="http://www.tec.org.au/images/reports/Summary%20Report%20-%20Final_Tree%20Data%20-%20from%20Light%20Rail%20Project%20Arborist%20Report%20-%208%20February%202016.pdf">1277 mature trees</a> will either be removed or have their canopy or roots pruned. </p>
<p>Of the condemned trees, 871 are classified as trees of significant value. These trees, some of which were 160 years old, provide an array of benefits that make our cities liveable. These include clean air, amenity, <a href="https://theconversation.com/concrete-jungle-well-have-to-do-more-than-plant-trees-to-bring-wildlife-back-to-our-cities-51047">biodiversity</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/trees-are-a-citys-air-conditioners-so-why-are-we-pulling-them-out-21890">cooling in hot temperatures</a>. </p>
<p>The tree felling has has caused <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-16/protesters-hold-funeral-for-heritage-trees-felled-in-sydney/7093076">outrage among Sydney residents</a> who are frustrated by the way planning decisions were made. A <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/randwick-council-campaigns-to-save-centennial-park-trees-on-light-rail-route-20151213-glmdi8.html">controversial amendment to the route</a> to accommodate private commercial interests meant many trees were removed at the end of 2015.</p>
<h2>Cutting down cities’ natural cooling system</h2>
<p>Many places in Australia are going to become hotter with climate change. The number of extreme heat days over 35 degrees is projected to increase.</p>
<p>The impact will be greater in cities due to the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-why-are-cities-warmer-than-the-countryside-53160">heat island effect</a>”. This amplifies the impacts of heat due to the abundance of hard and dark surfaces. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117394/original/image-20160404-27150-i9o3bu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117394/original/image-20160404-27150-i9o3bu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/117394/original/image-20160404-27150-i9o3bu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=169&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117394/original/image-20160404-27150-i9o3bu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=169&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117394/original/image-20160404-27150-i9o3bu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=169&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117394/original/image-20160404-27150-i9o3bu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117394/original/image-20160404-27150-i9o3bu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/117394/original/image-20160404-27150-i9o3bu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Extreme heat days in Australian cities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">BoM 2013b, CSIRO and BOM 2007</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The table above shows that, by 2070, heatwaves are projected to nearly double the long-term average in both Sydney and Canberra. This is significant as major heatwaves are Australia’s <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901114000999">deadliest natural hazard</a>. Extreme heat accounts for 55% more deaths than all other natural hazards combined.</p>
<p>A recent study showed that heat stress on the workforce <a href="http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v5/n7/full/nclimate2623.html?message-global=remove">costs the Australian economy US$6.2 billion</a> a year due to absenteeism, reduced productivity and injuries. This is a problem that has become too big to ignore.</p>
<p>However, increasing the amount of green cover in urban areas can help us adapt to extreme heat. Urban street trees provide the only cost-effective way to cool our cities, due to the direct correlation between heat and tree canopy cover.</p>
<p>Trees create their own microclimates through a combination of shading and the evapotranspiration of water from leaves, which reduces ambient temperatures. Removing canopy trees today means those cooling benefits will be gone for at least another 20 years – and that is only if new plantings survive to maturity.</p>
<p>The federal government recently announced plans for <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/jan/19/government-to-create-plan-for-more-tree-coverage-in-cities">decade-by-decade goals</a> – out to 2060 – for increasing overall tree coverage in our cities. Internationally, cities such as Madrid, which regularly experiences temperatures over 30 degrees and extremes above 40 degrees in summer, are starting to see the serious health implications of heat islands. These cities are implementing bold strategies to increase urban tree cover. </p>
<p>It is clear that to adapt to a hotter climate, we need to retain as many trees as possible. Australia needs to set strong targets to increase urban tree cover.</p>
<p>It could have been a very different outcome in Sydney if the value of the trees had been considered equally in the planning decisions. We could have had a modern transport system and valuable and attractive tree-lined view to enhance the journey. </p>
<p>As someone who works in the area of climate change adaptation, I can see how the loss of these trees will have major environmental, economic and social consequences. As a local resident who has walked and cycled daily under the trees, the loss has a personal cost.</p>
<p>It is imperative that we find better ways to balance the needs of growing city populations, while ensuring the protection of the natural environment we ultimately rely on to survive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57206/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr. Louise Boronyak does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If planning decisions properly considered the value of trees in a city, we could have a modern transport system and tree-lined views to enhance the journey.Dr. Louise Boronyak, Senior Research Consultant, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/486692015-10-07T19:23:54Z2015-10-07T19:23:54ZThe light rail genie is out of the bottle, but how many cities will get their wish?<p>The <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-03/light-rail-funding-renewed-federal-focus-on-public-transport/6825182">federal government’s rekindled enthusiasm for public transport</a> has sent state and local governments across the country scurrying back to their light rail plans – even those that many of us thought would <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-22/light-rail-back-on-agenda-with-turnbull-expert-hopes/6793438">never see the light of day</a>.</p>
<p>It now looks as if the two-year effective moratorium on rail spending under Tony Abbott will be just a relatively brief hiatus. Besides the <a href="http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/game-changer/gold-coast-light-rail-stage-2-to-get-go-ahead-with-tenders-to-open-for-tram-to-train-link/story-fnvizjmv-1227551373338">Gold Coast</a> and <a href="http://www.pta.wa.gov.au/max/">Perth</a>, the light rail revival could also involve <a href="http://yoursay.revitalisingnewcastle.com.au/projects/light-rail.aspx">Newcastle</a>, <a href="http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/lightrail-program/parramatta-light-rail">Parramatta</a>, <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/commuter-trams-may-return-to-bendigo-streets-20140805-100pfk.html">Bendigo</a>, <a href="http://www.capitalmetro.act.gov.au/">Canberra</a>, <a href="http://www.takesteps.org/cast/Dual_mode_rail.pdf">Cairns</a>, <a href="http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern-territory/darwin-cbd-masterplan-proposes-a-light-rail-corridor-and-a-ferry-terminal-off-the-esplanade/story-fnk0b1zt-1226832670027">Darwin</a> and <a href="http://www.urbanalyst.com/in-the-news/tasmania/2172-hobarts-proposed-riverline-light-rail-service-to-be-extended.html">Hobart</a>.</p>
<p>All have drawn up plans that they hope could emulate the success of light rail in <a href="http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/lyon">European</a> and <a href="http://trimet.org/max/">American</a> cities (not to mention Melbourne, home of the <a href="http://www.yarratrams.com.au/about-us/who-we-are/facts-figures/">world’s largest tram system</a>) as a focal point for urban development.</p>
<p>The main reason that so many Australian cities have been trying to copy this model is that it works. Europe has been using light rail as a major tool of urban regeneration, especially in France where many smaller towns have been very successful. In the United States between 1993 and 2011, public transport use <a href="https://islandpress.org/book/the-end-of-automobile-dependence">grew by 23% (and light rail by 190%), while car use growth peaked</a>.</p>
<p>The key reason for this seems to be the extra speed and capacity created when light (or heavy) rail goes around, under or over traffic that has been getting slower and slower in every major city (see the table below). Meanwhile, urban regeneration around light rail corridors allows people to end their automobile dependence, helping cities <a href="https://islandpress.org/book/the-end-of-automobile-dependence">grow inwards faster than outwards</a>.</p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/rDwjw/1/" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="450"></iframe>
<p>Tony Abbott forced the genie back into the bottle by following through on his <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-not-in-the-knitting-urban-rails-growing-significance-13754">2013 pre-election decision</a> to drop all federal rail funding. The move showed scant regard for how modern cities attract talented people to live and work in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-east-west-link-is-dead-a-victory-for-21st-century-thinking-34914">knowledge economy</a> jobs that are so necessary for innovation. </p>
<p>Around the world, cities compete on <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/the-future-is-walking-sydney-so-get-used-to-it-20151005-gk1zpt.html">walkability</a> and public transport, because these things make it less likely that young, creative workers will leave for London, Paris or New York. A <a href="http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/documents/walkup-wake-up-call-boston.pdf">recent report from Smart Growth America</a> found that in Boston, 70% of young people working in the knowledge economy live in highly walkable areas. Their jobs typically require them to come together with lots of different people in an urban situation, and they don’t have time for long commutes.</p>
<p>So the knowledge economy needs spatial efficiency. Public transport, cycling and walking are spatially efficient; freeways, traffic jams and urban sprawl are not.</p>
<h2>Enough to go around?</h2>
<p>This is precisely the phenomenon on which Turnbull has picked up, by stressing innovation and freeing up infrastructure funding for light rail projects. The genie is out again, but obviously there will not be enough money to make every city’s transport wishes come true. So how can we proceed?</p>
<p>Cities now need to make a strong case for their light rail projects, based on the benefits of urban regeneration as well saving commuters time. The best way to do this is to attract private funding as well as taxpayers’ money, by <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-build-light-rail-in-our-cities-without-emptying-the-public-purse-39255">bringing private investors on board with the financing</a>, who then earn a return on the increased land values generated by rail development. This is called “land value capture” and still has not been done in Australia, although it’s common in the United States and Asia. </p>
<p>In fact, one could argue that the federal government should only release Commonwealth funding if these funds are multiplied many times over by the private sector. So cities could begin by calling for expressions of interest from private companies to design, build, finance, own and operate the light rail link and, crucially, make sure this includes land-development options (rather than letting in outside developers to gain windfall profits instead of directing the money into paying for the light rail).</p>
<p>Government would need to contribute a base grant and an operational fund that could be more specifically focused along the areas where the biggest benefits are felt in the corridor itself, where land values will go up most. Private expertise will ensure that the best sites are chosen for the light rail route. </p>
<p>These land-value increases will flow through taxes into treasury and can be set aside in a dedicated light rail fund for ongoing operations or for raising further finance. This way, with a bit of economic magic, the light rail genie could grant more cities their wishes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48669/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Newman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Turnbull government seems to have lifted Abbott’s moratorium on rail funding, but giving light rail to every city that wants it will take some clever strategies to woo private investors.Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/392552015-04-19T20:07:35Z2015-04-19T20:07:35ZHow to build light rail in our cities without emptying the public purse<p>In cities all around Australia, light rail is being considered as a solution to a range of urban problems. <a href="http://www.pta.wa.gov.au/max/">Perth</a>, <a href="http://revitalisingnewcastle.com.au/projects/light-rail.aspx">Newcastle</a>, <a href="http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/lightrail-program/parramatta-light-rail">Parramatta</a>, <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/commuter-trams-may-return-to-bendigo-streets-20140805-100pfk.html">Bendigo</a>, <a href="http://www.capitalmetro.act.gov.au/">Canberra</a>, <a href="http://www.cairnspost.com.au/news/breaking-news/newman-promises-to-continue-light-rail/story-fnjbnvyh-1227199594365">Cairns</a> and <a href="http://www.urbanalyst.com/in-the-news/tasmania/2172-hobarts-proposed-riverline-light-rail-service-to-be-extended.html">Hobart</a> have all considered trying to do what many <a href="http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/lyon">European</a> and <a href="http://trimet.org/max/">American</a> cities have done – create new development around light rail. </p>
<p>Often, though, the high costs of these projects mean that the debate can soon become a question of whether buses might do the job just as well. But what if private financing could allow the preferred option of light rail to stay on the table? </p>
<p>Advocates of the cheaper bus mass transit option might ask whether there is truly any fundamental difference between steel wheels and rubber ones. My answer is that it’s not just a question of trams versus buses – it’s really an issue of rail-based versus road-based urban development. The former <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08111146.2014.968246#.VTCQYBOUe6E">can attract private financing</a>, while the latter does not. </p>
<h2>Driving development</h2>
<p>Most of the world’s urban development over the past 50 years has been <a href="http://books.google.com.au/books/about/Sustainability_and_Cities.html?id=pjatbiavDZYC">road-based</a>. The assumption has been that most people will drive, with the odd bus laid on to pick up those who don’t. </p>
<p>Yet in recent years there has been a <a href="http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=38472#.VTCQ4hOUe6E">revival of rail-based urban development</a>, which brings <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S136192091400114X">reduced traffic</a>, creates more <a href="http://islandpress.org/the-end-of-automobile-dependence">walkable and lively places</a> to live and work, and most of all attracts developers and financiers to enable denser, mixed-use development.</p>
<p>Perth’s beleaguered <a href="http://www.pta.wa.gov.au/max/">MAX light rail project</a> – now <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-09/perth-max-light-rail-to-be-delayed-decades-dean-nalder-says/6292086">mothballed in favour of a bus rapid transit service</a> – was designed to deliver precisely these benefits. But when the bus lobby sidles in and whispers “we can do exactly the same for half the price”, they get a sympathetic ear from transport planners who are trained to get people efficiently from A to B, without thinking about whether they are also delivering good urban development. </p>
<p>Rubber-wheeled public transport does not create dense, mixed-use urban centres. Having <a href="http://islandpress.org/the-end-of-automobile-dependence">examined examples around the world</a>, I have found none that can be claimed to have resulted in more focused urbanity apart from already dense third world cities where BRT’s have been successful in attracting patronage as they get people out of traffic. In the United States, the <a href="http://islandpress.org/the-end-of-automobile-dependence">past 20 years of dramatic growth in public transport</a> has seen light rail grow by 190% and heavy rail by 52%, while bus transport has contracted by 3%. </p>
<p>It is no surprise that developers, banks and governments in developed cities have returned to light and heavy rail to help regenerate urban centres, while cities with rubber-wheeled public transport continue to be dominated by cars and urban sprawl. On current trends, Perth itself could conceivably turn into a 240 km sprawl stretching from Myalup to Lancelin, most of it made of nothing but car-dependent housing – more Mad Max than MAX.</p>
<p>Perth’s planners know that they must redevelop and create activity centres, but they do not control the decisions on transport. Transport planners, meanwhile, do not seem to see that their choices have impacts that go beyond simple modes of transport. </p>
<h2>Enter the private sector</h2>
<p>Here is my possible solution, which Infrastructure Australia has <a href="https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure/iff/files/IFWG_Report.pdf">previously tried</a> to get state governments to adopt: get the private sector involved in the planning stage, as well as the delivery and operations, of any light rail project. Light rail lends itself to private-sector involvement, but only if the development outcomes being sought are built into the whole project, rather than being an afterthought. </p>
<p>The model for Infrastructure Australia’s approach was the A$1 billion <a href="http://www.goldlinq.com.au/">Gold Coast Light Rail</a>, which runs through areas that had lots of potential for redevelopment. Thus the funding was provided by a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public%E2%80%93private_partnership">public-private partnership</a>, with expressions of interest sought from private bidders to design, finance, build, own, operate and develop land as a basis for funding. </p>
<p>Government base funds and a general set of guidelines were delivered and bids were sought. Five consortia from around the world competed on this basis and included most of the world’s main consulting groups with expertise in light rail. </p>
<p>However, the group of transport experts (mostly main roads engineers) set up by the Queensland Government to deliver the light rail argued that they did not have the expertise to manage the land-development part of the exercise, and successfully appealed to avoid this approach. Instead, funding was delivered through an annual transport levy across the whole Gold Coast local government area.</p>
<p>The private sector consortia were well prepared for the land-development option but of course went ahead without it. <a href="http://www.keolis.com/en">Keolis</a> won the tender and delivered a first-class light rail. As soon as the route was announced, developers from around the world bought up all the best sites and are now delivering them, albeit for their own interests rather than channelling back to the project. </p>
<p>This is the way to do it if you have tax funds to provide the capital and the operational expenses, and if you can find the initial public funding. But most politicians today say they do not have sufficient government funds for a light rail so they need to consider the cheaper bus option. Do we have to take second best? </p>
<p>The rubber-wheel option is never going to deliver the regeneration that many of Australia’s cities need. We need to be brave enough to go for the better option, the rail system, and that means embracing the public-private partnership financing model. </p>
<h2>Bringing the private sector on board</h2>
<p>To go for a full private-sector approach you must integrate redevelopment into every stage of the project. This is how you do it. Call for expressions of interest for private companies to design, build, finance, own and operate the light rail link and, crucially, make sure this includes land-development options (rather than letting in outside developers). This would help to create funds that can be used to finance and to operate the system. </p>
<p>Government needs to contribute a base grant and an operational fund that could be more specifically focused along the areas where the biggest benefits are felt in the corridor itself, where land values will go up most. Private expertise will ensure that the best sites are chosen for the light rail route. These land-value increases will flow through taxes into treasury and can be set aside in a dedicated light rail fund for ongoing operations and/or for raising finance (rather than instituting a city-wide levy as the Gold Coast did). </p>
<p>The approach, called <a href="http://infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/policy-publications/submissions/published/files/486_propertycouncilofaustralia_SUB2.pdf">tax increment financing</a>, allows infrastructure to be built where it can be shown that the taxes would not have been generated without it. A bus instead of a light rail would not generate such land-value increases, and hence the extra tax dollars would not flow. For instance, Perth’s southern rail line <a href="http://espace.library.curtin.edu.au/R?func=dbin-jump-full&local_base=gen01-era02&object_id=213658">raised land values around stations by 42% over 5 years</a> and could have raised 60-80% of the capital cost if tax increment financing had been used. </p>
<p>Across Australia we should accept that there is a real choice over steel or rubber wheeled development. We can choose MAX over Mad Max. But are we brave enough to go one step further than the Gold Coast and involve private financing? </p>
<p>Some might object to our public transport being in private hands, but if we manage it well, this kind of partnership with private expertise can deliver beautiful cities as well as beautiful trains.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/39255/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Newman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Light rail is good for cities, but it’s also expensive, which is why many Australian cities have opted for buses instead. But there is a way to get top-drawer public transport using private dollars.Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/398412015-04-13T15:57:34Z2015-04-13T15:57:34ZManifesto Check: Plaid using old policy for its new transport vision<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77338/original/image-20150408-18080-1xinfy5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Plaid Cymru want to expand the Welsh government's Bwcabus service</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3050133">credit: John Bristow</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>First and foremost, it’s worth noting that <a href="https://www.gov.uk/devolution-settlement-wales">powers over transport are devolved</a> to the Welsh Assembly. The <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/5/contents">government of Wales act 2006</a> gave the Welsh Assembly the power over Welsh public and local transport systems. This means that the policies discussed in Plaid’s transport manifesto will be chiefly relevant to Welsh voters at next year’s National Assembly elections, rather than voters at this year’s general election.</p>
<p>There is no evidence in this manifesto regarding how the various schemes proposed are to be funded. Much of the transport policy is a recycling of old ideas; for example, the public ownership of the railways, a fuel duty regulator, and rail electrification. Some of this – rail electrification, for instance – is <a href="http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/south-wales-rail-electrification-scheme-8146631">already going ahead</a>, but these are expensive and complex infrastructure projects which cannot occur overnight, nor even within a five-year term in government. </p>
<h2>New routes for rail, buses, and planes</h2>
<p>The reopening of railway lines, which Plaid advocates, is also a major long-term project. Even if the route has not been built over, ownership of the land may have transferred into private hands. On top of this, such schemes will have as many opponents as proponents; consider the <a href="http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2806937/High-speed-rail-tsar-spark-fresh-controversy-HS2-route-stations-recommendations.html">current controversy</a> over HS2 in the North of England. </p>
<p>Plaid makes no mention of the potential role of light rapid transit, such as trams, guided busways, or bus rapid transit in the proposed South Wales Metro. These could all complement heavy rail routes and could be much cheaper and quicker to construct.</p>
<p>The party talks of retaining free bus passes, but do not say if they will pay a fair reimbursement rate to encourage operators to retain or expand the commercial bus network. The retention of early morning and late evening bus services is to be welcomed, and should be expanded to include Sunday services. The Bwcabus proposal – which aims to expand <a href="http://transport.research.southwales.ac.uk/BWCABUS/">the Welsh government’s door-to-door bus service</a> – is also to be applauded, but it must be well-funded to succeed. Such funding should be continuous and not time limited. Plaid’s proposal for a multi-modal Smartcard – like London’s Oyster card – is both desirable and achievable. </p>
<p>The current options for “London Airport Expansion” appear to have ruled out <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/349518/decision-and-summary.pdf">a new airport in the Thames Estuary</a>, as Plaid says it will not support a new airport to the east of London. If Plaid is supporting expansion of Heathrow (the nearest option to South Wales with direct motorway and rail access), then it should be explicit about this.</p>
<h2>Fuel rebates for rural areas</h2>
<p>A fuel duty regulator, a position Plaid would like to instate, would have prevented motorists from enjoying the recent benefits of lower crude oil prices, as it would have increased the fuel duty. Most former proponents of this scheme <a href="http://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2011/03/scottish-tories-add-to-the-pressure-on-george-osborne-to-cancel-the-fuel-duty-increase.html">such as the Scottish Conservatives</a> have now gone very quiet. The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/european-commission-approves-new-rural-fuel-tax-cut">“Deep Rural” fuel duty rebate scheme</a>, which Plaid want to introduce in Wales, is expensive to administer and delivers small benefits to very few people. </p>
<p>Many rural motorists fill their tanks when they visit nearby towns especially if there is a petrol station at the supermarket. It would be better to exempt rural petrol retailers from business rates, to encourage them to remain in business and so keep a modicum of competition in the rural petrol and diesel retail market. This, together with better availability of fuel in rural areas, would benefit both local residents and tourists.</p>
<p>Plaid’s plan to encourage more electric vehicles by increasing the number of charging points has potential in urban South East Wales. But in other parts of the nation, “range anxiety” is likely to be a limiting factor, especially since an electric vehicle’s range is also affected by the extra power needed to climb steep hills, like those found throughout inland Mid- and North Wales. </p>
<p>The argument for the Welsh Transport Commissioner (a reference to the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/people/nick-jones#current-roles">Traffic Commissioner</a>) to be based in Wales is a valid one. At present the commissioner – who is also responsible for the West Midlands – is based in England, something Plaid would like to change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/39841/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Disney received funding from DfT, Nottingham City Council and public research fundingin the past but has no current funding.He is a Director of the Dales & Bowland CIC and Trustee and Council Member of the Royal Statistical Society</span></em></p>Regulators, rebates and retaining bus services - Plaid’s transport policy offers a lot, but little explanation on how to fund it.John Disney, Senior Lecturer, Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/328482014-10-24T09:45:26Z2014-10-24T09:45:26ZMesa’s ‘most conservative’ title is puzzling<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61857/original/zzr3b74p-1413385151.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Does this look like a conservative city to you? </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Downtown_Mesa_Arizona.jpg">Ixnayonthetimmay</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Mesa, Arizona: a place with wide streets and narrow minds. Or so goes a once popular saying about this traditionally laid-back, conservative community that came into official existence in 1883 as a Mormon town of 300 people. The wide streets came straight from a plan designed by church leader Joseph Smith for Mormon settlements. No accounting for the narrow minds.</p>
<p>Now a booming city of <a href="http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/04/0446000.html">450,000 residents</a> – only 13% of whom are Mormons – located within commuting distance of Phoenix, Mesa is still widely regarded as a conservative stronghold, especially in state and national elections. A recent finding that it is the most conservative big city in the US, however, is a bit more startling and a bit misleading.</p>
<h2>What does ‘most conservative’ mean?</h2>
<p>Mesa’s “most conservative” label is found in <a href="http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/88528#files-area">a recent study</a> by two political scientists, Chris Tausanovitch of UCLA and Christopher Warshaw of MIT, who examined the policy preferences of people in 51 cities with populations larger than 250,000 and explored how they matched up with a range of policies actually pursued by their municipal governments. </p>
<p>Their central finding was that, contrary to some studies, municipal governments are responsive to the ideological positions of their citizens. They concluded, for example, that municipalities with the most liberal populations spend more and tax more on a per capita basis (in the process of providing more services) than municipalities with more conservative populations. </p>
<p>Mesa easily outdistanced Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, as the most conservative municipality. But those familiar with the city are likely to come away from this study somewhat concerned about the impression it leaves as well as by what it does not say. </p>
<h2>The Mesa story</h2>
<p>Over the past several years, Mesa has in fact been led by a set of relatively moderate Republicans who, in the effort to bring life to the growing but somewhat sleepy bedroom community, have often been doing many of the same things implemented by Democratic mayors and council people in their more liberal leaning cities. </p>
<p>Mesa has become a big city and has acquired big city problems. Leaders have sought to revitalize the downtown area, combat sprawl (which is a particularly severe problem in Mesa), encourage use of light rail and attract new job-creating businesses. They also have worked to overcome Mesa’s image as a really boring place to live. </p>
<p>Conservatism may be evident in several policy areas, but much of what has been happening in Mesa has not been well received by people on the far right. They are not happy with the increased spending and debt. Nor do they approve of planning strategies that place an emphasis on increasing population densities.</p>
<h2>Making change happen</h2>
<p>Scott Smith, Mesa Mayor from 2009 to 2014 provided much of the momentum for change. Smith, one of several Mormon leaders in the community, shunned ideology and took a pragmatic approach to the city’s problems, trying to build a culture of innovation. He rolled out several high-profile developmental programs. Smith had the backing of other council members, groups such as the Chamber of Commerce, and a city staff that, as Smith saw it, did not just think outside the box but threw the box away. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/62551/original/fnkppxym-1414001499.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/62551/original/fnkppxym-1414001499.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/62551/original/fnkppxym-1414001499.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62551/original/fnkppxym-1414001499.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62551/original/fnkppxym-1414001499.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62551/original/fnkppxym-1414001499.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=651&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62551/original/fnkppxym-1414001499.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=651&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/62551/original/fnkppxym-1414001499.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=651&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">That’s Mesa in red.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2014 City manager Chris Brady was the recipient of a prestigious award from the Arizona City/County Management Association. In their <a href="http://www.azmanagement.org/pages/newsletters/azmgmt/2014/0214/index.cfm?a=brady">citation</a> the judges highlighted not only the extension of the light rail but also the recruitment of five liberal arts colleges and the building of spring training facilities for the Chicago Cubs. </p>
<p>Scott Smith, however, lost out in his bid for the Republican nomination for governor in 2014. He came in second in a contest where he stood out as by far the most moderate of several candidates, too moderate win the nomination in the view of political observers. </p>
<p>Most citizens, for their part, have been more than willing to help out by approving bonds for carefully chosen infrastructure projects. Mesa voters have also regularly approved proposals that the city be given the home rule option to spend beyond the limits imposed by the state. </p>
<p>In 2006, Mesa voters rejected a measure suggested by the city council for a primary property tax to provide revenue for the municipality’s general operations. At the same election, however, they approved the council’s recommendation for an increase in the local sales tax rate from 1.5 to 1.75 percent. More recently, there has been some sentiment expressed in public forums for cutting the sales tax and turning to a less regressive property tax in an effort to secure a more stable revenue stream. </p>
<h2>A city in transition</h2>
<p>The MIT/UCLA study compares cities on a set of specific policies. In this context, Mesa comes off as the most conservative big city in the nation.</p>
<p>Looking at the city over time, however, it seems fair to say that as the city has grown it has actually become less ideological (in this case less conservative) and more pragmatic. It has acquired many of the problems and policies found in big cities with more liberal populations and political leaders. </p>
<p>Mesa is still a Republican city, as it has long been, but moderate Republicans have replaced conservative ones in leadership roles. Who knows, with more growth and diversity and a more mobilized Hispanic population, it might even become more open to the Democratic Party.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32848/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David R. Berman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Mesa, Arizona: a place with wide streets and narrow minds. Or so goes a once popular saying about this traditionally laid-back, conservative community that came into official existence in 1883 as a Mormon…David R. Berman, Senior Research Fellow Morrison Institute For Public Policy, Professor Emeritus of Political Science , Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/274842014-06-03T10:44:37Z2014-06-03T10:44:37ZDespite the Edinburgh debacle, trams still have a bright future<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50015/original/xt2j4cdc-1401726191.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Light rail enthusiasts aboard Edinburgh's new tram.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Edinburgh Tram</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Finally the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jun/01/edinburgh-tram-system-opens">Edinburgh tram has opened</a> – more than three years late and significantly over budget. Disputes with contractors caused long construction delays. The disruptive construction work was unpopular with many local businesses and residents. And the final cost per kilometre ended up above typical levels for tramway projects in places like France. </p>
<p>Having received widespread coverage in the media over a number of years, some see the UK’s ninth tram network as a cautionary tale about politicians allowing their thirst for flashy new infrastructure projects to overcome rational decision making. Yet the project has at least come to fruition, unlike a number of other light rail schemes of the 2000s that were abandoned in cities like Leeds, Liverpool and Southampton. </p>
<p>The wider context is the urban rail renaissance of recent years. It came after a long period after World War II in which the number of tram networks was reduced because they had come to be seen as outmoded and prohibitively expensive to modernise. Buses became the urban transport of choice instead. </p>
<p>The UK <a href="https://hydra.hull.ac.uk/assets/hull:5395a/content">went from having</a> 2,605 route miles of tramlines in 1924 to just 11 miles (in Blackpool) by the end of 1962. In Edinburgh, the old tram service closed <a href="http://scotlandonscreen.org.uk/database/record.php?usi=007-000-002-107-C">in 1956</a>. In Germany the number of networks decreased from 169 to 90 between 1945 and 1975, and over the same period in France and Spain, the decline in trams left just one or two networks running. </p>
<h2>The revival</h2>
<p>Then the wheel began turning in the opposite direction. France is one country in which the tram has enjoyed a particular reversal of fortune. After they were initially reintroduced in Nantes and Grenoble in the 1980s, by 2011 22 French cities had a network. It is a similar picture over the Pyrenees in Spain, where 16 cities now have trams.</p>
<p>Germany continued shedding networks over the same period, but others have been maintained, even in shrinking cities, or extended through innovations like the tram-train systems in Karlsruhe and Kassel. </p>
<p>According to <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=nWTfAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA48&lpg=PA48&dq=UN+HABITAT+400+tram+light+rail&source=bl&ots=s7koUvt1kf&sig=2-xUvOLGHjT69qedmFF5WKcN1DE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6ImMU-aiMZSw7AaAh4CIDQ&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=UN%20HABITAT%20400%20tram%20light%20rail&f=false">UN Habitat</a>, in 2013 there were about 400 light rail and trams systems in the world and a further 60 under construction. Almost half of them were in western Europe, though there are also sizeable concentrations in places like Russia and the US, plus stand-out networks like that of Melbourne in Australia. </p>
<p>There are a number of reasons for this revival. The tram has enabled levels of public transport use to be maintained and sometimes modestly increased –- in France, for example, opening a new tramline <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/4395616?q&versionId=5152531">has produced</a> an average 30% increase in the use of public transport. <a href="http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1405106301.html">Similar results have been seen in the UK</a>. The Manchester Metrolink persuaded 2.6 million users to shift to public transport, while the Sheffield Supertram’s results were strong too. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50019/original/fs3wzh82-1401727830.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50019/original/fs3wzh82-1401727830.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50019/original/fs3wzh82-1401727830.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50019/original/fs3wzh82-1401727830.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50019/original/fs3wzh82-1401727830.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50019/original/fs3wzh82-1401727830.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50019/original/fs3wzh82-1401727830.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50019/original/fs3wzh82-1401727830.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">All aboard the Montpellier express!</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/julius_singara/2273942973/in/photolist-3fTCRd-3fTDw1-3fPfac-5B1eA2-rEADk-buDaZK-4sWy2k-fGRoD3-ip6mZh-6v5Wus-ip5WLX-3fTD4N-ip72HM-ip6t13-ip5xzA-djhKT9-8YsYBv-8YvZUW-8Cv1h5-8XYXTi-aAciS3-8YsWXz-8Y32AE-8Z3zSR-ecdieD-8Z3yYx-491sTE-4Vtq4q-cJHR1E-9fjBXs-dkL5yZ-fY4kzk-8BQBPM-8Y2YWf-8CrQ8M-bugsgr-apeHBr-jwoMEc-3fTDPf-6z4dzt-nK3k3W-mc85mi-bugtur-bzmAAU-8BTJsu-nubSGk-4qdh7e-8JLSTw-7RNgPM-2ZjFSY">Chez Julius Livre 1</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Spain and France, another reason for trams’ return to popularity is that they are seen not only as a means of solving mobility issues, but also as an <a href="http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415840224/">instrument of urban renewal</a>. In Bilbao, for example, the tram has been viewed as being as much a tool of regeneration as emblematic projects such as the <a href="http://www.guggenheim.org/bilbao">Guggenheim Museum</a>. </p>
<p>This additional benefit has meant that French tram costs have tended to be relatively high because they include transforming surrounding public spaces. For example in the central city of Tours, which became France’s latest tram beneficiary in August 2013, the stops were designed with input from well known conceptual artist Daniel Buren.</p>
<h2>The critics</h2>
<p>So much for the positives. This new wave of tram schemes has also been criticised for being too complex to deliver, too expensive, and not essential to addressing the most pressing issues around local mobility and regeneration. On the first two counts at least, Edinburgh is clearly a notorious example. </p>
<p>Some question light rail systems’ passenger projections, their ability to shift people to public transport and their promises about inward investment and regeneration. In the UK, for example, Sheffield Supertram <a href="http://www.nao.org.uk/report/improving-public-transport-in-england-through-light-rail/">was 45% down</a> on projected patronage after eight years of operation. Croydon Tramlink had a 23% passenger shortfall after two years.</p>
<p>Even in the case of the apparently successful Manchester Metrolink, the National Audit Office has suggested that the big passenger shift into public transport was negated by increased car usage. It also thought it was impossible to measure benefits to regeneration and social inclusion because so many schemes and initiatives were working to similar ends in the area. In light of such conclusions, some have queried the reasoning used to support light rail schemes, suggesting other options may deliver similar benefits for less. </p>
<p>Edinburgh has done an unfortunate job of highlighting the pitfalls with major infrastructure projects like tram networks. While some politicians might be attracted to these kinds of big-ticket commitments, others will be more wary. Witness the <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=9&ved=0CGEQFjAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsnetscotland.com%2Findex.php%2Fscottish-politics%2F2478-edinburgh-councils-snp-group-are-set-to-try-again-to-ditch-the-citys-troubled-trams-projec&ei=t5SMU_K5O4y1PZaMgLgP&usg=AFQjCNE2CdRZdFSNgGpdV1ENnSrAPRbLzg&bvm=bv.67720277,d.ZGU">SNP’s opposition</a> to the Edinburgh project. Another example would be Liverpool in the 2000s, where a senior council officer <a href="http://www.lgcplus.com/merseytram-project-revival-at-risk/527386.article">briefed the government</a> against the Merseytram project ahead of its cancellation. </p>
<p>It is often easier for politicians to justify small-scale incremental improvements to the transport system rather than more fundamental changes like building a new tram network, which are often more open-ended in cost-benefit terms. Broader economic factors have also affected the prospects for tram development. For example in Spain after the economic crisis, some new tram projects have been delayed indefinitely.</p>
<h2>Enduring tram love</h2>
<p>Yet for all their critics and challenges, trams look set to remain an attractive transport option where the financial, political and spatial conditions are right. They perform strongly in busy transport corridors and they also help policymakers address greenhouse emissions and improve local air quality. </p>
<p>Even in the UK, for all the problems with Edinburgh and other projects, the Manchester Metrolink’s striking expansion has been a great positive. England’s metropolitan areas are receiving <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CEAQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.parliament.uk%2Fbriefing-papers%2FSN06649.pdf&ei=apuNU6XaAsXfOPSsgdAN&usg=AFQjCNHpxa1b1QmL0TbUClgzUWwkhy8_Yw&bvm=bv.68191837,d.ZGU">combined authorities</a>, whose range of responsibilities includes transport, which might see new projects prioritised. The broader context is that the UK’s department for transport <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/3618/green-light-for-light-rail.pdf">also seems to have</a> renewed its interest in light rail. </p>
<p>In the meantime, the people of Edinburgh and many visitors to the city will soon start to reap some of the gains from the controversial project. Some of those based in places like Liverpool – including two of the authors of this article – where there was no devolved government money to keep the project alive, will no doubt be looking on with a certain degree of envy.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50021/original/y92fr4mq-1401728337.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/50021/original/y92fr4mq-1401728337.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50021/original/y92fr4mq-1401728337.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50021/original/y92fr4mq-1401728337.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=354&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50021/original/y92fr4mq-1401728337.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50021/original/y92fr4mq-1401728337.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/50021/original/y92fr4mq-1401728337.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The next tram is four years late: we apologise for any inconvenience.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Edinburgh Tram</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27484/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark's Merseytram research was funded as part of an ESRC PhD Studentship conducted at the University of Liverpool.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Xavier receives funding from Agence nationale de la Recherche and Ministère du Développement Durable in France</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Olivier Sykes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Finally the Edinburgh tram has opened – more than three years late and significantly over budget. Disputes with contractors caused long construction delays. The disruptive construction work was unpopular…Olivier Sykes, Lecturer in European spatial planning, University of LiverpoolMark Smith, Former Research Officer, Bangor UniversityXavier Desjardins, Associate professor, urban planning, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-SorbonneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.