Transport is the one sector where Australia hasn’t reined in the growth in greenhouse gas emissions. Electric cars will cut emissions but still leave us with all the other problems of car use.
It has happened with software, computing and entertainment, but we’re still waiting for the platform needed for mobility as a service to reach its full potential.
Electric scooters have become a popular way to get around since their introduction to U.S. cities about three years ago. But fatalities are mounting.
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Electric scooter rides soared from zero to 88 million a year between 2017 and 2019. But launching e-scooters in cities without safe infrastructure or clear rules of the road can be deadly.
Green hydrogen produced using New Zealand’s mostly renewable electricity sounds like a great idea, but a high-tech smart rail and urban tram network is a more obvious and sustainable option.
Public transit drivers are now responsible for preventing unmasked passengers from boarding and removing unruly customers.
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Recent federal mask mandates on all public transit have burdened bus drivers with difficult and sometimes dangerous duties to reduce the spread of the coronavirus.
Launched in 2010, Brisbane’s CityCycle, like share-bike schemes in other cities, is making way for dockless e-bikes.
Paul Broben/PR handout/AAP
Delivery riders are paying the ultimate price for the fact that our cities, their infrastructure and the rules governing them make cycling much more dangerous than it should be.
Conventional transport infrastructure planning has been based on wholesale commuting to and from the city centre.
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Coronavirus has changed population projections and behaviours across society. With fewer commuters we need to shift transport planning based on a hub-and-spoke network to focus on more local travel.
Car use and cycling have soared to above pre-pandemic levels in our biggest cities (Melbourne is an obvious exception). Walking is not far behind, but public transport is being shunned.
A cyclist uses New York’s bike-share program.
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Some new habits we’ve seen emerging during the pandemic could help us solve tricky problems like traffic congestion, which have challenged our cities for a long time.
A cyclist rides in The Mall, London, May 10 2020.
EPA-EFE/WILL OLIVER
Over US$33 billion was invested in mobility tech last year in response to claims it will transform our lives. Based on what we have seen so far, which of these promised solutions will be delivered?
Only the inner suburbs of Melbourne and other capital cities meet the 20-minute neighbourhood test. But we could transform the other suburbs for much less than the cost of current transport projects.
Whether you like or hate them, the way transport operates in cities needs to change.
When politicians use selected modelling results to justify their decisions on contentious projects like Melbourne’s North East Link, the credibility of transport models suffers by association.
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Transport modelling has been tarnished by its use to justify the predetermined projects politicians favour. But, if used more transparently, it’s a valuable tool for planning our future cities.
Autonomous vehicles can only travel at speed at close quarters in the absence of human drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
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Self-driving vehicles that constantly roam the streets looking for passengers could overwhelm cities. But, if kept in check, these vehicles could be useful for improving urban transport.
Yibin is the latest Chinese city to get the Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit (ART) system, or trackless trams.
来斤小仓鼠吧/Wikimedia
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.