There is a new fear on the block … traffic congestion. But do we have to accept that congestion trends will overwhelm us? Is it really right to fear congestion?
More research can improve how our existing transport infrastructure works.
Erin Geary/Flickr
Once a new road opens, people switch back to cars and congestion increases back to a steady-state point of gridlock. For lasting effectiveness, policy needs to include congestion charges and better rail services.
Hong Kong: a showcase for Asian urban development.
CarolSpears/Wikimedia Commons
Nobel Laureates met recently in Hong Kong to sign a memorandum calling for cities to help guard against climate change. As the most creative places on the planet, big cities are the perfect place to meet this challenge.
More mines, more roads, as the government puts its drive towards economic development ahead of all else.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Amid talk of paths to surplus and investing in infrastructure, both sides of politics seem to have forgotten Australia’s longstanding responsibility to govern sustainably, and not just for the economy.
The way forward? Light rail helps urban development far more than roads do - the challenge is how to pay for it.
AAP Image/Dave Hunt
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.
Plaid Cymru want to expand the Welsh government’s Bwcabus service.
credit: John Bristow
This year, train fares will increase by an average of 2.2%, even though wage growth in 2014 remained below inflation for many people. Inevitably this will lead to complaints of overpricing, as the government…
Victoria’s voters have spoken – and they have said no to Melbourne’s new freeway tunnel.
AAP Image/Julian Smith
Labor’s state election victory in Victoria has fatally undermined Melbourne’s most controversial tunnel, the now-doomed East-West Link, with new Premier Daniel Andrews pledging to rip up the contracts…
Bikesharing has exploded in popularity in recent years, including in New York with the Citi Bike program, but the pricing structures have been a cause for concern.
NYCDOT/Flickr via CC BY-SA-ND
Bikesharing has boomed in Europe and North America in recent years following decades of slow growth since its introduction on the streets of Amsterdam in 1965. Like any industry undergoing rapid expansion…
Brisbane’s CityCats have helped push up property prices.
Dan Peled/AAP
Traditional funding sources are becoming inadequate to meet public transport demands in Australian cities, despite the broad economic and social benefits public transport brings, such as cost savings associated…
We’ve all experienced the frustration of waiting for public transport, but would we pay more tax for improvements?
Purple Wyrm/Flickr
Although Australia’s tax-to-GDP ratio is low by international standards, no-one wants to discuss how we might pay for the improvements needed to public transport, and even less the need for taxation to…
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore gives car-sharing a try. By 2016, one in ten of the city’s households will have joined a car-share scheme.
AAP Image/Paul Miller
Owning a car can be a hassle, especially if you live somewhere where driving is an occasional, rather than daily, necessity. This might help to explain why car-sharing schemes are going from strength to…
Taxpayers in Britain spend more than £1 billion a year providing free bus travel. Mostly used by pensioners, some disabled people qualify for this concessionary travel, and there are fears that an austerity-driven…
Helmet-free on Washington DC’s Captial Bikeshare.
Ben Schumin
Public bikesharing schemes are sprouting up in towns and cities worldwide. The bikes are generally provided without helmets, and this has led to concerns regarding the risk of serious head injuries. It…
Australia’s transport is among the least energy efficient, largely thanks to continuing investment in roads over rail.
Phillip Capper/Flickr
Australia has scored poorly in the energy efficiency of its land transport, and is well behind other major economies, a recent international scorecard has revealed. That means Australians are using more…
Stuck in the past: Sydney’s rail system is crying out for investment, but Australian approaches to fares and funding are out of date.
Chris Hale
Public transport has a problem with money. Campaigners often argue that mass transit is a public good in its own right, and hence should be very cheap or even free. Mainstream media and even many self-proclaimed…
Listening to that questionable music is one of the reasons we’re still driving cars.
Rommel Canlas/Shutterstock
Cars are still the favoured mode of transport in Australia, despite their known environmental and health impacts. We know that alternatives exist — walking, riding, and public transport — that can get…