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This project undertakes to better understand how to enable people to choose more sustainable public and active transport that will have a more beneficial impact in the short and long term. To achieve this, we need to understand how policy and infrastructure actions can make that transition work for cities and communities across Australia
Decarbonising the transport sector through transitioning from internal combustion engine vehicles to low or zero emission vehicles (LZEV) will not solve the majority of issues that face the transport sector. Enabling people to choose more sustainable public and active transport will have a more beneficial impact in the short and long term. To achieve this, we need to understand how policy and infrastructure actions can make that transition work for cities and communities across Australia.
This project will uncover attitudes and actions that are best likely to deliver actual change to a more sustainable transport system and include recommendations for policy makers and operators to expedite those changes with evidence-based policies and interventions. It will also investigate the economic impacts and potential cost benefit analysis of transition to more sustainable transport initiatives.
To maximise the benefits for Australia, there needs to be a well-planned and collaborative approach. To that end we will design and implement an Australia-wide online survey of demographically representative citizens to better understand their appreciation of, and willingness to support sustainable transport transitions. Outcomes will be analysed to offer insight into preparing a pathway forward for sustainable transport services in Australia and enable emissions reductions to meet more ambitious decarbonisation targets.
Almost a third of all Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions in Australia are caused in large part through transport of goods and people and while there is no single solution to reducing emissions and other negative environmental and societal impacts, the transport sector has a range of opportunities to positively impact our environment and transition away from reliance on private vehicles. However, while opportunities are available to deliver more sustainable transport, there is no silver bullet and a top-down approach to reducing the environmental impact would be unlikely to deliver on GHG reduction targets. The desire, however, to reduce local air pollutants that are increasingly more harmful to humans, needs recognising and is part of any assessment of sustainability initiatives designed to reduce chemical pollution.
The combination of these reduction strategies is designed to allow the transport sector to play an important role in reducing the sector’s environmental footprint and GHG emissions (including local air pollution) more generally – by both reducing emissions through more efficient infrastructure and services and delivering more sustainable transport systems and networks enabling increased active and public transport. Such a shift towards more sustainable transport modes in Australia would require a co-ordinated effort by governments, industry, and individuals, with incentives as appropriate and affordable, and a willingness to invest in the necessary infrastructure and policies.
Crucially, decarbonising the transport sector through transitioning from internal combustion engine vehicles to LZEV’s will not solve the majority of issues that face the transport sector. Enabling people to choose more sustainable public and active transport will have a more beneficial impact in the short and long term. Hence this project seeks to understand how policy and infrastructure actions can make that transition work for cities and communities in Australia.
While some of the available policy interventions and recommendations would seem reasonable there is a vast difference between developing and encouraging and promoting activities to deliver more sustainable transport systems and actually gaining traction with Australians to drive action on these steps. This research, beginning with an extensive literature review, will uncover real attitudes and actions that are best likely to deliver actual change to a more sustainable transport system and include recommendations for policy makers and operators to expedite those changes equitably with evidence-based policies and interventions. The literature review will also investigate the economic impacts and potential cost benefit analysis of transition to more sustainable transport. We will draw on both academic and grey literature and available sources such as the National Walking and Cycling Participation Survey and state Walking and Cycling strategies.
As recognised in the recently published Transport for London Cycling Action Plan 2[1], swapping private cars, regardless of the energy propulsion source, for sustainable modes is essential to bridging the 'gap' to achieve emissions reduction targets whilst also delivering substantial cost savings to the health system (it is estimated that savings to the National Health Service in treatment costs over 25 years if all Londoners did 20 minutes of physical activity each day would be over $3B AUD). Additionally, with an increasing population residing in urban and suburban communities, the planning allowance of car-free developments could reduce cost of housing and enable the building of more sustainable housing. Active transport is both economically efficient and with the right infrastructure, and sustainability culture, can reduce traffic and parking congestion. In rural and regional areas of low-density settlement patterns, a rethink of how best to use the flexibility of the car in a sharing setting needs further consideration.
To maximise the benefits for Australia, there needs to be a well-planned and collaborative approach. To that end, we will design and implement an Australia-wide online survey of demographically representative citizens to better understand their appreciation of, and willingness to support, sustainable transport transitions (“Survey”). The Survey will be designed in which revealed and stated preference data is used to identify current and future interest in the frequency of using a richer set of motorised and non-motorised modes for all stages of a door-to-door journey, distinguishing trip purpose, time of day, and day of week. Trip frequency over a 7-day week is much more informative than the more traditional choice of a mode survey approach for a typical day. All modes will be investigated for the access, main and egress modal contest, as summarised in the table below (BRT – Bus Rapid Transit / LRT Light Rail Transit / Active modes / Car).
Outcomes of the Survey will be analysed to offer insight into preparing a pathway forward for sustainable transport services in Australia and enable emissions reductions to meet more ambitious decarbonisation targets. Although the survey is a once-off activity in this research, the opportunity to continue to use the Survey to gather longitudinal data to monitor the success or otherwise of initiatives to increase the sustainability footprint will be of value to all industry partners.
[1] https://content.tfl.gov.uk/cycling-action-plan.pdf
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This project aims to meet the following objectives:
Task 1:
Task 2:
Task 3:
Task 4:
Task 5:
Almost a third of all Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions in Australia are caused in large part through transport of goods and people and while there is no single solution to reducing emissions and other negative environmental and societal impacts, the transport sector has a range of opportunities to positively impact our environment and transition away from reliance on private vehicles. However, while opportunities are available to deliver more sustainable transport, there is no silver bullet and a top-down approach to reducing the environmental impact would be unlikely to deliver on GHG reduction targets. The desire, however, to reduce local air pollutants that are increasingly more harmful to humans, needs recognising and is part of any assessment of sustainability initiatives designed to reduce chemical pollution.
The combination of these reduction strategies is designed to allow the transport sector to play an important role in reducing the sector’s environmental footprint and GHG emissions (including local air pollution) more generally – by both reducing emissions through more efficient infrastructure and services and delivering more sustainable transport systems and networks enabling increased active and public transport. Such a shift towards more sustainable transport modes in Australia would require a co-ordinated effort by governments, industry, and individuals, with incentives as appropriate and affordable, and a willingness to invest in the necessary infrastructure and policies.
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This research is funded by iMOVE CRC an Australian Commonwealth Government initiative. ITS Australia lead this project with research partners Institute Transport Logistics Studies - University of Sydney, and participants The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications and the Arts and Queensland Transport & Main Roads to better understand how we can collaboratively work to increase the options for customers to access more sustainable transport to improve outcomes for our communities.
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