海角社区

Navigating the Future of Transport Planning

Friday 11.50am-12.45pm

• Nick Veitch
• Cameron Hoffmann M海角社区
• Shannon Batch R海角社区 and Tim Bloxall

Nick Veitch
Measuring transformative change with People Movement Data

Change is occurring within society with almost unprecedented rapidity and impact. Global events like the climate crisis, economic pressures and the COVID-19 pandemic have, in a matter of years, changed how we live and how we move. As planners, our capacity to understand those changes is often limited by our ability to measure them; however, datasets are now available that can quickly and easily depict movement activity over time. These datasets can offer real, evidence-based insights into how people move and how that has (or hasn’t) changed. Using these insights, we can see the effects of transformative changes in the past, make accommodations for those changes in how we plan and adjust to future disruptions with greater ease.

In our presentation, we examine the key areas of change that can be measured using GPS mobile trace data, also known as People Movement Data (or Human Movement Data). Using PlanTech, we will investigate movement activity within a number of geographical locations across Australia, analysing how movement activity has changed between 2019 and 2024 and what these changes can specifically tell us about how we can plan better for the future.

Cameron Hoffmann M海角社区
A Car Diet – Mobility led solutions to the housing crisis

“It’s a Wicked Problem.”

The Housing Crisis. Cost of Living Crisis. A Perfect Storm.

Two of the most seemingly intractable issues of our time.

And the common denominator…? Car Dependency. A third crisis - hidden in plain sight.

Car dominance - and its 3 to 1 counterpart, parking - drains household and societal wealth, health and time - embedding inefficiency and blight into housing, development, transport and urban form.

Transport is the largest expenditure for most households who own two or more cars – once depreciation is factored in – yet transport costs rarely feature in housing crises responses – and car parks in housing are mistaken as a cost of housing, rather than a cost of transport.

Once car parks and housing are decoupled, both transport and housing become easier to address: Housing becomes more affordable and flexible, transport more efficient. Avoided car and car park costs over the life of a housing loan provide life changing financial benefits.

This presentation explores a suite of mobility infrastructure and policy initiatives available for governments seeking to genuinely address the housing crisis. Central is to engage the community in the journey.

Demand Management principles underpin the policy platform – combining policy measures and repurposing of existing transport infrastructure – reducing costs and pressure on the infrastructure construction sector – currently fuelling construction cost escalations, stifling affordable housing supply.

Behaviour change initiatives include low-cost policy ‘couplets’ where small, $1/day levies on car storage and parking are hypothecated to fund Active Transport networks, Transit Lanes, and E-bike subsidies - sending small but clear signals that ‘steer’ the community towards policy goals.

Congestion and affordable living can’t be solved by increasing capacity for cars and car parking: It is ‘dis-solved’ with less cars.

A Car Diet – the key to affordable living.

Shannon Batch R海角社区 and Tim Boxall
Paving the way - how parking reform can influence mode share for the better

As our cities and towns change parking can be a major pain point, with local government often taking the brunt. As we seek mode shift toward public transport and active transport there is an opportunity to utilise parking management approaches that leverage local government plans and policy in practical yet creative ways.

Local governments have an excellent mechanism to drive travel behaviour change and encourage the uptake of alternative forms of transport. When considering ways to encourage a move away from private vehicles (especially petrol engines), parking is the single biggest lever that Local Governments can pull.

The landscape for parking is changing quickly. With the rise of ride sharing, electric vehicles, e-mobility and the shifting needs for delivery vehicles, our approach to parking regulation needs to strike a balance between flexibility and practicality. This presentation will explore what Local Governments area already doing in this space, what more can be done, and will provide a “toolkit” of elements to consider for implementation in a local planning instrument, such as parking management plans, green transport plans and maximum parking rates.