Helping transport professionals fast track their success
Is the emerging autonomous vehicle technology suitable for freight vehicles in Australia?
A demonstration convoy involving six truck manufacturers drove across Europe in April 2016, sponsored by the Netherlands transport agency.
These trucks used autonomous driving technologies to communicate wirelessly and follow in close succession. Semi-autonomous refers to the need for a driver at least in the first truck.
Large public transport projects require patronage demand estimates for planning and investment purposes. While patronage forecasting has been in use for over 50 years, providing the basis for determining the best option to a transport problem and guide investment decisions, they are more often than not, wrong!
Forecasts involve large data collection and analysis exercises using sophisticated strategic transport models to produce forecasts and estimates. Understanding and making judgements on critical assumptions in these models is complex and there are only a very limited number of experienced public transport forecasting professionals.
Our cities are slowing down. Traffic speeds have continued to slow in metropolitan cities over the past 10 years.
This affects mobility increases fuel use and vehicle emissions and makes road based public transport slower and more expensive to operate.
Professionals are facing significant challenges in the provision of mobility and access – a major challenge is insufficient funding for needed transport infrastructure and services.
Yes, we can make better use of the existing infrastructure, by reallocating road space and providing priority to higher value use like freight and public transport. And we can increase throughput by the use of intelligent transport systems technology, such as providing priority at traffic signals, or managing traffic flows by variable speed limits and ramp metering.
Therefore it is important to stop for a while and think about what success means for us.
What is success? the dictionary definitions include:
There are no right or wrong answers, because it depends on your perspective and context.
In the point-to-point transport sector, ride sharing services like UberX, GoCar and GoCatch have disrupted the industry. And government policy has been struggling to keep up, in the context of a highly regulated taxi industry and their very vocal complaints. The disruption is not over yet!
What could this mean for the future of public transport?
Bus network design involves difficult choices, and trade-offs between competing objectives, within funding constraints.
At one end of the spectrum, investment in public bus services aims to achieve the strategic community outcome of moving people in an efficient manner. I refer to this as ROI or return on investment, using the commercial definition.
Criticism of the performance of public transport has been in the media, with headlines like: “Brisbane buses late 16 per cent of time”.
This is as a result of the Queensland Government restarting the publication of performance report called TransLink Tracker, with the second quarter of 2015/16 being published this month.
Public transport performance is a key metric to monitor as reliability is a key attractor of patronage (customers value reliability very highly) and it is a key means of ensuring quality of service and value for money.
Public sector road traffic agencies have limited opportunities for a direct relationship with their customers, the users. As the move towards road user charging continues, then providing quality customer service, and building the relationship with their customers will require a significant change in focus.
Two of the major challenges currently facing traffic agencies are increasing traffic congestion, and securing funding – hence the growing interest in road user charging.
The Australian Infrastructure Plan released in February 2016 by Infrastructure Australia (IA) has some key findings and recommendations for public transport across Australia.
With the project growth in population to 30 million over the next 15 years, and 5.9 million of that growth occurring in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, there will be much greater demands on public transport services, and government budgets.
What is needed according to IA is high-frequency, interconnected public transport systems to move people efficiently and comfortably.
Do you want to become more marketable and be able to win that promotion or new job or get selected for the best projects?
Then you have to take time to develop your knowledge and learn new skills. But do you struggle to make the time for personal development, even though it’s on your ‘to do’ list?
The urgent or important tasks that need to be done crowd out your work day, and beyond! It is difficult to avoid being distracted by those urgent things on your list.
