Helping transport professionals fast track their success
Shaping Future Mobility Strategies. Innovative thinking in transport planning is vital to meet the demands of modern urban environments where efficiency, mobility, and accessibility are paramount. As populations grow and the nature of cities evolves, conventional approaches to transport need to be reimagined. Planners are tasked with designing transport systems that are effective today and … Read more
Much of the work of transport professionals involves delivering projects. Setting up the foundation is key to success – whether a planning project or business case or a technical or infrastructure delivery project. I’ve been thinking about what transport will look like in the ‘new’ normal – whenever and whatever that looks like. Currently, the traffic … Read more
The UK Government Foresight report, published in January 2019, reviews emerging trends, challenges and opportunities for the UK transport system out to 2040. Similar challenges and opportunities can be extrapolated for other jurisdictions, including Australia. The report considers four plausible future scenarios to help decision–makers think about the future of transport. Transport users are experiencing … Read more
How to protect your future career Let’s talk about where professional’s careers are heading and what you can do to be more successful. What do you think the world will be like in ten years’ time? If you cast your mind back ten years, you couldn’t have imagined the developments that have occurred in that time. There … Read more
“The strongest force propelling human progress has been the swift advance and wide diffusion of technology.” — The Economist
There are many exciting new technologies that will continue to transform the world and improve human welfare. Here are eleven of them.
see article by Chris Dixon on Medium
Transport challenges are complex and dynamic, and usually don’t have agreed solutions.
To solve transport challenges or problems, you need to involve a range of key stakeholders who have a keen interest, often with disparate views on what to do. Key stakeholders have a significant interest in the problem or can have a major influence on the approach taken to address the challenges.
As professionals, we are charged with solving problems and usually have our own preferred solution to most transport challenges – but beware of the trap of ‘problem-solution’ thinking.
This results from jumping to the solution immediately a problem is raised, and then unfortunately, vigorously defending this solution, and not leaving open the opportunity to consider other viable options.
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.
Public transport is a key component of addressing the wicked problem of traffic congestion. The question is, how to encourage and sustain patronage by next generation users. Recent research is providing suggested directions, moving forward.
What are potential next generation road system management innovations to address ever increasing demands on major urban road networks with more and more data becoming available?
Australian road owners and operators in major urban areas, both public and private, are facing ever increasing traffic volumes and more pervasive traffic congestion, constrained funding for new infrastructure, and political hesitancy in moving towards comprehensive road user charging.