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INSTITUTE OF TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS STUDIES NEWS
Closing the accessibility gap
Professor Corinne Mulley and Dr Rhonda Daniels spoke on “Bus services: closing the accessibility gap” at the Western Sydney Community Forum event on 7 August 2010. Latest data from the Bureau of Transport Statistics (formerly the Transport Data Centre) at Transport NSW shows that 11 out of the 15 bus contract regions in Sydney do not meet the government’s target for 90% of households within 400m of a rail station or bus stop in daytime. The worst performing region is Northern Sydney in which only 69% of households are within 400m of a station or bus stop.
Click here for the presentation
Launch of Transport Opinion Survey
ITLS launched the ITLS-Interfleet Transport Opinion Survey (TOPS) in March 2010. The quarterly survey of 1,000 Australians monitors confidence in transport in the local area and Australia. The March, June and September 2010 quarterly reports all show more than half of Australians cited public transport as the highest priority issue for transport.
Click here for the quarterly reports
Centre of Excellence in Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
ITLS is a partner in a consortium that has been awarded a US$3.5 million five year grant from the Volvo Research and Education Foundation for a Centre of Excellence in Bus Rapid Transit. Collaborators from ITLS include Professor David Hensher, Professor Corinne Mulley and Adjunct Professor John Stanley. The primary goal of the centre will be to develop a new framework for the planning, design, financing, implementation and operation of bus rapid transit in different urban areas, offering clear guidelines to decision-makers on when and how such projects can enhance mobility and meet accessibility needs. An essential goal is to make the knowledge developed through the Centre widely available to support more successful BRT deployment and in particular to identify elements which are transferable between existing and prospective systems. Source: World Resource Institute
Click here for more information about the Centre of Excellence
Flexible transport services at World Conference on Transport Research
Professor Corinne Mulley presented a paper titled “Contribution of flexible transport services to the social inclusion agenda: an international comparison” at the 12th World Conference on Transport Research in Lisbon Portugal on 11-15 July 2010. The paper, with co-authors Dr Rhonda Daniels and Professor John Nelson from University of Aberdeen, explored differences in approaches internationally.
Please email business.itlsinfo@sydney.edu.au for a copy.
Summer School – Public Transport Policy and Planning
Professor Corinne Mulley is teaching the subject Public Transport Policy and Planning in Summer School over 7 days in January – February 2011. Summer School provides an opportunity for external students to undertake ITLS units of study outside of a degree program.
Click here for more information
OTHER RESEARCH NEWS
Bus use in Sydney increasing
The latest Household Travel Survey Summary report from the Bureau of Transport Statistics released in June 2010 shows that in the year 2008/09 growth in public transport and walk trips in Sydney exceeded the average rate of trip growth, while car trips declined. Average weekday bus trips increased by 2.4% and train trips by 3.1%. Of the 16.3 million trips made in Sydney on an average weekday, close to 1 million are made by bus or 5.7% of all trips. The average trip on a bus is 6.4km in distance and 23 minutes in duration. Bus has its strongest market share for education/childcare trips, with 17% of those trips by bus, while 7% of commute trips are by bus.
Click here for more information
Bus users get fitter quicker
Research shows public transport users spend 47 minutes on average walking or cycling. This meets the daily minimum physical activity for a healthy lifestyle. A new report – An Australian Vision for Active Transport outlines a nine point plan for increasing public transport use, walking and cycling.
Click here for more information
Bio-CNG urban bus operations
In Transportation Research D, Ryan and Caulfield (2010) report on the use of biomethane (bio-CNG) and compressed natural gas for part of the bus fleet in Dublin, Ireland. The results showed a substantial decrease in all exhaust emissions from the use of bio-CNG buses compared to the 2008 fleet. Grass silage was identified as the optimum feedstock for production of bio-CNG in Ireland. State Transit Authority of NSW has 550 CNG buses, representing over a quarter of its fleet as at June 2009.
Ryan, F. and Caulfield, B. (2010) Examining the benefits of using bio-CNG in urban bus operations, Transportation Research Part D, 15, 363-365.
Please email business.itlsinfo@sydney.edu.au for more information.
IN THE NEXT ISSUE
The December 2010 issue of Bus Buzz will include ITLS papers and other bus-related papers presented at the Australasian Transport Research Forum conference in Canberra, 29 September-1 October 2010.
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