Innovative solutions for wicked problems

Dr Eleanor Short

Senior Principal - Transport Advisory | WSP

Dr Eleanor (Elly) Short is a Senior Principal and Strategy Team Leader in WSP's NSW Planning and Mobility Team. She is passionate about decarbonising transport, covering the whole spectrum from reducing the need to travel, to modal shift and switching fuels. She led the development of the Zero Emission Bus Transition Plan for Transport Canberra, and recently worked for DISER on a review of Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure best-practice globally.  

Eleanor has a PhD on road pricing, and maintains a strong interest in future changes to transport systems associated with electrification, increasingly autonomous vehicles and pricing reforms. Her background is in strategic multi-modal and place-based transport planning, as well as business development for long-term road and ITS asset management and maintenance contracts. Her career spans both the private and public sectors, Australia and the UK. 

Outside of work, Eleanor enjoys baking, bush-walking, yoga and spending time  with her two daughters. 
 

Decarbonising transport – how to appraise carbon to help make difficult decisions

Decarbonising transport to reach net zero is not just a "problem" to solve, but a global imperative. In the context of growing emissions from transport, it will require some very difficult choices. New approaches to prioritising, planning and delivering projects are needed, as well as shifts in individuals'behaviours. 
Addressing climate change needs to be at the front and centre in decision making on the development of transport policies, programmes and projects. The greatest opportunity to influence carbon outcomes and improve climate resilience is in the early stages of strategy, optioneering and concept development. But - understanding the impacts of different approaches is complex. To achieve the transition to a net zero transport sector in Australia, a comprehensive and consistent approach to carbon appraisal is essential and lessons can be learned from overseas.
This presentation will explore a comprehensive approach to appraise the carbon impacts of strategies and projects which can help drive transport decarbonisation. This approach considers whole-life carbon emissions, including user emissions, embodied carbon and additional impacts and opportunities such as revegetation of transport corridors. It will discuss experience from the UK where there are rigorous requirements to measure and value carbon in strategic business cases. 

Derrick Hitchins

Chief Technical Principal - Transport Planning and Advisory | SMEC

Derrick is a senior transport infrastructure executive with over 35 years of experience in the civil and transportation sectors in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom. He has significant experience as a Project Director in the early planning phase of mainly road and rail projects in South East Queensland over the past 15 years.  Derrick prides himself in bringing the required level of stewardship to the projects he is responsible for based on his extensive experience in dealing with complex project challenges and a variety of clients. Key to his many project successes is Derrick’s ability to contribute actively towards the development of innovative design solutions and being able to quantify the benefits through meaningful discussion with clients and other project partners.

Overcoming the tyranny of time and distance when working from home is not an option

The past two years of economic and social disruption has not been without its challenges.  But whilst most professional organisations are now working hard to recover themselves from the impacts of this disruption, there are also a plethora of new companies that have emerged to cater for our renewed focus on a better work life balance. 

Recent studies have identified and reminded us that there are social drivers well beyond just overcoming the tyranny of time and distance to achieve economic and financial prosperity. Our physical, mental, social and financial needs are now more equally weighted when it comes to choosing where we live, learn, work and play.  

Trends of note include: 

• A significant increase in the uptake of social media and online communication platforms
• Marked population shift towards larger accommodation and regional centres / employment centres
• CBD transformation into mixed use hubs and the emergence of smaller outer metropolitan CBDs
• Increased investment in amenities, entertainment venues and public realm
• Refurbishment and reconfiguration of older office space to facilitate collaboration
• Opening up of new sectors to boost small business and the knowledge economy  
• 24 hour - 7 day per week access to office buildings, entertainment and amenities
• A recognition that home-based work can be just as effective as being in the office  

Cities of the future will therefore need to re-build their social contract and licence to operate.  They will need to deliver higher levels of mix use and flexibility, and probably most importantly, they will also need to recognise the role that outer regional centres can play in contributing to a more affordable, resilient, and sustainable "city- of-cities" in the future. 

Daniel Veryard

State Director (NSW & WA) | Veitch Lister Consulting

Daniel Veryard is VLC’s State Director for NSW and WA, where he leads travel demand forecasting, data analytics, economic appraisal and model development projects. Prior to joining VLC, Daniel was a project manager and economist at the International Transport Forum at the OECD in Paris, where he led projects on economic appraisal techniques, public transport market structures and driverless technologies. He has also worked as an economist for PwC, GHD, Mouchel and the Reserve Bank of Australia. 

Electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles: unintended consequences and transition considerations 

Electric vehicles (EVs) and autonomous vehicles (AVs) are set to roll out in coming decades. They offer some great upsides for decarbonisation (EVs) and inclusion (private and shared AVs).  EVs and AVs also have downside risks for communities, urban realm and climate from increased car ownership and usage. Specifically: 
- EVs will be cheap to drive; people will drive more 
- AVs are likely to be owned privately rather than shared – people already own ‘extra’ cars to resolve intra-household scheduling conflicts, and for prestige/option value reasons 
- Low cost of shared AVs likely to increase car use, including at the expense of public and active transport 
- AVs (shared and private) are likely to have significant ‘empty running’ to avoid parking. 

Policy ideas: road user charging, pressing on with general parking policy improvements, road-space reallocation, consider broad/bold reform options for delivering minimum PT service standards in a world where shared AVs undercut fixed-route services.

Sam Gray

Enterprise Strategy | Transurban

As a transport leader, Sam is a passionate specialist at the intersection of human behaviours, their interactions with transport networks, and the technologies, innovations and policies that impact their journeys.

Sam has track record in industry of operating with Innovators Creed -- I don’t know how to do it – let’s do it.

He develops evidence bases, and then uses his engagement skills, to gain trust and drive change.

Examples include:

The innovative M2M7 Proactive Speed Trial – Sam led a successful Smart Motorway innovation that proactively reduced motorway speeds 'just' before congestion. This resulted in reduced stop-start shockwave intensity and reduced crashes.

The innovative Diverging Diamond Interchanges – Sam helped drive this design innovation into Australia.  The design forces motorists to temporally travel on the wrong side of the road! By doing so, road crashes reduce by up to 55% and construction costs reduce by up to 70% compared to a traditional interchange.

The innovative Connected Vehicle data set – Sam brought to Transurban the use of anonymised vehicle data that shows high G-force braking and swerving events. Transurban now uses these as leading indicators to proactively identify road safety trends earlier, to try and prevent crashes before they happen.

Is transport data the New oil?

From the "Information Dark Ages" to the "Information Renaissance" in Transport Networks, Connected Data is  providing useful and usable information everywhere and in real time.
 
We are at a technology and data inflection point  -  Can we re-imagine the way we move? More sustainably, with greater fairness, and with greater livability outcomes?