Public Transport Planning

David Freer, Danks-Freer Pty Ltd - COVID-19 PT Response - An Australian Perspective

David Freer

Director | Danks-Freer Pty Ltd

David is a qualified transport planner with 32 years experience of delivering a variety of transport planning, operations, behavioural and infrastructure design projects across road, rail, air and ports in all parts of Australia and the world.

Covid has accelerated a change in how we work, live and play so now it is the time of the transport planner and I intend to make the most of it.  

COVID-19 PT Response - An Australian Perspective

Covid impacted society in so many ways and has accelerated and instigated a change in the way we live, work and play. This is reflected politically, in government and industry planning, legislation and operations; in how people view the world; how society as a whole operates and so forth.

So many topics to pick and one that no single paper could ever hope to tackle.  Therefore, to address this subject matter this paper provides an initial, snapshot insight into one area where Covid had a major impact, the Public Transport System.

This is generally defined as a mass transit system compromising of buses, trains, trams, ferries. Public transport also includes taxis, which also involves on-demand services such as Uber. This also introduces the role electric and autonomous vehicles will progressively play in the delivery of a Public Transport (PT) system.  

When Covid appeared globally, governments responded very differently in how they managed the public transport system due to a number of factors. These included - past experience; urban density, public transport systems and how they operated, the countries culture and expectations, politics and the economy.

Research on this topic is being done as part of a global research project involving Griffith University in association with global institutions such as the Vienna University of Technology for a project being led by the World Conference on Transport Research, (WCTRS) Society Special Interest Group (SIG G2) - National and Regional Transport Planning and Policy. The intent of this research will be a publication of a document that reports back on the differing responses and context of each country. This is a work in progress. 

This paper explores the Australian experience from when Covid first appeared and the evolving response from governments at all levels, industry and the community. Nominally beginning March 2019. It identifies some research and publications on this matter from a wealth of commentary on the subject matter but is not a formal research review. This is evolving and developing overtime.  

The dynamic nature of this topic is especially true at the time of writing this paper, with Australia experiencing its third and potentially most damaging wave of Covid and its sub-variants and where the response by government, based on a largely vaccinated community, is vastly different to that at the onset of the pandemic.

This has seen a change from trying to control and eliminate it through lockdowns to one of living with it. This is also reflected in how the public transport system is being delivered, and more importantly, being used by the community. 

This research and data collection process is ongoing and will be addressed as part of wider and ongoing research by myself, Griffith University and many others.

In this paper the topic is addressed within the context of Disaster Management. This is the approach being adopted by the aforementioned research as it allows a practical, transferable method to reporting to be delivered on a diverse global phenomenon. 
Disaster Management generally has 3 core themes: preparedness, response and recovery.

This paper addresses the impact of Covid on the Australian public transport system across these 3 themes. 

In this approach public transport is being used in this global research program as a reporting metric, from that sub metrics can be applied to this. Some are more easily quantified then others such as simple boarding data whilst others such as how users view PT as a form of travel and the role technology is increasing playing in modifying peoples travel habits are more complex.

This paper provides an initial snapshot of this topic area from the Australian perspective within the Disaster Management context. It intends to provide an insight into what is a very complex and rapidly evolving area and will play a key focus in my PHD research on this topic – so a lot more to come.

Ben Mason, Frontier Economics - The coming disruption - The rise of mobility as a service and the implications for government

Ben Mason

Economist | Frontier Economics

Ben is an economist who specialises in transport economics, business cases and strategy work. Ben has also worked on a range of policy areas including Mobility as a Service.

Co-Author(s)

Anna Wilson | Frontier Economics

Anna is an experienced economist who specialises in transport sector policy and regulatory reform. Anna heads up the transport practice and during her time at Frontier Economics (in both Australia and Europe) she has worked for companies, policy makers and regulators. 
She has particular expertise in competition issues and regulations affecting the airport, freight, road, rail and port sectors. 

Kael McLeod | Frontier Economics

Bio - Kael is an economist focused on regulatory and competition economics, working primarily with the transport, energy and urban economics teams at Frontier Economics. 
Prior to joining Frontier Economics, Kael was an analyst in the ACCC's gas markets branch. Kael graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Economics and Finance (with Honours in Economics).
 

The coming disruption - The rise of mobility as a service and the implications for government

Technology and changing consumer behaviour mean governments need to rethink and redefine their role in land passenger transport. New transportation service offerings are emerging from the private sector such as ride-sharing, car-sharing and Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS). These services, and the technological platforms underpinning them, have the potential to transform public transportation.

The prospect of competition arising in segments of the land passenger transport market and supply chain is becoming reality. For example, some ride-sharing providers' business models are evolving to include small on-demand buses that could, and in some cases do, compete against timetabled, fixed route bus services. In addition, MaaS providers could be considered "retailers' who complement and compete with public transport authorities in offering pricing and service bundles to customers.

Competition drives efficiency and innovation; however, history shows that government decisions can easily hinder competition in markets where they have a significant role in planning, delivery and regulation. As such, having a clear framework for incorporating MaaS into the transport mix is essential to realising the potential benefits that it offers. This framework needs to grapple with myriad issues ranging from access to space around transport hubs to access to public transport data.

 This talk would build on, and update, the authors 2020 paper in Research in Transportation Economics (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2020.100898), including learnings from overseas and from other sectors. The topic is highly relevant to a national audience and to a broad range of transport planning and management professionals.

John Devney, Stantec Australia - Community Engagement Lessons for Implementing Better Bus Services

John Devney

Senior Principal Transporation Planner | Stantec Australia

John has over 40 years experience in planning transport systems in Australia, Canada and the United Arab Emirates with a specialisation in public transport network planning and feasibility studies for bus, light rail, heavy rail and ferry modes. John has also conducted road network planning, traffic and active transport planning and parking studies throughout Australia. He has worked in consulting and government agencies and with public transport companies. He has undertaken studies for: 

• Strategic transport planning for road, rail, bus and ferry systems
• Public transport operations, network planning and scheduling
• Light rail and bus rapid transit (BRT) corridors
• Integrated transport planning
• Business case planning

Community Engagement Lessons for Implementing Better Bus Services

Bus network review and network integrations to support new public transport infrastructure results in bus route and service changes that affect existing and potential new customers. To gain customer acceptance of the network and service changes, the community and stakeholder consultation activities are to be developed to manage the customer needs and to be carefully designed with a comprehensive staged engagement plan with customer-first thinking. Improving the customer experience requires a comprehensive engagement plan. 
Bus network reviews with successful implementations are in:

•  Auckland, New Zealand from 2018 to 2020
•  Edmonton, Canada in 2021

Cities where proposed bus network changes were not implemented are:

• Adelaide in 2020
• Brisbane in 2013

The key lessons learned from bus network reviews and service changes implemented in a range of metropolitan public transport systems are:

• Develop and adopt a long-term strategic public transport plan with a clear governance for the responsibility for the customer engagement, network and service planning, design, contracting and delivery of public transport service
• Undertake early and continual engagement with existing customers, key stakeholders (operators, local Councils, interest groups) and the wider community is critical provide extensive support to customers during the pre-implementation leading to the start date and post-implementation periods
• Provide transparency with accurate and easy to understand information during the early draft planning through to the implementation stages of any bus network reviews and service changes.

An assessment framework with criteria to determine the quality of customer engagement for bus service changes is presented.