No car No worries - Modernising Australia's Approach to Car Ownership

Darcy Lechte

Carshare Planner | GoGet Carshare

Darcy has a Bachelor of Environments from the University of Melbourne and a Masters Degree in Urban Planning from RMIT University. He has been working as a carshare planner at GoGet for the past 5 years. He is passionate about smart mobility and reducing car dependency in Australian cities. He has travelled through Europe, North America, Asia and the UK to learn more about how international carsharing services operate and is committed to educating all levels of Australian government on the best practice principles to onsite carshare integrations.

Justifying Car Share Replacement Ratios in Residential Multi-Unit Developments: A Data-Driven Approach

Car share has an important role to play in shifting discretionary trips away from the often-supplementary private car which takes up precious space parked in urban residential areas. However, Councils and the development industry across Australia have been grappling with how many private parking bays can be reduced within a development if one or more car share bays are provided. GoGet in partnership with Bitzios Consulting, used its customer behaviour data, along with publicly available data sources to devise justifiable car share replacement ratios in Sydney under either ‘push’ or ‘pull’ market contexts. This presentation describes the key patterns in the data and how they evolved into the development of a user-friendly parking replacement calculator.

Peter Malley

Senior Associate | Ratio Consultants

Peter believes the transport system is not just limited to traffic activity and car parking demands. He understands that a holistic approach is required in transport planning, including consideration of land use, opportunities for public transportation, bicycle accessibility, pedestrian amenity and walkability, and equitable access. He has contributed transport planning to a wide range of significant traffic engineering and planning projects including local and state government projects, residential subdivisions, town centres and shopping centres, schools and universities, commercial, industrial, medical and high density residential projects. Peter prides himself on working closely with clients to achieve exceptional outcomes in traffic and transport assessment, design and management by utilising creative design responses and in depth data analysis.

Leaving the Car Behind in the Modern Era

A deep dive into the emerging trends affecting car ownership in Victoria and the potential implications on placemaking and connectivity for modernising transport networks. Drawing on recent research and case studies from Victoria, we examine the factors driving the changes in car ownership on a suburb-by-suburb basis to understand the unique opportunities presented to Victorian communities and their environments. Car ownership data allows us to discuss and inform the need for new modes of transportation that prioritise sustainability, affordability, and accessibility. Ultimately, we argue that the change in car ownership in Victoria presents an exciting opportunity to transform the way we move and live, creating more sustainable, connected, and liveable communities for all Victorians, and potential learnings for the rest of Australia.

Geoff Rose

Adjunct Professor | Monash University

Geoff is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Monash University. He has been an academic staff member at Monash for nearly 30 years and spent about half that time as the Director of the Monash Institute of Transport Studies. Geoff's professional interests span transport planning, innovative modes and travel demand. His research has included projects on cycling, walking, micromobility, shared mobility and travel demand management. He is currently serving on the oversight panel for the shared e-scooter trial taking place in Victoria. Geoff is a Fellow of Engineers Australia, AITPM and the Institute of Transport Engineers.

Challenges and opportunities in regulating Light Electric Vehicles

The emergence of shared electric scooters and e-bikes has opened a pathway to a connected modern Australia with direct implications for sustainability and connectivity. The emergence of these devices has presented challenges for state and local governments throughout Australia tasked with regulating these relatively new entrants onto the transport landscape. Balancing the sometimes conflicting needs of users and non-users has bought into focus trade-offs associated with mobility, safety and sustainability. These forms of shared mobility are embraced by users as a new form of urban mobility. Some users, women specifically, indicate a greater feeling of perceived safety at night on a e-scooter compared to walking. While replacing any walking trips with these devices is not a win in terms of physical activity levels, there is emerging evidence that when diversion from motorised mobility is considered, these devices contribute to a net reduction in carbon emissions.

Alongside the growth of shared devices there is emerging private use with some estimates in Australia suggesting there are 10 or more private e-scooters for every public e-scooter. Different states are approaching regulations for shared and private devices in slightly different ways and this presentation compares and contrasts existing state by state regulations to identify elements of best practice and emerging issues.

Much of the current focus is on private light electric vehicles, also referred to as micromobility, while parallel issues for light electric freight vehicles are not receiving the attention they may deserve. The uptake of those vehicles is being constrained by regulations framed with an almost myopic focus on personal mobility devices. This contrasts sharply with how higher productivity freight vehicles are regulated in comparison to motor cars. Challenges and opportunities for evolving a more comprehensive approach to regulating both personal and freight devices are outlined.