Exploring the importance of challenging outdated ways and language
March 2024
What is more important to society? Moving people and things as quickly as possible or having safe spaces for children to play outside their homes and schools?
That was one of the key questions raised at AITPM’s thought-provoking March webinar ‘Wheels of Change: navigating global transport challenges’.
The event, hosted by GHD Transport Engineer Charlotte French, featured Professor Marco Te Brömmelstroet from The Netherlands and Professor Simon Kingham, from New Zealand, who shared their expertise in transportation transformation. Professor Simon Kingham, from New Zealand, who shared their expertise in transportation transformation.
AITPM CEO Kirsty Kelly welcomed the pair, explaining that the webinar, presented by GHD, followed Marco’s popularity and insights at the 2023 AITPM National Transport Conference. The webinar included discussions on:
- using speed management as a tool to improve community connections and health and wellbeing
- encouraging decision-makers to embrace change
- opting for short trials rather than long community consultation on proposed change
- road-user charges, including for electric vehicles, and
- the importance of changing language in transport, including the use of the term ‘road toll’.
Marco told the webinar that he travelled extensively while in Australia and felt our heavy dependency on cars had massive costs to our environment and society.
“I saw a system that is so advanced in certain ways but also that is close to a point where we can no longer sustain it,” he told participants. “That’s the mobility system we see around the world but it’s somehow very evolved in the Australian context.
“It becomes harder and harder to talk about the inevitable, which is that the system cannot be sustained in the long run. We are close to a point where we can no longer escape having that deep political discussion with each other, and I’m hopeful that moment will come.”
Marco urged transport and mobility experts to make opportunities to debate and challenge the status quo. Simon agreed, emphasising that transport affected many aspects of society, not just economic prosperity.
“Sometimes I still think we value this idea of getting people and stuff between places as fast as possible, but actually there are so many things that are more important,” Simon said.
He pointed to New Zealand’s Transport Outcomes Framework, which outlines five outcome areas: inclusive access, healthy and safe people, economic prosperity, environmental sustainability, and resilience and security.
“A street where kids are playing has huge benefits to those kids especially in places where we're seeking to increase density,” Simon said. “We shouldn’t be increasing the burden to our health system by making bad transport decisions.”
The panellists discussed the benefits of ‘slower journeys’, such as walking along a street, getting physical activity and meeting people.
“It's kind of crazy that we penalise longer journeys because many of them are when you're getting physical activity and when you’re spending time with people,” Simon said. “We just have to keep reminding decision makers that fast isn’t always best.”
The webinar also discussed the use of the terms that depersonalise the impact of transport decisions, including the use of ‘road toll’.
“We have some television advertisements in New Zealand that are trying to sell the message that this is not a road toll, it is somebody’s family being ripped apart because somebody has died,” Simon said. “We need to change some of the language to make it much more real.”
He pointed to speed management as an excellent tool to reduce greenhouse gases, encourage community connections, and improve health and wellbeing. However, he thinks governments could improve not promoting the benefits as well as they could.
“People still think (lower speed limits) are about reducing injuries and deaths – and the problem then is that if you have a street that has a 50kmh limit and there are no deaths, people don’t understand why you would reduce it,” he said. “But if you sell it based on the social benefits, I think it would be a better outcome.”
As a final message for webinar participants, Marco encouraged regular engagement outside with communities outside the transport sector, and suggested tweaking job titles on LinkedIn.
“You’re allowed to change the description of your job title … think about what you actually want your job title to be and what you want to work on,” he said.
Marco te Brömmelstroet holds the chair of Urban Mobility Futures at the University of Amsterdam. He is the academic director of the Lab of Thought and chairman of the Urban Cycling Institute.
Simon Kingham is Ahorangi o te Matawhenua/Professor of Geography at Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha/the University of Canterbury. He teaches and researches on a range of issues related to the impact of the urban environment on wellbeing, with a specific focus on transport. He is also seconded to Te Manatū Waka/the Ministry of Transport as their Kaitohutohu Matua Pūtaiao/Chief Science Advisor. His role there is to ensure that policy is evidence-based.
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