Melbourne CBD - Free of Cars

Session Details

Room: Melbourne

Format: Discussion

No. of attendees: 36

Host name: Nic Frances Gilley from City of Melbourne

Your name: Matthew Diemer

How will Melbourne adjust to a doubled population?

Increased public realm through the repurposing of street space is a major way.

What will the Car-Free CBD look like?

• Curb, Fence, and Barrier-Free Streetscapes,

• Wider Footpaths

• Increased PT Access and Capacity

• City boundary with drop-off areas

• Some “streets” are still identified for through-movement of cyclists and trams, others identified as pedestrian space for walking, and others as “places” designed for dwelling activities

• Barcelona “Superblocks” application

• Goods Movement, Deliveries on E-Bikes

• More greenspace that doubles as pedestrian walkways (i.e. Birrarung Mar)

• More economic development opportunity due to higher foot traffic

• Less noise, air pollution, “more zen”

• Current car parks transformed into affordable housing units

• Increased presence of pedicabs

How will we get there?

• Parking removal, pricing, availability, planning restrictions

• Increased investment in bike & pt infrastructure

• Congestion charging

• No win-wins

• Celebrate successes (white night, etc) to build on

• Congestion charging with incentives for people that live within the city

• ‘Reclaim your streets’ programs

• Disruption as a catalyst (when roads close for projects, close them to automobiles and pedestrianise them)

• New language utilised to sell the benefits

• Clear rules on where the no car zone starts and how it works

• Incentives from congestion charge (funds for bike repairs)

• Visionary politicians

• Higher oil prices

• Go street by street with pilot projects to highlight the benefits

• Further incentivise PT, cycling (free bike share for first 10 minutes)

• Cycle “superhighways”

Transit Network Optimisation and Stop Removal

Session Details

Room: Yarra

Format: General discussion

No. of attendees: 15

Host name: Warrick Keating from SMEC

Scribe: James Reynolds

1. General discussion on the attractiveness of trains vs buses vs cars.

2. Melbourne's rail system not optimised as far as stop spacing for metro using. There are significant issues for energy useage, unloading and loading times

3. Issues of metropolitan stations and lack of parking capacity, but can we ever supply 'enough', and even should we be attempting to rather than developing transit oriented development.

4. Lots of opportunities to improve the network, as showed by the success of the 401 service, which filled a network gap.

5. Difficulties in transit with not being able to do things incrementally, whereas a road may be more easily expanded from 2 lanes, to 3, to 4, to a freeway etc.

6. Possible need to look more at public policy analysis approaches to understand how to affect change.

7. Challenges of the inertia of the status quo.

The Traditional Requirement Process for Transport Infrastructure Projects Cannot Deliver a good Customer Experience

Session Details

Room: Supper

Format: Debate

No. of attendees:

Hosts names: Alexandra Almond  and Dave King

Scribe: Samithree Rajapaksha

What was covered?

• Current procedure of planning transport infrastructure projects does not consider the customer perceptions.

• Specifications should be designed based on the customer requirements.

• But when the project is evaluated in a business perspective, it won’t be easy to satisfy all the customer expectations.

• A good project will balance between a business perspective and customer expectations.

• Therefore, the most critical stage of a development process is the designing phase and have to finalise with a specific organisation.

Developing Active Transport projects and Getting Big Bucks for walking

Session Details

Room: Yarra

Format: presentation and discussion

No. of attendees: 18

Hosts names: Felipe Caravajal and Bumeke Jayasingbe

Scribe: Sarah Roberts

What are the best ways to push these projects get community support?

• Ignore the public. They might be unpopular, but if it is pushed through and it works, people will change their mind about this
• Getting rid of parking is difficult when the community are car users
• Use a trial to test if these project will work as a way to convince the community.
• If you want CEO’s to give support you need evidence to continue their support

Why should we invest in infrastructure if it wont be successful?

•  Are we investing in the right things, like walking?

Are you targeting the right area? 

• Targeting infrastructure but not the behavioural change and education

• Need to communicate things correctly, if you correctly communicate and educate it will help to convince people.

• PT we sell things that people don’t necessarily understand. We need to find ways to communicate all these changes in a way it is easy to digest. Etc safety, cost

Walking infrastructure in Darebin.

• Undertook a study to discover where, when and how much money would need to be invested in creating new and more effective walking structure for Darebin corridors.

Focused on pedestrian crossings and gaps in the network.

•  Isolated the roads that carry 5000 people a day, over lapped this map to see the places with large vehicle coverage and places with a lack of pedestrian crossings.

•  This was also visualised with heat maps to confirm the demand on these particular sections

This analysis showed that there is demand for more crossings in this region, the council funded this process, committing to 25 sites.

This shows how studies and creating evidence can help to back a project.

Next step- engage and work closely with vicroads and start to implement the changes,

•  reassess existing pedestrian crossings, are they in the right spot?

Change in customer experience, how will the current and future journeys?

•  Will use software to see what type of crossing will be most effective

•  The community have been asking for zebra crossings. The data then reinforces this need and the areas which would be most suitable.

You have a list of priorities, do you have a timeframe for this?

•  In the process of working this out. Who will pay for particular crossings? Trying to make the project most cost effective.

• There would be some consolidation with the community, but the data analysis has given enough positive data to run with it.

Need to be careful that you don’t install them in dangerous places.

•  People don’t really know how to use crossings correctly

Developers will be talked to about this project, but not smaller businesses.

War on waste for transport

Room: Portico

Format: presentation and discussion

No. of attendees: 15

Host name: Hamish Burns

Your name: Lisa Fu

Edison quote – the waste is worse… the scope of thrift is limitless

Overview of topics:

• Ticketing system, cost blow outs, east west tunnel, constant rebranding of agencies, roads with single occupancy vehicles, Melbourne airport has two trips for one passenger collection, variable pricing on trains?
• Toll roads, shifting demand
• Government spending – the necessity to spend all the budget, otherwise the department does not get it again the next year, leads to unnecessary spending
• Public-private procurement models
• Variable pricing to smooth out peak periods

1. E.g. Sydney does not keep freight out of the peak

2. Altering behaviour within industry and working with them

3. Suburban school traffic- Kids brains don’t turn on til 10am anyway, would be good to offset the school traffic with the peak house

4. Sydney, off-peak pricing, people adjusted accordingly

1.  

Majority of roads in Melbourne aren’t tolled

• Congestion tax in CBD, parking levy.

• Travel demand management, building infrastructure.

Other points to consider

• Bus network, underutilised in off-peak
• Re-mould procurement process in local/state gov?
• Melbourne airport public transport
• Building infrastructure is expensive
• Thinking about transport capacity, rather than continuity to do as we’ve don in the past
• Looking at moving people per $
• Communication
• It’s possible to change people’s behaviour E.g. saving water campaign in VIC, Gov can advertise and market

Lessons from Sydney

Room: Portico

Format: Presentation

No. of attendees: 3

Host name: Tony Smith

Scribe: Tim Hays

Lessons from Sydney

• Large road projects like the WestConex in Sydney are always proposed to be built underground

• Sydney has multiple options of entering the city via rail e.g. the ability to transfer at stations such as Glenfield, Cabramata, Liverpool- INCREASED PERMEABILITY

• SMH attempts to analyse and study urban projects within Sydney, the Age seems to only criticise urban projects

• Sydney Harbour Bridge influences the city’s transport system as it caters for a variety of transport types e.g. rail, road, ferry

• Second CBD of Parramatta more successful due to the concentration of jobs in the area

• Level crossings removed after WWII in Sydney

How can Melbourne improve?

• Melbourne can increase connectivity between the outer train lines rather than always changing in the city

• Melbourne still dependant on rail and car, it should increase transportation in the form of ferries from key outer suburbs in both the east and west e.g. werribee to yarra ferry ways

• Melbourne should focus to concentrate jobs away from the CBD

Cycling

Session Details

Room: Melbourne

Format: Discussion

No. of attendees: 20

Host name: Rebecka Gunnarsson

Your name: Samithree Rajapaksha

• Discussion about why Melbourne can’t implement Cycling as a mass commuter mode even with a room to develop

• Nearly a 50% of the participants were cyclists

Discussion about the current issues in promoting Cycling in Melbourne:

• Not safe

• Very few dedicated lanes for cycles

• Not convenient

• No priorities at intersections

• Roundabouts were not design in favour of cyclists

Discussion on how to promote cycling among the general public

• Providing big cages at train stations for bicycles

• Reduce speed limits

• Developing a sensor system at intersections as in European Countries for Bicycles

• Organising cycling events to promote the benefit about the active transport

Shark Tank

Session Details

Room: Supper

Format: Q&A

No. of attendees: 40

Host name: Knowles Tivendale

Scribe: James Reynolds

1. The Key to the Western Gridlock

Proposal

• Lease rural land and establish parking lots.
• Travel via double decker buses to Queen Vic market
• Bus priority measures and express lanes

Shark tank responses:

• Why would we favour express bus services when we have an existing rail system that we can upgrade and expand? (i.e Caroline Springs electrification)

• Is there a simpler option that can get people from where they live to the station? DRT?

• Bold idea for Melbourne to start dedicating highway lanes to buses

• PROJECT FUNDED!

2. $10 million to fund street popups on 10 streets as shared spaces / closed to traffic.

• Return on investment in terms of encouraging more activity, shopping in the area, walking/cycling encouragement.

Shark tank responses:

• good idea
• Do you need the shark tanks money, why not get some funding from special charge schemes?
• Trials FUNDED!!! 9/10, 8/10, 7/10, 9/10

3. Car park occupancy technology at railway stations:

• 500k to reuse parking occupancy camera technology to push car parking at railway stations occupancy information to an app to allow people to make decisions about which station to park at, or whether to drive to the city instead.

Shark tank responses:

• Great to reuse existing technology that is already installed.
• Some concerns about maybe encouraging car use.
• Prefer to see an investment in something less car oriented
• 0/10, 4/10, 0/10, 0/10 NOT FUNDED!

4. Melbourne Congestion Charge Scheme

• Revenue of $1million a day to the dragon den
• $400k initial investment.
• Cordon model similar to London.

Shark Tank Response

• Are there any risks or barriers to implementation - “No”

• Brave visionary scheme

• Why a cordon, because it worked in London

• How do you deal with equity? “We are not solving the world’s problems through congestion charging”

• Really simple, money makes a difference, need to make it free for car share, some complexities

• Some questions about the exact location of the boundary.

• 7/10, 8/10, 8/10, 8/10 FUNDED!!!

5. Bike Arrival Stations at All Train Station

• $250 Million for bike arrival stations all trains stations

Responses:

• Agree, but only at some train stations (aligned with projects like Melbourne Metro)
• As we decrease car usage, transform office parking space into bike arrival station

6. Art Installations through Melbourne Metro Tunnel

• $4 Million for art installations from local artists that change monthly. The art will be through the tunnel, and act as an animation that changes as the train moves through the tunnel

Responses:

• Like the idea, art should communicate message of the land and indigenous people to make it unique to Melbourne and celebrate heritage

• Better to look at who you would get to invest more in that delivery of the Metro Tunnel, i.e. it’s not an add-on to the project, but a part of the tunnel project itself

• Art projects tend to focus around stations, appreciate that this idea expands on that to focus on the journey.

Q/A on all matters PT

Session Details

Room: Regent

Format: Question and answer

No. of attendees: 9

Host name: Adrien Webb, Peter Parker

Scribe: Sarah Roberts

Challenges in working in planning, if you say something is a priority it means other things are not priority. Planning becomes very negative due to political reasons.

This session will be about topics that don’t get discussed or released to the public.

What happened with myki?

The wrong contract being employed.

• Analysis was conducted on the metcard system and issues it had.

•  It is better to have multiple contractors for the different parts of the system (hardware, software, manufacture, etc). This allows contractors to be replaced if there are issues.

•  The original proposal for myki would take 5 years. This was said to be too long, so people were employed who said they could do it in 3.

·    They went with one contractor, which created the issues and the 11 year production time.

Myki was the most advanced ticketing system.

•  However due to incorrect explanations to the public this technology was misunderstood by the customers (particularly the top up element).

Fares

Melbourne has had a number of fare structures.

•  Myki has the most advanced fare system (peak and off peak), but it is not used. Peak and off peak pricing is based on the end of peak (good for customers going to the end of the line).

•  Peak and off peak pricing

·    Sunday saving ticket, early bird. Very successful in creating different timed travel behaviour.

·    PTV implemented buses running on Sunday, more frequent trains, more carriages.

Family fares

•  Smart card travel internationally is not suited for group travel

•  Families as a demographic are harder cater for with PT due to living location and their travel behaviours.

Fare evasion on buses.

Tram has less fare evasion than buses, even though tram drivers are not involved in the ticketing process.

•  Surveys are conducted to discover fare evasion stats.

Bus companies don’t have a revenue risk.

People will still not touch on if the bus driver is there.

Most people if asked to buy a ticket will.

By law the drivers must ask passenger to touch on, if the passenger says no, that is enough.

•  The way fare evasion occurs is very diverse        

•  Fare evasion on buses is about 8%

If public transport was free

• 30% uptake. If you spent the money you were going to lose from free transport and spent it on service improvement instead, you would get a higher uptake
• Making it free, doesn’t necessarily make a trip more appealing. The cost might not be the barrier.
• Travel time is the most important factor for travellers, cost is generally ranked 5th

Dandenong corridor, why not quadruplicate the train line?

We don’t need to do this now. The boom gates would stay down.

•   High capacity signal is coming in so we will be able to run 10 car trains.

We have enough demand to see the forcible future.

Freight does not need to go through during peak hour

Does speeding up Vline services help the cost? Probably not

•  Could bring the Vline and freight through other corridors

Long term plan, service Monash and Chadstone.

Planning is the art of what you do next and it is all based on priorities, but so it doesn’t inconvenience the thing you want to do after that.

Combing PTV and Vicroads into transport Victoria, how do you feel?

Being mode agnostic is a challenge. Have to consider if particular trips are best serviced by public transport or the car or cycling? This way of thinking is new and different.

Broadens the modes that need to be considered.

More projects, makes it more daunting. Need the right people for the right task.

Myki will be supporting paywave in the next couple of years.

Your Myki card, can activate your daily cap, you can’t do this with master cards.

•  It will be a limited market for tourists.

The white T doesn’t come on all the time at traffic lights (tram priority), why is this?

Don’t necessarily need the T for priority.

• A virtual loop will be used in the future, that can change priority at any time.
• If done well, motorists might not notice that this is being implemented.

Other points to consider

• Millennials are moving away from the car.
• Melbourne is most likely perceived as more PT based than Sydney. This would be interesting to find out if it is true.
• 70% of Melbournians have used PT in the last 3 months. It is easier to convince infrequent users to use PT rather than non users

Public Consultation

Session Details

Room: Yarra

Format: Q&A / Discussion

No. of attendees: 12

Host name: Carolina from TfV

Scribe: Lisa Fu

• User-centred

• The way we typically inform community is after it’s designed and beginning to be built. Community consultation is usually just a way to tick a box, people that attend are the few that are really engaged, the few that have time, and it is not representative of the wider community.

• We tend to just ask what people think

• Looking at a mockup in a warehouse can often not be indicative of real scenarios

  1. HCMT however, brought 100s of people to simulate real situations and brought props like prams etc.

• Consultation usually involves experts, and not a real-life scenario

• It’s not at the end of the design process that you consult the community, it should be at the start

• Advice/messages to toher organisations who need to start

  1. Start with a small trial/test

           2. You don’t need 100s of people, small sessions work too

• Co-design is a buzzword

What if the scope of design is large? E.g. Metro 3 session from earlier today

          1. Find out what drives people

          2. Create a prototype

          3. Test pieces of the puzzle

• Public consultation, better than it was 2 years ago

  1. But small things that go wrong can equal big repercussions

           2. May be small in the budget line, but for other people it’s a big issue

• If you engage with community from the beginning you get a more detailed response

• Tick boxes are big items usually, and little details of the customer experience are usually an afterthought most of the time

• E.g. North East link authority

1. Instead of public consulting before, went to the public with 4 options.

2. Transparency needs to be prioritised

3. There wasn’t mention of what was going to be acquired, environmental cost, traffic modelling

4. Risk management from politicians

5. Disconnect between politics and community

6. Letting the community know the trade-offs

7. Making the problem part of the community

8. Infantilising the community

9. Market lead proposal process

10. Local councils leading

Important points to consider

• It’s gotten a lot better

• Making an attempt is better than none at all

• It’s a journey from nothing to an improvement