2022 Melbourne Sessions

Session 1: Car Dependency

Session: 1

Room: Melbourne Room

Session Title: Car Dependency

Format: Discussion

Presenter Name: Sebastian Aurisano

Summary

Main Problems: Traffic jams, pollution, climate change. 25% of emissions come from transport.
How to tackle it? Public transport, active transport, infrastructure. The pedestrian-oriented built environment is most critical. Autonomous and electric vehicles should also be considered. Electric vehicles tend to tackle pollution and climate change, but congestion will still remain.
AVs might improve traffic jams but they may encourage urban sprawl.
Car dependency has a gender impact, mothers need cars to take kids around. We can only use happy wheels if the urban built environment supports it.
Minimum parking requirements based on floor area ratio should be reconsidered.
Car sharing is important to diminish the parking issues related to autonomous vehicles.
Private e-scooters should be allowed and encouraged in Melbourne.

Session 3: Active Transport Integration

Session: 3

Room: Melbourne Room

Session Title: Active transport integration

Format: Presentation

Presenter Name: Danny Davis

Summary

FLAIR: Flexible, local, accessible, integrated, and responsive.
Accessibility in stations should be increased.
High patronage for better bus stops.
App-based information needs to be reliable.
Multimodal journey app timetable should be user-friendly.
Sharing data between companies will increase journey reliability.

Session 4: The Inside 'Scooter' - Melbourne E-scooter Trial

Session: 4

Room: Supper Room

Session Title: The Inside 'Scooter' - Melbourne E-scooter Trial

Format: Discussion

Presenter Name: Samaj and Ronard (Neuron)

Summary

Data Overview: Feb to June 2022 Average transport distance 2.16km. Average trip durations 15.5 mins, Average trip per day 7408 trips. Total trips 1194300 trips. Total distance 2580066 km.
Contribute to supporting Melbourne's major events; 41% of users said that the environmentally friendly nature of e-scooters was a factor.
The shared bike lane network has also a low rate of accidents.
65% of scooter users indicated they made a purchase at the start or end of their trip.
Daily public complaints decreased quickly after the launch.
Concerns: Parking, footpath use, user noncompliance, reporting systems.
Will private e-scooter users become public e-scooter users if the regulations are tightended?

Session 4: Public Transport Data Collection

Session: 4

Room: Yarra Room

Session Title: How can we reduce parking with car sharing?

Format: Discussion

Presenter Name: Josh (Infrastructure Victoria)

Summary

Good data will be received if the service is simple.
Ticketing data is very difficult to use as fewer touch on and off in Victoria.
Train myki data is much better for touch on and off in Victoria compared to the other states.
Queensland trip data is complete and open to the agencies.
VISTA data is scarce and time-dependent.

Session 4: How can we reduce parking with car sharing?

Session: 4

Room: Portico Room

Session Title: How can we reduce parking with car sharing?

Format: Discussion

Presenter Name: Darcy (GoGet)

Summary

Carshare facilitates placemaking and intermodal transport.
Consider Peel Street where curbside parking slots were replaced by bike lanes.
Users drive 50% less than before they joined the service. Increase access, and reduce costs/VKT. Car-sharing to tackle last-mile issues.
4 Key Benefits of onsite carshare -> reduce project costs (1 parking space $50k-$100k), improve project delivery timelines, reduce environmental impact and provide amenities to the local community.
Requirements for onsite carshare -> a parking bay, mobile signal for the carshare vehicle, 24/7 controlled access. In front of/behind the security barrier. They provide different types of vehicles to meet different demands, such as vans to allow people to move houses.

Session 4: Free Public Transport

Session: 4

Room: Regent Room

Session Title: Free Public Transport

Format: Discussion

Presenter Name: Rosie (City of Stonnington)

Summary

Only 30% of operating costs are funded currently, funding has to come from somewhere.
Free Tram Zone takes pedestrians off the street and requires more services, increasing costs due to increased demand, mode shift away from walking, loss in revenue and spike in demand.
The issue is not limited to cost, but access particularly for those with poor access (outer suburbs). Not many big systems that are free, there are smaller ones. Instead put tram revenue in areas which need it for example Melton, and Clyde.
Look at the full network and where a free zone would increase the uptake of public transport (not away from pedestrians).
Costs too much to travel to/from regional Vic (over $20) on VLine. Lower price of regional passengers.
Transport has to become a service: Means-tested pricing, flexible/dynamic fares based on demand.
Transport projects are measured by travel time savings, which is very narrow.
Who is going to integrate these services?
Consider safety when considering mode choice and MaaS, which fills a gap when people do not feel safe walking.

Session 5: Gender, Transport, and its Numerous Intersections

Session: 5

Room: Melbourne Room

Session Title: Gender, Transport, and its Numerous Intersections

Format: Open Discussion

Presenter Name: Zoe (Merri-bek), Elise (CrowdSpot), and Adam (Merri-bek)

Summary

Highly skewed and underrepresented numbers of women and non-binary people in cycling in Melbourne and Victoria. Removing the barriers to entry of bicycle riding
The gender gap in cycling (Elise): Absence in policy for people that do not identify as men or women. We need to shift the conversation from increasing cycling opportunities for women to increasing the opportunity for anyone facing barriers. Some barriers include: safety, and raising children. Transport data should be provided with a gender breakdown.
People ride to train stations when the alternatives are poor.
Designing cross-community routes rather than just 'journeys to work'. There is no data on these journeys because they are currently not catered for. No safe infrastructure that allows women to give things a try and have the opportunity to "fail".
Safety exists in many forms, including injury risk and the perceived safety of other people using the space.
Lighting is a concern in footpath safety. Roads have lights, but footpaths do not. However, lighting is not the only concern for gender inclusion.
Findings: Girls stopped using bicycles when moving from primary school to high school. Boys are given more freedom to travel to school independently.
It's about pushing that market, activating new infrastructure, and making sure people are aware. Consider micro-mobility as a mitigating solution for last-mile, after-dark trips.
Many people in typically female-dominated jobs will use scooters and won't cycle -
E-cargo bike trials (Zoe): - Doing persona route mapping, rich heat map of trips women are choosing. Most people who haven't cycled or used cargo bikes are returning to cycling after having children. Mapping is showing routes taken, routes being avoided, and what streets young families and women are riding on. If we do more of these trials, we can target infrastructure and show where we should be investing it.
Need quantitative and qualitative data - the stories of community members

Session 6: Parking Minimums

Session: 6

Room: Melbourne Room

Session Title: Parking Minimums

Format: Discussion

Presenter Name: Lachlan Burke (Movement and Place Consulting)

Summary

Parking minimums are set by the council and are resisted by the business owner.
Parking is most of the time provided more than requirements.
Making people use active transport would make parking opportunities for the people with issues.
We need some kind of management if accessibility is being impacted by the lack of parking. The car parking minimums have also made some businesses apply for waivers to their complexity and expense for small businesses.