Session 1: Transport strategy for Non-human and sustainability

Session: 1

Room: Regent Room

Session Title: Transport strategy for Non-human and sustainability

Format: Discussion

Presenter Name: Hayley Timmers (RMIT)

Summary

• How do we identify the key species or understand local biodiversity as one neighbourhood?

• How can we plan for non-human connectivity?

• Community advocacy reclaiming streets: Consider how people reclaim nature strips. Gorilla street trees on the upfield line.

• Community planting VicTrack: tracking which species pass which route in their everyday lives to reflect on the transport planning.

• How do we tackle KPI while making enjoyable connectivity for humans and non-humans?

• How should we assess possible environmental impacts on the site when we plan the strategy?

• There are important grasslands along the Sunbury line, these narrow strips of vegetation should not be managed without engaging Traditional Owners.

Session 2: Open Street: Messaging for Mobility

Session: 2

Room: Regent Room

Session Title: Open Street: Messaging for Mobility

Format: Discussion

Presenter Name: Zoe and Leyla (City of Merri-bek)

Summary

• Getting the language right for livable, lovable neighbourhoods.

• Streets, not roads! Open not closed! Crashed not accidents terminology!

• What sort of consultation is the best for people? This is dependent on the local context, and it is important, to be honest, and transparent. Prioritise people, not transport modes.

• The importance of plain language to disseminate information. Changing the terminology of the open street.

• The meaning of road closure is no motor vehicles and increasing the flexibility of street use.

• Open street provides the neighbourhood with enhancing community bonds.

• How do we communicate with neighbours?

• Benefits: children’s safety, healthier communities, and more social space.

• What sort of signage makes all people comfortable using the space? How do we accommodate new emerging transport modes such as e-scooter? Whose priority is the first?

• Potential for site rhythmanalysis to identify the behavioural patterns of the place.

Session 3: Has Covid Killed Public Transport?

Session: 3

Room: Supper Room

Session Title: Has Covid Killed Public Transport?

Format: Presentation

Presenter Name: Phillip Mallis (City of Yarra)

Summary

• Covid has a significant decrease in PTV patronage. This is ongoing post-covid. Surprisingly, bus ridership has performed better. Consider the buses that service hospitals, and places of employment that cannot be completed by working from home.

• Infrastructure Victoria outlined that CBD employment has decreased. WFH has increased working in suburban areas.

• Trip purpose: Important to consider, however, the shortfall of the census is that it captures travel to work. The VISTA data set is more robust, and this is taken every 2 years.

• During COVID, car transport increased for work, recreation, and services.

• Cycling: The bike counters have shown LOWER bike use in 2022. In the lockdown, cycling ridership managed to remain consistent, which is impressive considering fewer people were commuting to work. With the overall drop in cycling volume from 2018-2022, we are returning to 2010 levels.

• Challenges: There are blind spots in the data collection. Trip purpose is limited. The data is not consistent, symmetry is essential. The frequency needs to also be increased. The data also needs to be accessible, in a spreadsheet form, why is data presented in a pdf in 2022?

• Data Gaps: We do not collate PTV crowding, vehicle crowding, tram patronage by line, or PTV journey purposes.

• Classpass format: We need better options to purchase Myki use. A deal when you receive ten passes and it is cheaper. The people who least afford it cannot. New York has a weekly cap, this would incentivise. Weekly deals could really help shift from car dependency. Instead of annual deals, look for weekly. Off-peak transport is a great deal, but people did not really know about it, it needs to be communicated best.

• The lack of tolerance for incomplete data has impacted the release of patronage data. Tense conversation! What happens when places do not have the resources to navigate the criticisms? We need a better picture of patronage and there are many behind the scene challenges that affect how data is circulated and presented.

• Privacy concerns towards Governments collecting qualitative data.

• How can we capitalise on the post-covid interest in getting back in the community. Should we encourage people to WFH or come into the office? Who gets to make these decisions?

• The message needs to be spread, if we say nothing driving will continue to increase at default.

• Congestion charging: Will this work, or will people continue to drive and accept the costs? Generally, individuals are resilient to change, therefore intense advocacy and education are essential.

Session 3: Victoria Transportation Integration Plan

Session: 3

Room: Yarra Room

Session Title: Victoria Transportation Integration Plan

Format: Presentation

Presenter Name: Catherine McNaughton

Summary

• Call on the Victorian government to work with councils and communities to develop metro and Victoria regional transport and land use plans.

• Create the places communities want.

• Assess infrastructure proposal to demonstrate maximum community and environmental benefits.

• Prioritize equity and people.

• Achieve net zero greenhouse gas emission transport and land systems.

• Include traditional owners’ perspectives, knowledge and country plans.

• Include full community engagement. As required under the transport integration act 2010 and climate change act 2017.

• Ad hoc projects have demonstrated limited community benefits, lack of integration, and limited linked benefits.

• Consider the scales of challenges that arise with population growth; changing commuting and living patterns, technology, climate and biodiversity emergencies.

Session 3: Zero Traffic Growth with Increasing Population

Session: 3

Room: Portico Room

Session Title: Zero Traffic Growth with Increasing Population

Format: Presentation

Presenter Name: Lisa (DoT)

Summary

• The community complains about inadequate parking, yet people are aware of the traffic congestion.

• Consider a defined restriction for parking per household.

• Policy needs to be specific.

• Considered the opportunity of car sharing.

• How can we support younger generations and public transport use?

• We need to allow for time to see the behavioural change as infrastructure and restrictions will not radically change the car-dependent scenario.

• Restricting owning a car until a certain age could also be a way to ownership control.

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 3: Political advocacy for better transport service

Session: 3

Room: Regent Room

Session Title: Political advocacy for better transport service

Format: Presentation

Presenter Name: Peter Parket (Melbourne on Transit)

Summary

• Transformed transit for Melbourne Political volatility has both positive and negative impacts.

• How to decrease the number of vehicles in outer suburbs to introduce public transport systems with high frequency and good connectivity. Is poor frequency why car use remains widespread?

• Recommended book: The making and unmaking east-west link.

• Bus services are the key to establishing an integrated transport network.

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: Parking and Business Viability

Session: 5

Room: Regent Room

Session Title: Parking and Business Viability

Format: Discussion

Presenter Name: Patel

Summary

• Traders want car parking. An intercept survey found parking concession does not impact availability.

• DoT focuses on the reuse of the parking assets than replacement.

• Commercial pricing of the parking may be decided by the preference of or the parking value of people.

• One of third of the parking space reduction went unnoticed in a busy business area.

• Parking permits also delay and increase the expenses of the business.

• Dynamically allocation of parking is also important. Sharing the right message to the community or politicians would also promote a change of thinking and understanding that the cost of living increases more with more parking spaces.

Session 6: Pick a Lane Melbourne

Session: 6

Room: Regent Room

Session Title: Pick a Lane Melbourne

Format: Creative Workshop

Presenter Name: Pick a Lane Melbourne

Summary

• Consider this, Melbourne is now a communist city, in the year 2021-2022 a mode must be selected for the best prosperity and happiness of the city. Two themes were created: Mass Transit vs Micro Mobility.

• Team Micro mobility: Challenges are suburban sprawl, the distance between destinations, limited safe infrastructure, wide roads, cultural influence, Neo-liberalism, MAAS for profit, education, and capitalism.
  Goals: Tax the rich, no new roads, slow down our lives, diverse range to suit a variety of access needs and trip purposes.

• Team Macro mobility: Goal for high-speed rail. Highways are now of no use, re-purpose public space.
  Consider multi-CBD Cities, connected via macro PTV.