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Abstract Purpose This chapter provides a case study of the implementation of the Parking Space Levy (PSL) in Sydney, Australia. Introduced by the Parking Space Levy Act 1992, the scheme places a levy on business use of off-street car... more
Abstract Purpose This chapter provides a case study of the implementation of the Parking Space Levy (PSL) in Sydney, Australia. Introduced by the Parking Space Levy Act 1992, the scheme places a levy on business use of off-street car parking spaces with the revenues from the levy being hypothecated to public transport improvements. The chapter outlines the implementation of what is now a relatively mature scheme and examines how the revenues raised by the scheme have been spent. Methodology/approach This chapter offers a review of the introduction of the levy in Sydney and explores its impact in implementation with respect to changes to the number of parking spaces and an analysis of the way in which the hypothecated revenue has been spent. The implementation of the PSL is evaluated against the literature on hypothecation of funds and includes a discussion of policy issues for Sydney in the light of the evidence presented. Findings Whilst off-street parking availability is a major contributor to peak period traffic, the implementation of the PSL as a single rate of application has not led to a decrease in total number of available parking places in the City of Sydney. The number of concessions for unused spaces, whereby the levy was not imposed, increased when the levy rate was doubled in 2009 although this was accompanied by a fall in the number of exemptions from the levy. The revenue from the PSL has been dedicated to improvements in public transport infrastructure, primarily interchanges and commuter car parks although the more recent provisions to spend on ‘soft’ measures to improve sustainable travel have not been taken up. Practical implications Whilst a stated objective of the PSL was to reduce congestion, the chapter concludes that the PSL had more than this single objective which makes it more difficult to assess whether its implementation has been a success. Originality/value of chapter This chapter provides an overview of the introduction, implementation and outcomes of the PSL in Sydney, relating it to the PSL in Melbourne (Chapter 13) and the WPL in Nottingham (Chapter 15). No other study to date evaluated the PSL in Sydney against the literature relating to hypothecation nor tracked the impacts of implementation of the PSL to evaluate its success.
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This study was initiated to investigate, using six case studies, "how the behavior of bus operators, in seeking to avoid competition in the unregulated environment, affects the standard of services offered to the public, fares,... more
This study was initiated to investigate, using six case studies, "how the behavior of bus operators, in seeking to avoid competition in the unregulated environment, affects the standard of services offered to the public, fares, profitability and subsidies". The main conclusions are: The larger operators, with the exceptions of Ribble and Rossendale Transport, have remained relatively static in terms of fleet size. The geographical spread of services appears to have experienced little change with the established routes throughout the study area remaining. Commercial competition was initially fierce at deregulation and has been confined to clearly defined corridors. Fares in the study area are generally expensive and have increased annually slightly in excess of inflation since 1986.
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The call for a congestion charge is getting louder and more frequent in many countries as major metropolitan areas experience increasing levels of road congestion. Although reform of road pricing is almost certain to occur at sometime in... more
The call for a congestion charge is getting louder and more frequent in many countries as major metropolitan areas experience increasing levels of road congestion. Although reform of road pricing is almost certain to occur at sometime in the future, a key challenge is in selling the idea to the community of road users as well as a whole raft of interest groups that influence the views of society and politicians. What is required is a carefully structured demonstration of what might be done to progressively introduce adjustments in road user charges that are seen as reducing the costs to motorists while ensuring no loss of revenue to government. In this paper we show this can be achieved by the reform of registration fees in the presence of a distance-based charging regime (either for the peak or all day), that can deliver financial gains to motorists with prospects of revenue growth to the State Treasury of Sydney (Australia). The reform package assessed is predicted to result in changes to total annual kilometres of travel (especially in the peak) and flow through gains in travel time that deliver reductions in traffic congestion. We see this as an essential first stage in gaining community support for road pricing reform n proof of cost reductions associated with improvements in traffic congestion can then be used to continue the reform process.
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Abstract The chapter was prompted by the trend towards providing public health messaging through social marketing. The purpose is to understand the determinants of walking within a city in terms of framing policy to promote greater... more
Abstract The chapter was prompted by the trend towards providing public health messaging through social marketing. The purpose is to understand the determinants of walking within a city in terms of framing policy to promote greater physical activity (PA). This is demonstrated through the context of Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The chapter provides a literature review and showcases a case-study. Descriptive statistics are presented on how far Sydneysiders walk using Household Travel Survey data and how this might be changed if short motorised trips are converted to walking. Modelling walking time follows to see if there are policy levers that could be used to increase walking time. Over 78% of Sydney’s population do not meet the recommended PA target of 30 minutes per day. Converting short motorised to walking provides marginal improvement. Walking to access activities contributes more to total walking time than walking to/from public transport. Modelling suggests potential policy levers to increase PA. Targeting driving licence holders, households without cars and promoting walkable environments are found most effective. Promoting undertaking more activities on foot is likely to be more successful than promoting walking for short trips. The chapter provides an overview of PA around the world and an empirical case study of walking in Sydney, NSW, Australia. In turn this provides an evidence base for more successful targeting of social marketing messaging for public health.
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Book Review: Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Geschichte/Revue suisse d'histoire/Rivista storica svizzera 56, 1 (2006), special issue Verkehrsgeschichte, Train Tracks: Work, Play and Politics on the Railway, The Bridges of Medieval England: Transport and Society, 400–1800, Social Dimensions of Sust...more
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Travellers preferences for travelling by car will continue to be a barrier to increasing public transport ridership, especially when there is more than one person travelling together (group travel). One way to make public transport more... more
Travellers preferences for travelling by car will continue to be a barrier to increasing public transport ridership, especially when there is more than one person travelling together (group travel). One way to make public transport more attractive is to provide fare discounts for group travel. This paper analyses the impact of group travel discounts on public transport demand using the three years pooled Sydney Household Travel Survey data. The use of public transport modes for joint household travel before and after the implementation of the Family Funday Sunday ticket scheme is analysed to test if group travel fare discounts bring about changes in travel behaviour (measured by the proportion of PT travel to total travel generation, travel patterns, kilometres of travel, degree of multimodal travel and the mode choice for joint travel). The results show no significant changes to travel behaviour, controlling for the impacts of potentially confounding factors. These findings suggest...
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Research Interests: Business and Deregulation
Bus priority covers a wide range of measures intended to speed up the progress of buses and avoid congestion, especially in urban areas. The implementation of No Car Lanes as a method of allocating space on the highway is a relatively new... more
Bus priority covers a wide range of measures intended to speed up the progress of buses and avoid congestion, especially in urban areas. The implementation of No Car Lanes as a method of allocating space on the highway is a relatively new concept giving priority to buses and other types of vehicles, facilitating the movement of goods as well as people in congested urban areas. This paper compares the impact of the different eligibility requirements for priority on the different classes of traffic, using the road network in the single location of Tyne and Wear in the northeast of England, United Kingdom.
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Decisions for urban transport investments are based on urban transport planning and management and their evaluation is usually linked to transport related indicators (e.g. travel speed or traffic-safety). However, such investments have... more
Decisions for urban transport investments are based on urban transport planning and management and their evaluation is usually linked to transport related indicators (e.g. travel speed or traffic-safety). However, such investments have wider external socio-economic effects throughout the region and throughout time. The TranSEcon research project, funded under the fifth framework research program of the European Commission, is investigating these effects across European infrastructure investments focused on public transport (train, trolleybus, light rail and metro) but considering cycling and road traffic as well. One of the essential building blocks of network cities are attractive 'urban centres' that concentrate development. In The Netherlands, much effort is placed on the development of new development nodes. Examples are found in Amsterdam (at southern axis of the beltway), in Rotterdam (Kop van Zuid) but also the new town of Almere and Schiphol airport are developing in...
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This paper will present empirically based evidence from the UK in respect of the impact of neighbourhood design on travel behaviour using a case-study approach. The case-study is based on the metropolitan area of Tyne and Wear, North East... more
This paper will present empirically based evidence from the UK in respect of the impact of neighbourhood design on travel behaviour using a case-study approach. The case-study is based on the metropolitan area of Tyne and Wear, North East of England. Ten different neighbourhoods have been carefully selected to characterise two different types of traditional and suburban neighbourhood street layouts. A self-administered questionnaire has been delivered to 2,200 households to capture neighbourhood design, travel patterns, travel attitudes and socio-economic characteristics. Multivariate analysis of cross-sectional data shows that some socio-economic variables as well as travel attitudes and neighbourhood design preferences can explain the differences in travel patterns. Furthermore, the application of a regression analysis model for different neighbourhood types reveals that the traditional neighbourhood group has more sensitive factors that influence the differences in travel pattern...
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In February 2003, Planning NSW and Landcom, selected Lend Lease and The GPT Group as the preferred partners to create The New Rouse Hill, a state of the art regional centre consisting of a mix used Town Centre, residential neighbourhoods... more
In February 2003, Planning NSW and Landcom, selected Lend Lease and The GPT Group as the preferred partners to create The New Rouse Hill, a state of the art regional centre consisting of a mix used Town Centre, residential neighbourhoods and community spaces. lThe New Rouse Hillr was planned as a transit-oriented development and the effective integration of land use and transport planning was considered essential if the development was to succeed commercially and contribute to the achievement of the range of planning objectives of both state and local government agencies. A transport management and accessibility plan (TMAP) was prepared in November 2005 which provided a basis to guide the travel demand management (TDM) program to inform the design, operation and evolution of The New Rouse Hill to achieve acceptable levels of sustainable transport behaviour. Rouse Hill Town Centre opened in September 2007 and a dedicated travel coordinator was engaged to deliver the precinct wide travel plan. Since 2007 various strategies have been employed to achieve the outcome and to provide a self-sustaining travel planning environment. The aim of this paper is to assess how sustainable travel has been absorbed by the residents, employers and users of Rouse Hill and its surrounding suburbs. The conclusions inform the development of precinct based travel demand strategies both in Australia and beyond as to strategies which have been particularly successful.
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ABSTRACT The New South Wales (NSW) government created the Sydney Metro Authority to design, build and operate a completely separate underground Metro rail system to supplement the existing public transport network in Sydney. By the time... more
ABSTRACT The New South Wales (NSW) government created the Sydney Metro Authority to design, build and operate a completely separate underground Metro rail system to supplement the existing public transport network in Sydney. By the time the NSW government abruptly cancelled the entire Metro project in early 2010, the authority had conceived and designed a contract that was proceeding to procurement. This paper examines the nature of the proposed Sydney Metro contract in relation to its performance framework and compares this to the frameworks in current contracts for bus, rail and ferry public transport in Sydney. Against this background, the paper examines the extent to which the Sydney Metro approach has had an impact on subsequent public transport contracts in the context of the literature on public private contracting and incentives for public transport procurement. The paper concludes that little has been implemented, although the other mode contracts now enable more performance measurement and incentivisation. In particular, the decision to award contracts to existing (and mostly public sector) operators appears to have acted as a brake on developing these performance elements.
Research Interests: Business, Public Administration, Transportation Studies, Public Transport, Transportation Economics, and 15 moreTransportation, Urban And Regional Planning, Privatisation, Public Private Partnerships, Transport policy, Public Private Partnership, Privatization, Railway privatisation, Sydney, Public transportation, Incentive, Urban Transport, Political Science and public administration, Public Administration and Policy, and Sydney Metro
The media have an important role in reporting transport news, but they can also engage in transport advocacy and shape transport policy and planning. The paper examines the campaign by The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper which developed a... more
The media have an important role in reporting transport news, but they can also engage in transport advocacy and shape transport policy and planning. The paper examines the campaign by The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper which developed a long term public transport plan for Sydney Australia, independent of the state government, through an Independent Public Inquiry. The process of public involvement including public meetings, submissions and a team of transport professionals produced comprehensive Preliminary and Final Reports. The campaign is positioned in the context of civic engagement and social capital models. Analysis of the reporting of the Independent Public Inquiry in the Herald shows that the newspaper did not make as full a use of its sponsored Inquiry as it could have, indicating dual reasons for the campaign of both content generation and readership, and civic engagement and social capital building.
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ABSTRACT The New South Wales (NSW) government created the Sydney Metro Authority to design, build and operate a completely separate underground Metro rail system to supplement the existing public transport network in Sydney. By the time... more
ABSTRACT The New South Wales (NSW) government created the Sydney Metro Authority to design, build and operate a completely separate underground Metro rail system to supplement the existing public transport network in Sydney. By the time the NSW government abruptly cancelled the entire Metro project in early 2010, the Authority had conceived and designed a contract that was proceeding to procurement. This paper compares the elements of the proposed Sydney Metro contract to findings of the literature on optimal contracting and optimal incentives and on PPP best practice. The paper concludes that the Metro seems to have at least implicitly drawn fairly heavily on best practices and principles, but that its ultimate failure to be implemented is an instructive lesson about how operating environment can impede integration of useful knowledge and experience.