Is the risk of dying on a motorbike increasing?

Is the risk of dying on a motorbike increasing?

Do high-rise apartment towers promote social isolation?

Of all the many criticisms of high-rise living in Australia’s capitals, the charge that it reduces “chance encounters” and is socially isolating is the weakest

Do high-rise apartment towers promote social isolation?

What to do about sleeping rough?

The factors leading to living on the streets are different from other forms of homelessness and suggest conventional approaches to housing support might not always work

What to do about sleeping rough?

Recap: all the issues discussed by The Urbanist in June

Including trams, election promises, infrastructure costs, High Speed Rail, funding for cycling, city size, airport rail, congestion charging, transport social divide

How big is the “transport divide” between inner and outer suburbs?

The “transport divide” between the inner and outer suburbs assumes time spent travelling increases significantly with distance from the city centre. But does it?

Do motorists pay their way?

The idea of congestion charging would be easier to “sell” if the focus were on replacing revenue from existing taxes and charges like the fuel excise and registration fees

Is the Greens’ transport policy mostly vote-bait?

Just like the major parties, the Greens’ transport policy for the 2016 election is mostly about looking good rather than proposing policies that will make a real difference

Should cycling get a huge increase in funding?

It’s an ultra low-cost option with real potential to provide mobility in increasingly congested inner areas. Cycling warrants a massive increase in funding for infrastructure

Does Turnbull’s ’30-minute city’ work for secondary school trips?

If Malcolm Turnbull’s idea of the 30-minute city is going to work anywhere it should work for traditionally local trips like getting to high school, shouldn’t it?

Should Melbourne Airport rail be an election issue?

The Greens election promises include $1 Billion to build a rail line to Melbourne Airport. Probably good politics but it’s doubtful such an evidence-free promise is good policy

Are cities bigger than we imagine?

Cities are invariably much “bigger” than they seem. Administrative boundaries almost always fail to capture the full extent of a city’s economic and social influence

Is the one-metre cycling law a sensible reform?

There are doubts about whether the one-metre overtaking law increases safety for cyclists, but that’s not the only rationale for the law; it has an important symbolic role in promoting cycling

Is the High Speed Rail bandwagon slowing down?

In an astonishing display of sanity – especially during an election campaign – the Turnbull Government has backed away from its earlier enthusiasm for High Speed Rail

Is this the time to ramp-up infrastructure spending?

Biz Shrapnel reckons it’s time to build; construction costs are plummeting and governments have a “window” of opportunity – it might not last – to spend on infrastructure

Is the Greens’ Transit City a good idea?

A “dispersed network” is the smart approach to public transport but politics means the Greens’ Transit City plan for Perth leaves most of the important questions unanswered

Infrastructure costs: is like compared with like?

Comparing the costs of ostensibly similar infrastructure projects is a fraught exercise. Differences in scope are often overlooked; it’s vital to compare like with like

Is this a fair comparison of transport promises?

This table showing the election promises of the three major parties on public transport should be useful but it frames the information in a way that blatantly favours one party

Is this tram project good policy?

Labor’s election promise to extend Melbourne’s Route 11 tram by one kilometre isn’t about good transport policy; it’s a political move to protect incumbent David Feeny

Are these standards worth $62,500 per apartment?

An independent analysis puts the extra cost of new amenity standards proposed by the Victorian government at $62,500 per apartment

Are these standards worth $62,500 per apartment?

Is a $2 tax on Uber and taxi trips over the top?

Victoria will put taxis and Uber on a common footing with light regulation. It will impose a $2 per trip tax on both modes to fund compensation for taxi license owners

Is a $2 tax on Uber and taxi trips over the top?

Is transport too expensive?

The Australian Automobile Association reckons transport – especially driving – costs too much: it says households spend a “staggering” 13.3% of their weekly budget on transport

Is transport too expensive?

Why didn’t we win more medals?

The “host city effect” from the Sydney games has gone. The Australian team won as many medals at the Rio Olympics as it could plausibly expect to

Why didn’t we win more medals?

Will these standards really make apartment residents better off?

The Victorian government has no idea if its draft standards for apartments will make future residents better off or worse off. That’s poor policy-making

Will these standards really make apart apartment residents better off?

Rail: under or over?

Removing level crossings by elevating rail over road has advantages but in cases like this one it’s less compelling; and not helped by questionable public consultation

Rail: under or over?

Is the EIU’s World’s Most Liveable City gong rubbish?

Melbourne is supposedly about to lose top spot in the world’s most liveable city rankings. So what? It’s a meaningless tick useful only for politicking by all sides

Is the EIU’s World’s Most Liveable City gong rubbish?

The end of ice cream economics

The Federal election suggests that if Labor cannot yet be trusted with the economy then the Liberals cannot be trusted with the wider society, says guest writer Garry Glazebrook

The end of ice cream economics

What’s better: a small apartment or nothing?

“If a cramped apartment is the best someone can find within their budget and other constraints, how would they be better off if that apartment didn’t exist?”

What’s better: a small apartment or nothing?

Why do some countries win most of the Olympic medals?

Certain countries consistently take the lion’s share of medals at the Olympics but it’s got little to do with national character and a lot to do with national wealth and political commitment

Why do some countries win most of the Olympic medals?

How big a problem are “super commutes”?

Rely on the sensationalising media for news and you might conclude most suburban workers suffer daily “super commutes” of an hour and a half or more. Not so

How big a problem are “super commutes”?

Should urban golf courses be used for something else?

Strong population growth in established areas prompts the question of whether or not golf courses are still the best way to use large tracts of urban land

Should urban golf courses be used for something else?

Shouldn’t all cities have a “cycle superhighway” plan?

The WA Government’s Cycling Network Plan is a valuable and important exercise that governments elsewhere should emulate as soon as possible

Shouldn’t all cities have a “cycle superhighway” plan?