Where to with transport in our capital cities?

The start of the year is an opportune time to take a big-picture view of the state of passenger transport in Australia’s major urban areas. The key challenge for policy-makers is to “tame” the car

Where to with transport in our capital cities?

The Urbanist’s annual holiday reading guide

The Urbanist is in summer recess but back for special occasions; this time it’s The Urbanist’s annual list of interesting books – both fiction and non-fiction – to read over the holidays

The Urbanist’s annual holiday reading guide

Is infrastructure why Victorian voters swung so decisively to Labor?

The Andrews Government secured a massive swing at Saturday’s Victorian election in large measure because it wowed and delighted cynical voters by building productive infrastructure sooner rather than later

Is infrastructure why Victorian voters swung so decisively to Labor?

Is growth in driving really outstripping surging population?

For the last 14 years car travel in Melbourne grew slower than both population and public transport travel, but it’s still increasing in absolute terms

Is growth in driving really outstripping surging population?

Should adult cyclists be permitted on footpaths?

Riders aren’t glorified pedestrians; cycling is a mode of transport that belongs on dedicated on-road and off-road paths. The growing popularity of power-assisted bicycles makes cycling on footpaths by adults a doubtful proposition

Should adult cyclists be permitted on footpaths?

Isn’t long-term planning for urban public transport a no-brainer?

The Rail Futures Institute’s Melbourne Rail Plan is the sort of comprehensive metropolitan plan that the Government has failed to develop, preferring instead to pull out ad-hoc projects just before next month’s election

Isn’t long-term planning for urban public transport a no-brainer?

Is Melbourne’s promised loop rail line justified by jobs growth in suburban centres?

There’s very little reason to think the Andrews government’s promised suburban loop rail line will catalyse jobs growth in suburban centres on a scale that even remotely justifies the cost

Is Melbourne’s promised loop rail line justified by jobs growth in suburban centres?

Isn’t there a much, much better way to do cross-city public transport?

Progressives and public transport advocates should be calling the Andrews government out on its nakedly political suburban rail “loop” ploy, not falling for it. There’s a much better alternative that could deliver real benefits

Isn’t there a much, much better way to do cross-city public transport?

Has Daniel Andrews gone loopy over rail?

The Andrews government’s planned $50 billion loop rail line around outer suburban Melbourne signals Victorian Labor has joined the other parties in giving up on rational urban policy

Has Daniel Andrews gone loopy over rail?

Is Melbourne the new New York?

The Age’s comparison of the density of Melbourne’s CBD with the density of New York City might massage the prejudices of its readers, but it’s rubbish

Is Melbourne the new New York?

What can we learn from oBike’s demise?

It promised a lot, but this month oBike walked away from Melbourne after just one year. The key problem was the same one faced by all forms of cycling in Australian cities

What can we learn from oBike’s demise?

Does Festival Hall warrant heritage protection?

The recommendation that Melbourne’s Festival Hall be listed on the state Heritage Register highlights the shortcomings of the current approach to heritage

Does Festival Hall warrant heritage protection?

Is Melbourne Airport’s SkyBus up to the job?

A rail line from Melbourne airport to the CBD will very likely be necessary one day, but an upgraded SkyBus can do the job in the short-to-medium term at vastly lower cost

Is Melbourne Airport’s SkyBus up to the job?

Why does it matter that most jobs aren’t in the city centre?

Understanding that most jobs are outside the city centre is vital, because the challenges they present for transport infrastructure policy are more complex and more politically difficult

Why does it matter that most jobs aren’t in the city centre?

Are the jobs in the centre of the city?

There’s a meme that most recent jobs growth in Australia’s largest cities is now in the city centre. Not true; a lot is, but nowhere near most

Are the jobs in the centre of the city?

Driverless cars: will public transport be a winner?

The prospect of autonomous vehicles causes worry but they might provide public and shared modes of transport with a big boost in competitiveness relative to private vehicles

Driverless cars: will public transport be a winner?

What’s wrong (and right) with “suburban sprawl”?

Our major cities require a more sophisticated understanding of the role of fringe development in accommodating forecast growth than reflexively dismissing it out of hand as “sprawl”

What’s wrong (and right) with “suburban sprawl”?

Is Federation Square as good as it should get?

Federation Square isn’t the perfect place the critics of Apple’s proposed store portray it as. There are better options than Apple but they’d be costly

Is Federation Square as good as it should get?

Good governance must be the top priority

Poor governance of infrastructure projects is costing billions of dollars and delivering questionable benefits to the community, say guest writers Roger Taylor and Ken Coghill

Good governance must be the top priority

Should CBD parking be buried?

Melbourne City Council wants to ban above-ground parking in new developments but doesn’t have a clue what the wider implications of such a change might be

Should CBD parking be buried?