The Trafinz Conference is one of New Zealand’s leading annual transport conferences. With this year’s theme being ‘New Journeys in Mobility for Aotearoa’, there is sure to be some interesting and thought provoking sessions.
Five Abley team members are going to step onto the stage this year to share their insights and experience about urban mobility, public transport, and road safety. You can find more information on our presentations below.
We look forward to seeing you there and hope that the shared insights, new connections forged, and knowledge exchanged during this conference will propel us forward in our collective quest for innovation, safety, and sustainable transportation.
How can the journey to and from public transport be improved?
Presenters: Debajeet Baruah & Xinghao Chen
In most cases, public transport does not cover the entire distance between a person’s starting point and destination of our daily journeys. It usually requires some other form of transport to get to and from the public transport stop, whether that is by foot, bike, scooter or car. This is where first and last mile transportation comes in to bridge the gap between a person’s home or workplace and the public transportation stop. This presentation will discuss:
- The importance of planning for first and last mile journeys.
- Interventions for improving these journeys.
- How to plan them as part of a holistic system approach centered around public transport stations using a case study.
The fall and rise of public transport
Presenter: Andrew Couch
Public transport must improve for any decarbonisation strategy to be successful, but how we achieve this is still under discussion. There are straws in the wind and a changing attitude towards public transport that suggests that the first rays of the new dawn are upon us. These fundamentals will be examined in this presentation and will include discussion on:
- Low and high side estimates for the uptake of public transport in large urban centres, and what the consequences are for these scenarios.
- International successes and failures to stimulate mode shift towards public transport.
- The pros and cons of new digital solutions to stimulate public transport; how this being trialed and implemented in New Zealand, and elsewhere.
Prioritising clean air and active travel for schools
Presenter: Clare Cassidy
The updated Health and Air Pollution in New Zealand study (HAPINZ 3.0) and the emissions reduction plan give clear direction to urgently decarbonise transport both for public health and to address climate change. Beyond these significant drivers we know that there are wider benefits to promoting active transport to school, including improved health from building activity into the day, better educational outcomes and improved safety around the school gate. In addition, children achieve greater independence and feel more connected with their community. We also know that ingraining active transport at a younger age has the potential to build habits for life.
This presentation will explore existing research and consider whether we should prioritise actions that have greater benefits for children who will be more affected by both air pollution and climate change. It will identify what action we might take, particularly around schools. This fits into the overall mobility theme of the conference and highlights safety, sustainability and designing for people.
Network Safety Plans for Local Government – C’mon Aotearoa!
Presenter: Paul Durdin
Despite our Australian cousins having better road safety performance than us, Aotearoa has always taken pride in being leaders in the areas of road safety strategy, policy, assessment and prioritisation techniques. However, we’re at risk at losing that mantle as Australia embeds network safety plans as a key process for delivering systemic safety improvements at a state and local government level to deliver on their Vision Zero aspiration.
This presentation presents the case for why Aotearoa should embark on this new journey. It draws on experience from a project delivered by Abley for the Victoria Department of Transport and Planning (DTP) that involves network safety plan development and implementation guidance for local government.
Lessons learnt developing speed management plans
Presenters: Xinghao Chen & Ping Sim (Auckland Transport)
In 2022, the Speed Management Guide: Road to Zero was published by Waka Kotahi. This guide updated the approach to speed management planning and provides Road Controlling Authorities with guidance on developing long-term, high-quality speed management plans that set safe and appropriate speed limits on Aotearoa’s network. The presentation will discuss how different speed management plans from across the country have been developed or delivered, and the key lessons learned. Additionally, it will demonstrate the considerations involved in developing a speed management plan and how to involve the community during the process.
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