This paper analyses the factors determining personal travel levels in each transport era, and its change over time, in Australia’s capital cities, and then looks at the likely future for urban travel. The authors find that in the public transport era, the different levels of personal travel in the various cities can be largely explained by the different average distances the urban population lives from the central business district (CBD). In the late car era, personal travel levels are several times higher than in the previous era, but similar for all cities, despite big differences in urban size and structure. These higher travel levels result from both the psychological benefits of car travel, and the ability to access activities at diverse locations with higher speed car travel. Finally, the authors argue that the future is likely to see public transport once again accounting for most urban vehicular travel, but with the car retaining an important niche for specialised trip types. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E213716.
Abstract