The relationship between land use and car dependence and its application for land use planning policy in Sydney.

In December 2005, the New South Wales Government released the Sydney Metropolitan Strategy City of Cities: A Plan for Sydney's Future. The strategy sets out a strategic plan to facilitate and manage the growth and development of Sydney over the next 25 years. Action D3 of the strategy is to Influence travel choices to encourage more sustainable travel, to aim for increased walking, cycling and use of public transport. Key to the implementation of the strategy is translating its aims and actions into local land use plans. This paper discusses the results of research undertaken by the NSW Department of Planning which seek to quantify the key relationships between land use and vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT) in Sydney, and develop a quantitative model that can predict VKT at the household level. Additionally, the paper outlines current testing on the policy application of this research to land use planning in Sydney. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E214666.