“Dare to be a public transport city”: Jan Scheurer on comparing PT between cities and over time

This Must Be The Place Podcast

In this episode of This Must be The Place Liz opportunistically interviews Associate Professor Jan Scheurer. Jan has been involved in public transport accessibility research for several decades and has a particular interest in comparing the performance of public transport between cities, as well as identifying changes in networks over time. From the basics of better bus network planning, to the more recent hype cycle of trackless trams, here Jan reflects on lessons for public transport and liveability in Australian cities. Jan nearly always travels by PT or bike - and on this occasion he joined us in small-town Elmore, arriving on the late train in mid-winter in time for a 3 course meal by the fire. Which sounds a bit like the opening to a murder mystery but instead the conversation covers: • The SNAMUTS accessibility model; • Comparing public transport between cities and over time; • Recent improvements in public transport in Auckland and Sydney; • Bus network changes and the latest in network planning; • Lags in public transport in growing Australian cities; • Limitations of political announceables and major infrastructure focuses; • What constitutes good, user-friendly public transport including frequencies; • Reflections on hype cycles and panacea solutions in public transport; • Trackless trams!; • What is a trackless tram? What is a tram? What is a bus? Also what is a monorail?; • (General discussion of linguistic and operational differences along this spectrum); • Where trackless trams might work – e.g. expanding outer suburbs, or regional cities (Bendigo!); • “As a transport researcher I see my role as mitigating both ends of the hype cycle”; • The costs of tracks and of trams themselves; • Regional cities and their transport opportunities and challenges – is the Sunshine Coast what the Gold Coast was like 20 years ago?; • Meanwhile in Elmore – ‘big’ trains (18 services per week!), and the mini train; • Never having a driver’s license; • Bike riding in Perth and Baja California; • Living in Barcelona and “it’s true that living in Barcelona you often spend extended periods of time not even thinking about cars”; • Lessons for Australian cities: “Dare to be a public transport city, dare to be an active transport city”; • Improvement is a long process, but “the outcome is a more liveable and sustainable city and what’s wrong with that?”.