Mass transit up and moving in Sydney and Melbourne

THE House Infrastructure, Transport and Cities Committee inquiry into automated mass transit is holding hearings this week in Melbourne and Sydney as part of its inquiry into automated mass transit.

The Committee will hear from a range of witnesses from government, academia and industry on the way forward to a cleaner, greener, safer, more efficient transport system using automation and new energy sources.

Committee chair John Alexander said the Committee is keen to learn about the potential for automation and new energy sources to improve economic, social and environmental outcomes.

"The integration of different transport modes into a single seamless transport system should be the goal of governments and industry, and we need to fully investigate the role that automation can have in facilitating this," Mr Alexander said.

"We have the technology. We need the policies and plans to effectively implement automated transport and new generation fuels. Cooperation across jurisdictions and coordination between government and industry is essential."

In its submission, Infrastructure Victoria highlighted the potential benefits of automation, noting that on-demand public transport and mobility as a service (MaaS) "could make significant improvements to how we travel" and, alongside integrated planning and payment for multi-modal trips, could "supplement existing public transport services and pave the way for introducing on-demand automated vehicles".

They "recommended incorporating on-demand and Maas into the public transport mix in preparation for automation".

Leading infrastructure provider, Transurban, emphasised the need for policy coordination, stating that "it will be critical for new policies and regulations to be consistent across states and territories, and structured in such a way as to encourage innovation while ensuring public safety".

Melbourne public hearing details: 8.30am – 4pm, Wednesday, 27 February 2019, Room G6, Parliamentary Annex, 55 St Andrews Place, Melbourne

8.30am: National Transport Commission

9.10am: Infrastructure Victoria

9.50am: Transurban

10.50am: Monash University & Monash University Accident Research Centre

11.30am: Centre for Disaster Management – University of Melbourne

12.10pm: La Trobe University

12.50pm: Break

1.50pm: Arup

2.30pm: Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering

3.10pm: Transdev Australasia

4.00pm: Close

Sydney public hearing details: 9.30am – 4.10pm, Thursday, 28 February 2019, Meeting Room 1, Commonwealth Parliamentary Offices, Level 21, 1 Bligh St, Sydney

9.30am: Hyperloop Transportation Technologies

10.10am: Standards Australia

11.10am: iMOVE

11.50am: Uber

12.30pm: Break

1.30pm: Planning Institute of Australia

2.10pm: Rail Tram and Bus Union

2.50pm: Committee for Sydney

3.30pm: AECOM

4.10pm: Close

The hearing will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live

ends