Here are some notes I wrote in 2015 on the Westconnex & the Western Harbour Tunnel and their political origins …
The 23rd of April 2014 was a good day for the voters of Manly, Curl Curl, Balgowlah, and Seaforth. On that Wednesday, their local member Mike Baird (1 April 1968) became the Premier of New South Wales. At the same time, the Prime Minister of Australia was their federal member Tony Abbott (4 November 1957). Mike Baird and Tony Abbot share more than their electors, they are also very similar men.
Facilitating a privacy-protecting empirically-driven continuous-optimisation approach to sustainable public transport operations using Big Data recorded by Tap On Tap Off electronic ticketing systems
Updated with Sydney Metro’s “Response to issues raised in the submissions”.
Regarding the Revised station design for Bankstown Station. Includes the provision of a new north-south connection across the rail corridor between Appian Way and Restwell Street.
Reordered Submission June 2020. Dear Sir/Madam,
I am a Transport Analyst and Planner. I was asked to address the NSW Legislative Council to Transport & Customer Service Committee Inquiry regarding the Sydenham to Bankstown Metro Conversion. I have worked extensively on projects with Sydney Trains including on the Responsive Passenger Information System designed for customer congestion management at Town Hall and other important interchange stations.
I will be brief, as I only saw this proposed change on the day submissions closed.
Firstly, the proposed bike parking area is too small. The northern commuter car park only has space for 50 cars, a tiny fraction of possible demand. Central Bankstown is too be redeveloped as Transit-Oriented Developments. Therefore, 40 car spaces should be retained for disabled passengers, and the space on the west of the driveway should be converted to secure covered bike parking. This would significantly increase the station’s passenger catchment.
Secondly, to 1) reduce crowding, congestion, and delays, 2) improve fire and life safety, and 3) increase patronage; I would recommend the instillation of exits on the eastern end of the metro station. These eastern exits would allow quick exit in the event of an emergency. These eastern exits would spread passengers more evenly on the trains. These eastern exits would attract passengers from further afield and connect all passengers quickly to more locations. These eastern exits might allow some bus stops to be relocated to improve network efficiency.
Built around Sydney’s tramways in 1890s, Newtown needs KPIs to prioritise humans not cars.
Proposed changes overlaid on aerial photography
The proposed transformation will activate Newtown as a premier destination for locals, as well as domestic and international visitors.
Bring the tram sheds back to life – creating a new gathering point. Landscape and open the areas around the tram sheds, with increased passive surveillance and human scale lighting. Make more spaces to sit, reducing crowding, and create new cooling green islands.
Create quicker connections between business areas with new paths. Most people head straight to northern King St. Use shared identity, anchors, and wayfinding to encourage visitors to spread.
Newtown only receives 10% of the international visitors as the Opera House
Reactivate Brennan Lane and the old path along the Bank Hotel.
‘Sydneysiders are transitioning to a digital working-from-home future, but movement data has revealed the scale of this shift is linked to where you live.’ Hanrahan, Nguyen (2020-08-27)
My Quotes
Mathew Hounsell, a transport researcher at the University of Technology Sydney, said the data showed that people in professional jobs who could work from home during the lockdown were continuing to do so.
“This is starting a change that has happened in other places and industries, towards a more distributed digital team. What we’re seeing is essentially a behavioural change that we would expect to continue,” he said.
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Adam reveals the derogatory origins of jaywalking and explains how the auto industry made it illegal.
Rabe, Gladstone(2020-07-16) opened with ‘Public transport users in Sydney are slowly returning with a surge of 10 million commuters in June but experts warn it may take years before passenger numbers go back to pre-coronavirus levels.’
My Quotes
“I don’t think things will ever return to quite what they were,” University of Technology transport expert Mathew Hounsell said.
“There has been a significant behavioural change among the professionals in the CBD, as a lot of people realised they can work from home.”
He added that more people would choose to walk, cycle or drive to work in coming months amid fear of community transmission of COVID-19 on public transport.
