So in personal news, my family and I were awarded Permanent Residency status in Australia (this is like the Green Card for US immigrants). So now we can buy real estate without penalty, and get some other benefits, the most important of which is the sword of Damocles is now no longer poised above our heads.

Transportist Posts

• Road traffic almost back to pre-COVID levels as commuters shun public transport | Sydney Morning Herald.
• What if it’s only once a week? [Following on The New, New Normal]
  • “… everything is being built as if the before times will be restored. That’s certainly possible, but it’s also possible we are far off on the wrong track with new infrastructure construction and real estate development.

TransportLab

• TransportLab News

Research

• Aoustin, Louise, and David M Levinson. 2021. “Longing to Travel: Commute Appreciation during COVID-19.” Findings, January. [doi].

Education

• Traffic Management Training – videos the University of Sydney and ARRB put together for Austroads.
• The Master of Transport program at the University of Sydney is recruiting students.
• The Transport Access Manual: A Guide for Measuring Connection between People and Places has now been downloaded more than 2500 times. What are you waiting for?

Talks 

• Traffic4cast Special Session
• Australia Build Week

Findings

• Wang, Haoyun, and Robert Noland. 2021. “Changes in the Pattern of Bikeshare Usage Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Findings, January. https://doi.org/10.32866/001c.18728.
• Aharoni, Jordan, Ron Buliung, and Raktim Mitra. 2021. “University and College Travel for Students with Mobility Impairment(s) in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, Canada.” Findings, January. https://doi.org/10.32866/001c.18630.
• Laverty, Anthony A, Rachel Aldred, and Anna Goodman. 2021. “The Impact of Introducing Low Traffic Neighbourhoods on Road Traffic Injuries.” Findings, January. https://doi.org/10.32866/001c.18330.
• Aoustin, Louise, and David M Levinson. 2021. “Longing to Travel: Commute Appreciation during COVID-19.” Findings, January. https://doi.org/10.32866/001c.18523.
• Rauws, Robin, and Dea van Lierop. 2020. “Returning to Public Transit after an Epidemic.” Findings, December. https://doi.org/10.32866/001c.18328.
• Shi, Xiao, Anne Vernez Moudon, Brian H. Y. Lee, Qing Shen, and Xuegang (Jeff) Ban. 2020. “Factors Influencing Teleworking Productivity – a Natural Experiment during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Findings, December. https://doi.org/10.32866/001c.18195.
• Goodman, Anna, Anthony A Laverty, and Rachel Aldred. 2020. “The Impact of Introducing a Low Traffic Neighbourhood on Fire Service Emergency Response Times, in Waltham Forest London.” Findings, December. https://doi.org/10.32866/001c.18198.
• Krall, Verena, Max F. Burg, Malte Schröder, and Marc Timme. 2020. “Number Fluctuations Induce Persistent Congestion.” Findings, December. https://doi.org/10.32866/001c.18154.
• Adams, Thomas, and Rachel Aldred. 2020. “Cycling Injury Risk in London: Impacts of Road Characteristics and Infrastructure.” Findings, December. https://doi.org/10.32866/001c.18226.
• Ravensbergen, Lea, and Bruce Newbold. 2020. “‘I Wouldn’t Want to Get on the Bus’: Older Adult Public Transit Use and Challenges during the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Findings, December. https://doi.org/10.32866/001c.18202.
• Zhang, Yixue, Matthew Palm, Jonathan Scheff, Steven Farber, and Michael Widener. 2020. “Travel Survey Recruitment Through Facebook and Transit App: Lessons from COVID-19.” Findings, December. https://doi.org/10.32866/001c.18066.
• Goodman, Anna, Scott Urban, and Rachel Aldred. 2020. “The Impact of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and Other Active Travel Interventions on Vehicle Ownership: Findings from the Outer London Mini-Holland Programme.” Findings, December. https://doi.org/10.32866/001c.18200.

Other Research by Others

• Boeing, Geoff (2020) Off the Grid…and Back Again? The Recent Evolution of American Street Network Planning and Design. JAPA DOI
• Physical activity levels increased by smartphone apps and fitness trackers
• Industrial Sprawl

News & Opinion

• Elon Musk announces a $100M prize for “best carbon capture technology”. This seems useful compared to many things he does.
  • My view: The obvious answer is trees. But that is not marketable to Elon, so I suggest we re-brand trees as ArborLoop.(TM)

• The Line was announced in Saudi Arabia. It’s glossy. It has a HyperLoop. It makes no sense. 
  • My take: It’s a line because rail switches are hard for the nonsense technology they are using. But they could have designed a circle with the same radius, to bring ends of the “line” closer together by other modes. Perhaps the point in the center would have higher access. Call it a CBD.
• COVID and Remote Work
  • Chris Herd on Remote Work
  • Sydney CBD to Undergo Great Transformation due to Pandemic
  • The Pandemic Gives Us a Chance to Change How We Get Around: City transportation ecosystems are suddenly getting more diverse, creating an opportunity to (finally) rethink the car.
  • Update on Australian transport trends (December 2020)
• Rail
  • As Adobe Flash stops running, so do some railroads in China
  • Melbourne Airport rail line to soar high over Maribyrnong River
  • Automatic brake system installed on U.S. railroads ahead of [long extended] federal deadline
  • D.C. warns a maglev stop at Mount Vernon Square would bring disruption [This is roughly the Apple Store at the Carnegie Library outside the DC Convention Center, for TRB attendees. I think Union Station would be a better location for many reasons (less disruptive, existing station, etc.).]
• Buses
  • The B-Line, Streamlined.
  • Arterial Bus Rapid Transit in Twin Cities
    • Metro Transit begins planning for region’s next rapid bus lines
    • Accessibility of the B, D, and E Lines

• Ride-hailing
  • Uber sells its flying taxi business
  • New York City Drivers Cooperative Aims to Smash Uber’s Exploitative Model
  • Can Uber Help Save Public Transit? A new report from the ride-hailing company says its tools can help Covid-battered transit agencies trim costs and improve service. Not everyone is so sure.
  • Amazon’s Zoox Unveils Robo-Taxi
• Urban Design
  • Make Way for the ‘One-Minute City’: While the “15-minute city” model promotes neighborhood-level urban planning, Sweden is pursuing a hyper-local twist: a scheme to redesign every street in the nation. [The Nanosecond City anyone?]
  • What MnDOT Can Learn from Main Street
  • The real reason behind opposition to Low Traffic Neighborhoods
• Robots
  • Hyundai buys 80% controlling stake in Boston Dynamics, maker of Spot the robot dog, for $921M
• Batteries
  • Did QuantumScape Just Solve a 40-Year-Old Battery Problem? Earlier this year, the startup claimed to have a revolutionary solid-state lithium-ion cell that could change EVs forever. Now it has data to prove it.
• Tolling 
  • Distance-based road charges will improve traffic — and if done right won’t slow Australia’s switch to electric cars
  • Myth: EV Owners Pay More Tax So Shouldn’t Be Charged to Use Roads 
  • The families who pay the price for Sydney’s reliance on toll roads
  • A solution for cash-strapped cities is right at the curb
• Techno-optimism
  • Notes on Technology in the 2020s
• Delivery
  • On-demand Grocery Delivery – Gorillas
• Space
  • How Space Became the Next ‘Great Power’ Contest Between the U.S. and China
  • A space elevator is possible with today’s technology, researchers say (we just need to dangle it off the moon)