Discuss about the Infrastructure Transport and Regional Economics.
Melbourne city being a densely populated city in Australia due to the surging numbers, it is likely to experience constraints in the transportation industry. This has been attributed to the rapid growth that has superseded the current infrastructures capabilities. The city has a population of 4,529,500 as at the year 2015 (Hugo 2011, P.7). The potential solutions that could address the transport needs and requirements by the year 2025 can be achieved by construction of a rapid electric railway system that will replace the current city trams and night buses. With the projections of by the United Nation in the next decade, there will be almost 1,500,000,000 million people (World resource institute 1994). Environmental factors being a concern, the electric trains will be able to achieve maximum potential since there will be a huge decrease in carbon emission. The electric train will be able to decongest the city due to its large carrying capacity that supersedes the city trams that cover a shorter distance. The electric train has been adopted by a majority due to its ability to decongest and travel at a relatively higher speed (David 2015, P. 82).
By the year 2025, the city will require to cater for the high population growth that needs to be checked into. This includes adoption of modern transportation systems that will be able to decrease the time that is spent in city trams. There will be an economic gain as the modern trains will not be using diesel and thus reduction in the overall maintenance cost. The current situation in Melbourne city is that more than seventy per cent of all the passengers in Melbourne is on roads. This results in congestion that leads to the government loosing $15 billion per year (Working paper 2007, p. 71).With the current direction that we are headed, the congestion levels will increase. This in turn will negatively impact Melbournians that are living in the urban centers. This congestion has restrained the freeways in the city. This in turn has brought about construction of highways that have helped reduce the congestion in the city. Currently, majority of the freight in Melbourne is transported on roads. This is more than fifty percent of the movements between the cities of Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. It is projected that congestion that will be caused by trucks by the year 2025 will increase by fifty percent of the current situation. The local government in Melbourne is challenged to try and convince the local residents to accept the large heavy vehicles. They will also be challenged when they will ask the residents to accept to fund them to better the road infrastructure. The unpredictability of the changes in oil prices have always been the challenge that majority of the stakeholders have faced. The rail system is currently utilized in the transportation of freight. By 2025, it is projected that the pressure will increase significantly with more than two thirds. (Working paper 2007, P. 79)
The goal of this study strive to ensure that there is reduced time wastage in the public transport system. This can be achieved by replacing the current city trams that operate in the city with modern electric trains. The electric trains have an increased travelling speed and thus will reduce the time wasted in the traffic snarls. The modern trains have an increased carrying capacity and this will help in transportation of many people in one go. The trains have an added advantage of being environmental friendly. Since they do not emit carbon, they will be achieving the vision 2025 goals towards a green economy. The local government will be able to reap big from the fare recovery that they will be collecting (Miller 1994, p. 53). There will be an increase in the savings as the cost of operation is relatively low compared to the city trams that run on diesel.
The challenges that are facing the current situation include the drastic population growth that has increased pressure to the current infrastructure systems. Poor planning by the surveyors is also a challenge that is being experienced because the current systems have no room for expansion so as to accommodate the pressure. The current system of public transport has also challenged a number of Melbournians. The challenges have made it not to be reliable. It is also not affordable hence bringing about social isolation on the number of people that require services such as education and health care. (Harris 2013, p. 26) Fare recovery in Melbourne is fairly low. This brings about challenges through the accessibility with the improvements to be done on the mass transportation infrastructure.
The table below illustrates the evolving features for Australian and international passenger rail information from the department of planning, transport and infrastructure. It was adopted from (Hale 2001, p. 112)
The study will adopt a longitudinal study design. This is because it will needs to collect the same data over a predefined period of time. The study will be done through observation in the areas that develop traffic congestion in Melbourne city. This will include taking statistics of the number of vehicles that pass through the place over a defined time frame (Owusu 2006, p. 11). The inclusion criteria of the vehicles to be counted are those that ferry passengers and those that ferry freight. The data collected will be recorded separately and compared to the city plan on the expected carriage and the provision of growth that they had given on the freeway. The theory of shockwave is recommended to be utilized in the determining of the control measures that are to be employed in curbing the length of the vehicles. (Hao et al. 2007, P. 102) Practicality of the design of the traffic will be checked by determining the model that was utilized in the construction of the road and determining how it was checked to see if issues of population growth were put into consideration.
On the economical aspect, persons have been encouraged in projects that bring about financial profits compared to projects that bring about environmental sustainability (Brailey & Axen 2005, P. 29). In matters of electricity, the project will enable stability of electric power. This factor will be considered as the train will need constant supply of electricity. The Australian fuel consumption in the transportation industry is on the rise over the past ten years. The increase has been approximated to nearly twenty percent and the projected consumption is viewed to increase by another fifteen percent by the year 2025. This factor is likely to cause Australia to completely depend on importation of crude oil. (Ishida 2003, P.81) The community concerns will also be achieved as the time spent in movement between cities will reduce significantly.
Conclusion
Change in the transportation industry is vital and this will go a long way in easing the congestion in Melbourne city. The electric train is a viable project and if implemented, the congestion that is experienced on the roads will be a thing of the past. The train will also be environmental friendly as we seek to move into a green economy. Time wastage in traffic snarls will be reduced significantly and the local government will be able to recover the fare recovery. Accidents will also reduce significantly and this in turn will raise a healthy city (Zhang 2009, p. 174). Smart technology will lead to better infrastructure which in turn will create more employment opportunities and increase the productivity of the project.
Bailey, J & Axsen, J 2015, ‘Anticipating PEV buyers’ acceptance of utility controlled charging’, Transport Research Part A: Policy and Practice, vol. 82, no. 1, pp. 29-46
Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics, 2007, Estimating urban traffic and congestion cost trends for Australian cities, Working paper 71, BITRE, Canberra.
David Cable., Rails across Australia: a journal through the continent. https://books.google.com/books?social
Ishida, H.; Furuya, H.; Kai, S.H; Okamoto, S. 2003. Travel speed and trafficc congestions recognition on expressways, Journal of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies,5: 1881-1892
Hao, Y.; Tian-dong, X.; Li-jun, S. 2007. Analysis and control of recurrent traffic congestion on urban expressway. In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Transportation Engineering,
Hugo G. 2011, The sustainable city IX: Urban regeneration and sustainability. Australia.
Harris, P, 2013, Productivity and the National Income Outlook, Trans-Tasman Business Circle Productivity Series dinner, 18 September 2013
Miller, M.A.; Li, K. 1994. An investigation of the costs of roadway traffic congestion: a preparatory step for IVHS benefits’ evaluation. Berkley: Institute of Transport Studies, University of California. 53 p
Owusu, J.; Afukaar, F.; Prah, B.E.K. 2006. Towards Improving Road Traffic Data Collection: e Use of GPS/ GIS. In Proceedings of the 5th FIG Regional Conference Accra. 11 p.
Rosenbloom, S. 1978. Peak-period traffic congestion: a state-of-art analysis and evaluation of effective solution, Transportation, 7(2): 167-191
World Resources Institute 1994, World Resources 1994-95- A Guide to the Global Environment. Washington, America: World Resources Institute.
Zhang, S.; Gang, R. 2009. Quantitative Analysis Model of Urban Traffic Congestion State. In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Transportation Engineering. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1061/41039(345)174, 1051-1056
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