Major shift in transport technology

About 150 delegates are attending the conference, which began yesterday.
About 150 delegates are attending the conference, which began yesterday.
Trafinz conference keynote speaker Mark Stevenson. Photo by Linda Robertson.
Trafinz conference keynote speaker Mark Stevenson. Photo by Linda Robertson.

The future of transport is now, Melbourne University's Mark Stevenson says.

The professor was the keynote speaker at the annual New Zealand Traffic Institute (Trafinz) conference, which opened in Dunedin yesterday with the theme of Transport Futures.

Dr Stevenson's speech to the conference's 150 delegates ranged widely, from the future to the past; safety to sustainability.

But much of his address focused on how technology could be part of the push to ''do more'' in solving transport-related problems.

One promising initiative was phone applications that could track a driver's habits and incentivise good driving; another was technology that allowed co-ordination between different cars on the road.

''And in terms of automation, we're almost at the Jetsons.''

But the ever-advancing march of technology could mean the transportation industry would need to address problems that had never existed before - such as hackers taking control of car technology, and driverless cars.

''We need to pay close attention,'' Dr Stevenson said.

''Driverless cars are coming, and they're coming sooner than we think. There's a lot we need to do to prepare for that revolution.''

He also spoke about sustainability, saying ''sustainable transport is one that New Zealand - and Australia - could lead internationally''.

Unfortunately, he continued, that was still far from being the case.

Transport survey data showed that although Melbourne and Zurich had a similar urban layout, their citizens had vastly different transportation habits: 52% of Zurich citizens chose to walk and cycle, compared with 2% in Melbourne.

In his opening speech at the conference, Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull also spoke about sustainability and Dunedin's own burgeoning cycle network, saying ''motorways connect different communities - that's great - but they can separate people within communities by isolating people in their cars''.

''Walkways and cycleways can build community relationships.''

Trafinz vice-president John Gottler said the conference's great strength was its emphasis on practical solutions implemented locally.

''While the central government is doing well, it can be much more focused on one-size-fits-all.''

The conference's ultimate goal was to enable local people to focus on solving local problems, he said.

carla.green@odt.co.nz

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