This is the second Report by the BTE on capital investment in urban public transport, the previous Report having been produced in June 1972.

• Review of Public Transport Investment Proposals for Australian Capital Cities, 1973–74
  
  report_008.pdf
  (6.53 MB)

This Report surveys proposals provided by the States for investment in urban public transport. As in previous reports, the BTE has limited analysis to benefit cost and financial evaluations. While refraining from direct comment on the administration, planning, pricing and other activities, the BTE has attempted to ensure that the proposals put forward comprise an appropriate program consistent with long term projections with regard to urban planning and social objectives.

• Review of Public Transport Investment Proposals for Australian Capital Cities, 1974–75
  
  report_014.pdf
  (3.4 MB)

This report examines the factors which control the formation of photochemical smog in urban airsheds and reviews the present situation which exists in major Australian cities.

• Photochemical Pollution in Australian Airsheds
  
  op_006.pdf
  (3.24 MB)

As part of the National Highway System the Bureau of Roads nominated the Hume Highway as the National Highway linking Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. However, the route of the National Highway from Goulburn to south of Albury was, in the opinion of the Bureau of Roads, a matter for detailed examination.

The Bureau of Roads began work on such a study and reported on the section between Goulburn and Tabletop in 1975. This second report is concerned with the section between Bowna to Barnawatha in the vicinity of Albury.

• National Highways Linking Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, 1978 Second Report
  
  report_034.pdf
  (4.26 MB)

Transport planning and research has placed considerable emphasis on the movement of people but comparatively little on the movement of goods. Such neglect prompted the Commonwealth Bureau of Roads to sponsor a Workshop on Urban Goods Movement in January 1975 as a means of gaining an insight into the topic.

• Urban Goods Movement in Sydney
  
  op_017.pdf
  (4.43 MB)

This Working Paper is the fifth in a series of Working Papers which disseminates the results of a large research project into the adequacy of Australia's transport infrastructure over the next 20 years. The assessment covers all four modes of transport–road, rail, air and sea–with the primary focus on freight.

• Adequacy of Transport Infrastructure: Urban Roads
  
  wp_014-5.pdf
  (6.54 MB)

This Paper provides an account of preliminary work on urban traffic congestion that forms part of the BTCE project on Urban Transport Externalities. The project is concerned with a range of external impacts of urban transport. Congestion is just one of these impacts but, because it is so intimately related to the traffic patterns which give rise to the others, it has been made the focus of the initial work.

• Urban Congestion: Modelling Traffic Patterns, Delays and Optimal Tolls
  
  wp_015.pdf
  (4.98 MB)

Urban travel behaviour is very complex. Analysts have tried to capture its main features in models that provide estimates of the levels and patterns of traffic on the urban road network. While the models are correspondingly complex, they are still radical simplifications of real urban systems. Their treatment of some aspects of travel behaviour can only be described as rudimentary. Nevertheless, they represent the state of the art in quantitative urban transport analysis, and they provide a valuable framework for thinking about urban policy issues.

• Traffic Congestion and Road User Charges in Australian Capital Cities
  
  report_092.pdf
  (801.21 KB)

Transport models have been used for several decades now, both for research, and as an analytical tool to assist planners and decision-makers. As the complexity of traffic and environmental problems in our cities has increased, policy makers have come to depend on models to an even greater extent. The immense increase in available computing power over the last decade has abetted this dependence. Customised software has simplified even the most complex mathematics to such an extent that modelling is no longer the preserve of a select few 'rocket scientists'. If asked, however, many policy analysts and decision-makers would probably admit to a lack of understanding of the models on the results of which they rely. Billions of dollars in resources are expended annually in Australia despite a lack of full understanding of the basis on which decisions are made. To assist both researchers and decision-makers, Dr William (Weiguo) Lu has dissected the major models that have been used to analyse urban transport tasks. This Working Paper therefore represents something of a 'scene-setter' for further work. While a purely non-technical approach is not feasible, he has sought to provide an intuitive exposition of the basic concepts involved, relying on a minimum of mathematical expression.

• Urban Transport Models: A Review
  
  wp_039.pdf
  (1.59 MB)

Australian cities have been transformed from fairly tightly knit core-and-spoke configurations, to sprawling suburban low-density configurations. This transformation of urban land use has been accompanied and made possible by a rapid improvement and spread of the road system, and an even more rapid expansion in per person car ownership.

• Urban Transport: Looking Ahead
  
  is_014.pdf
  (336.24 KB)