Influences of Time and Cost on Travel in Sydney and Implications for Public Transport Patronage A Research Project for the Degree of Master of Philosophy: School of the Built Environment University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia Candidate: David Emerson BArch (SydU) FAIA Student Number: z3281882 Supervisor: Dr Bruno Parolin July 2012 (a) Copyright Statement ‘I hereby grant to the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or hereafter known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all proprietary rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. I also authorise University Microfilms to use the abstract of my thesis in Dissertations Abstract International (this is applicable to doctoral theses only). I have either used no substantial portions of copyright material in my thesis or I have obtained permission to use copyright material; where permission has not been granted I have applied/will apply for a partial restriction of the digital copy of my thesis or dissertation.’ (b) Authenticity Statement ‘I certify that the Library deposit digital copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’ ii ORIGINALITY STATEMENT ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Signed …………………………………………….............. Date …………………………………………….............. iii Abstract Transport in Sydney is dominated by the car, as research over many years has demonstrated. Government policy at the Federal and State levels seeks to change this dependence for more sustainable methods of urban movement. This thesis concerns itself with why that seems to be such an elusive objective. It looks to the detailed nature of travel by individuals, measures the time and cost of this travel and examines the effectiveness of the Metropolitan Plan to satisfy the revealed travel demand. Looking at the travel patterns establishes a picture of individual trips that are short, multi linked and that vary greatly in their destinations and directions of travel. Detailed measurement demonstrates that public transport suffers a very large time disadvantage in performance of these typical trips, but is less clear about costs. A review of transport times and coverage show that although public transport may efficiently serve the central CBD and regional centres, it does not offer a viable alternative to the car for the major type of urban travel, when considered in terms of the time and cost of that travel. A theoretical examination of route morphology suggests that the basic layout of Sydney’s transport system is inefficient and differs from some overseas examples in basic layout and philosophy. Sydney’s system is constrained by that layout in delivering a timely service for the types of trips that dominate here. The data also showed that there is a clear correlation between residential density and non motorised travel, but not with the use of public transport. Past infrastructure projects and those suggested in the Metropolitan Plan appear to have a mixed effect on those controls that would substantially reduce car dependency. iv This thesis would never have eventuated without the initial encouragement of Anthony Capon, who established in my mind the possibility of embarking on this venture researching urban transport issues. I am indebted to Bruno Parolin who took my inquiries with the University of NSW seriously and provided the opportunity to formalise my interest in a program of study towards the MPhil degree. He has provided guidance that has been much appreciated and always endeavoured to keep me on a realistic course. My wife Margaret has provided me with the space to complete this task and will no doubt welcome me back to a fuller participation in family life when it is submitted. Thanks are also due to the Bureau of Transport Statistics for providing the geo coordinates of their OD data from the Household Travel Survey which formed the basis of this study. v CHAPTER 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 2 Literature Review .............................................................................................. 7 2.1 Nature of Travel in Sydney ........................................................................................... 7 2.2 Effects of Urban Morphology on Transport .................................................................. 8 2.3 Influence of Time and Cost ......................................................................................... 12 2.4 The Topology of Transport Networks ......................................................................... 13 2.5 Sydney’s Existing Public Transport System(s) ........................................................... 18 2.6 State Government Plans............................................................................................... 22 2.7 Mode Choice and the Density/Quality Debate ............................................................ 22 2.8 Hypotheses .................................................................................................................. 28 CHAPTER 3 Methodology .................................................................................................... 30 3.1 The Study Concept ...................................................................................................... 30 3.2 The Data ...................................................................................................................... 31 3.3 Relation of 1991 Data to Current Situation ................................................................. 33 3.4 Reclassification of Data ............................................................................................... 33 3.4.1 Income Groupings ............................................................................................... 33 3.4.2 Age Groupings ..................................................................................................... 34 3.4.3 Distances Travelled Groupings............................................................................ 34 3.4.4 Trip Time Grouping............................................................................................. 34 3.4.5 Mode of Travel Groupings .................................................................................. 35 3.5 Selection of Study Areas ............................................................................................. 35 3.5.1 Inner City Urban .................................................................................................. 37 3.5.2 Transit Suburban.................................................................................................. 38 3.5.3 Car Based Suburban ............................................................................................ 38 3.6 Establish Local Physical and Regulatory Environments ............................................. 38 3.7 Trips and Linked Trips ................................................................................................ 39 3.8 Depiction of Travel ...................................................................................................... 39 3.9 Establish the Nature of Travel ..................................................................................... 40 3.10 Comparison of Time and Costs of Typical Trips ........................................................ 41 3.10.1 Testing Time and Cost Implications of Different Transport Modes.................... 41 3.10.2 Limitations of Time Inquiries .............................................................................. 42 3.10.3 Selection of Costing Method ............................................................................... 42 3.11 Examination of Frequency, Availability and Coverage of Public Transport............... 44 3.12 Review of Recent Infrastructure Projects .................................................................... 45 vi 3.13 Drawing of Conclusions.............................................................................................. 45 3.14 Justification of Employed Method .............................................................................. 45 CHAPTER 4 Analysis of Study Areas .................................................................................. 47 4.1 Residential Densities ..................................................................................................