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Qld car ownership fixation

Queenslanders are more likely to still own a car in 10 years’ time than any other Australian, new research undertaken by the Tourism and Transport Forum Australia (TTF) shows

 

The Tourism and Transport Forum Australia (TTF) Future of Mobility report also found the car is by far Queenslanders favourite mode of transport, with 64 per cent indicating it is their favourite way to get around, compared to the national average of 57 per cent.

“While most experts predict that autonomous and on-demand transport services will quickly lead to the end of private car ownership, a new nation-wide survey undertaken as part of this research has shown that a staggering 80 per cent of Queenslanders still believe that they will own their own car in 10 years’ time, compared to the national average of 76 per cent,” TTF Chief Executive Margy Osmond says.

To increase the demand for public transport, services needed to be more frequent and reliable, according to Osmond.

Thirty-nine per cent of Queenslanders think the Government should be focused on building more roads while 61 per cent would prefer to see an investment in public transport services, compared to the national average of 30 per cent in favour of roads and 70 per cent in favour of public transport.

Some 63 per cent of Queenslanders believe that drones will be used in the future to transport people as well as goods.

An intrepid 39 per cent of all Australians are keen to be part of this airborne revolution and that begs some very large and real questions about the design of our cities into the future with our skies potentially thick with people-laden drones.

“Technology and innovation on their own will not be the silver bullet to all our problems. We need a planned and integrated mobility network that works with high-frequency public transport services, the shared economy options and with new disruptors in the sector,” she says.

“More immediately, it is great to see governments across Australia investing heavily in new transport infrastructure and services, but we cannot simply build our way out of future congestion. We need to have an ongoing conversation with travellers to encourage the use of new flexible options.

“The good news is that Australians are receptive to a great deal of the new technology available, with 64 per cent of commuters preferring to use a smart card such as Go Card to access public transport services rather than the ticketing options of the past.”

 

Encouraging mode shift

Changing the travel behaviours of commuters and encouraging mode shift also remains a challenge for decision makers. While 70 per cent of commuters believe that governments should prioritise future investment in public transport infrastructure over road infrastructure, 57 per cent of commuters opt for a private vehicle as their preferred mode of transport.

This indicates that for many commuters, public transport services may not be a viable or convenient alternative to driving.

Longer term, shared and on-demand services could resolve these issues by providing safe, efficient and reliable first-last-mile connections between residential areas and major transport hubs.

 

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