Repeat buyers are one of the strongest measures of confidence in any apartment development.

At <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/era-newcastle-west-124-126-bull-street-newcastle-west-nsw-2302">ERA</a> in Newcastle West, some purchasers are returning to <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/gwh">GWH</a> after living at the developer's One Apartments. Their decision to purchase again was driven by the quality of life they found after moving into their first GWH home.

Keith Wilton had spent years living in a house in East Maitland before deciding it was time for a change. Apartment living had always been on his radar, but he was selective about what he wanted.

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FH_1EzB-1vs?si=XScVlP1ERsTDJoME" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>

"I had some boxes I wanted to tick," he says.

Keith points to the open-plan design, generous outdoor areas and considered inclusions as key reasons One Apartments worked for him.

“One of those things was a nice indoor open plan area, but also I wanted a nice outdoor open area that I could entertain on in summer or Christmases or birthdays,” he says.

He also found value in the smaller details, from integrated appliances to shared resident spaces including the pool, cinema and rooftop areas.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=135096 project_image_fid=356818]

After comparing several developments, he chose One Apartments because of GWH's longstanding local reputation and his own experience working with the developer on a commercial project more than a decade earlier.

"I knew that they were local, that the quality of the build was going to be up there. I'd looked at other apartment complexes around and close by, and I just knew that here was a better decision location wise."

Today, Keith says the move has completely changed how he experiences Newcastle.

"I enjoy living in this location because it's more of a lifestyle change. That Newcastle city living where you can walk to restaurants and bars and even beaches and parks and even shopping across the road."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=135096 project_image_fid=356828]

Beyond the location, he says it's the sense of community that has surprised him most.

"Everyone loves living here because they chose to live here, but everyone looks out for each other. It's a real great community feel here."

For Aimee and Lyle Goodman, the journey started almost by chance.

<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tsioMLcnjas?si=zq-ys3JuWpfa5hFv" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>

The couple happened to be having coffee in Newcastle when they noticed the site where One Apartments was about to begin construction.

"We were aware GWH was planning a development," Aimee says. "We made one phone call and things moved pretty quickly after that."

As busy business owners, they initially thought apartment living would simply reduce the maintenance that came with larger homes. Instead, it fundamentally changed how they spent time together.

"We actually catch up more as a family now," Aimee says.

"We've had homes with big yards and lots of space, but everyone ended up in different rooms. Here we'll have dinner together, the kids can play, and we spend far more quality time together."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=135096 project_image_fid=356829]

Lyle says their confidence came from GWH's reputation within Newcastle's building industry.

"I know people who've worked across different apartment projects, and whenever GWH came up the feedback was always the same. They're rock solid. They're quality."

That confidence only grew throughout the buying process.

"One of the things that really impressed us with GWH was the whole process, was the communication," Lyle says. "It was consistent, it was regular, there was no problem if we had some weird questions, there was no problems in getting answers."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=135096 project_image_fid=351104]

Aimee says one moment stood out.

"The project actually finished on time. We realised we needed to hurry up and sell our house because everything was happening exactly when they said it would."

The positive experience at One Apartments ultimately gave all three buyers the confidence to purchase again with GWH, this time at ERA.

Their confidence reflects what many buyers are seeking in today's apartment market. Location remains important, but so too does certainty around delivery, quality and long-term liveability.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=135096 project_image_fid=356822]

ERA builds on those foundations with 280 one, two and three-bedroom apartments across two landmark towers in <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/newcastle-west-nsw-2302">Newcastle West</a>.&nbsp;

Designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/fk-australia">Fender Katsalidis</a>, the project will include more than 2,000 square metres of resident amenities, including a resort-style pool, gym, sauna, private cinema and rooftop entertaining spaces overlooking the harbour and coastline.&nbsp;

The development is also within walking distance of the Newcastle Interchange, Honeysuckle, Darby Street, the harbour foreshore, restaurants, retail and the city’s beaches, continuing the walkable lifestyle that existing GWH buyers say has transformed how they live.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=135096 project_image_fid=356826]

For Keith, the appeal remains straightforward.

"You feel at home even before you've moved into your home."

For Aimee, the change is measured in time.

“I just felt like I had more time,” she says.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=135096 project_image_fid=351102]

Construction at ERA is now underway, with more than half of the residences already sold and limited two and three-bedroom apartments remaining in the East Tower release. Priced from $980,000 for two-bedroom residences and $1.46 million for three-bedroom residences, buyers can secure an apartment with a 10 per cent deposit, with premium homes offering ocean views from Level 8 and harbour views from Level 10.

ERA is also backed by Resilience Insurance's 10-year Latent Defects Insurance policy, providing protection against structural or waterproofing defects for 10 years after completion. The project is anticipated to be completed in early 2028.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=135096]

Joel Robinson

From ONE to ERA: Why buyers are choosing GWH again in Newcastle West

Virgate Property Group is preparing to commence construction of Verdé, its new apartment development in Melbourne's Arts Precinct at Southbank, following a strong run of sales that has seen more than half of the project's 173 apartments secured.

Verdé has attracted a broad mix of first home buyers, owner-occupiers upgrading from nearby inner-city suburbs and investors, with younger owner-occupier couples aged between 28 and 45 accounting for the strongest enquiry. Many are already living in Southbank, South Melbourne, Albert Park, Port Melbourne, South Yarra and the CBD.

"Verdé is located in one of the most desirable pockets of southern Melbourne," Blair Property Group Director Darren Blair, who is managing sales at Verdé, said.

"It's within walking distance of the Arts Centre, Royal Botanic Gardens, Albert Park Lake, and Southbank's restaurants and retail. It's a great lifestyle location with strong amenity and liveability, which made it a very attractive choice for the project."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=4661 project_image_fid=372549]

Virgate was already familiar with the precinct, having previously delivered the successful Domain House development in neighbouring South Melbourne. That experience gave the developer confidence to acquire the Coventry Street site and continue expanding its presence in Melbourne's inner south.

"We had been keeping an eye on the site and the broader precinct for a few months before deciding to move forward with the acquisition," Virgate said.

The project was ultimately secured in 2020 following feasibility studies, planning assessments and due diligence, with the brief centred on delivering "a high-quality, considered design that feels both refined and fit for purpose."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=4661 project_image_fid=314259]

Designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/bruce-henderson-architects">Bruce Henderson Architects</a>, Verdé comprises 173 one, two and three-bedroom apartments priced from $599,000. The architecture is distinguished by a faceted glass façade that responds to both the site's outlook and Melbourne's changing light conditions.

According to Bruce Henderson Architects, the coloured glazing gives the building a distinctive identity while also providing privacy and solar shading, with residences oriented to capture views across the bay, city skyline and surrounding parklands.

Inside, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/interior-designers/designoffice">DesignOffice</a> has created interiors focused on natural light, efficient planning and enduring materials. Apartments feature engineered oak flooring, natural stone benchtops, floor-to-ceiling glazing and SMEG appliances, while a restrained material palette aims to complement the expansive outlooks rather than compete with them.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=4661 project_image_fid=372550]

Resident amenity has also been designed around everyday functionality rather than occasional use. Facilities include a concierge-serviced lobby, residents' lounge with fireplace, library and co-working space, gym, terrace garden with barbecue facilities, ground-floor café, and package delivery management.

The project's location continues to be one of its strongest drawcards. Positioned on Coventry Street, Verdé sits within walking distance of the National Gallery of Victoria, Arts Centre Melbourne, Royal Botanic Gardens and Albert Park Lake, while Southbank's dining precinct, Sturt Street trams and the new ANZAC Station are all nearby. The surrounding education catchment also includes Melbourne Grammar, Melbourne Girls Grammar, Mac.Robertson Girls' High School and several major university campuses.

The sales team says buyers have responded particularly well to the combination of location, design quality and long-term liveability.

"They're responding really positively to the quality of the design, premium resident amenities and the uninterrupted views. Many also appreciate the location and how connected it is to everything they need."

The ability to secure stamp duty savings before completion has also been a key factor for purchasers, alongside the opportunity to personalise finishes ahead of settlement.

With construction set to commence soon and more than half the apartments already sold, Verdé enters its next phase as one of the Arts Precinct's more established apartment developments, offering remaining buyers an opportunity to secure a residence before construction advances further. Expected completion is scheduled for late 2027.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=4661]

Virgate's Verdé Southbank moves toward construction as sales fly past halfway stage

Downsizer-focused apartment development Kooyongkoot in Hawthorn has been recognised at the 2026 Better Future Melbourne Design Awards, taking home Gold and Silver awards in two categories.

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/kooyongkoot-hawthorn-1-kooyongkoot-road-hawthorn-vic-3122">Kooyongkoot</a>, currently being delivered by developer PQD and designed by Cera Stribley, received Gold in the Interior Design – Proposed category and Silver in the Architecture – Proposed category.

The dual recognition reflects the design approach behind the boutique development on prestigious Kooyongkoot Road, where the focus has been on creating homes for downsizers seeking the space, quality and functionality of a detached house within a low-rise apartment building.

Rather than maximising apartment numbers, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/pqd">PQD</a> and <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/cera-stribley-architects">Cera Stribley</a> limited the development to just 18 residences, allowing for larger floorplans, greater privacy, generous landscaping and expansive communal spaces.&nbsp;The majority of the apartments also benefit from corner aspects, allowing for dual sources of natural light.

Now around 70 per cent complete and on track for completion in November 2026, Kooyongkoot will comprise a mix of garden residences, ter​race apartments, sub-penthouses, and is crowned by two half-floor penthouses with direct lift access and private rooftop terraces.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=102717 project_image_fid=355297]

The Silver Award for Architecture recognised the way the building responds to its prominent corner position at the ent​rance to Hawthorn's Scotch Hill precinct, one of Melbourne's most established residential neighbourhoods.

Rather than competing with the grand homes that line Kooyongkoot Road, the architectural approach focused on restraint and longevity, using curved brickwork, generous landscaping and carefully considered proportions to integrate with the existing streetscape.

"The form feels fluid and timeless, as though shaped by the landscape itself – architecture that belongs, rather than competes," said Chris Stribley, Co-Founder and Managing Principal of Cera Stribley.

The judging submission also highlighted practical innovations throughout the building, including lift cores servicing only nine homes each, a central landscaped lightcourt designed to bring daylight and ventilation into the building, and fully enclosed private storage rooms with lighting, power and shelving to better accommodate residents transitioning from larger family homes.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=102717 project_image_fid=355293]

The Gold Award for Interior Design recognised the project's focus on long-term liveability rather than display-home aesthetics.

According to the awards submission, the interiors were designed from the inside out, prioritising how homes would function over decades of daily use through generous proportions, practical storage, durable natural materials and flexible layouts.

The specification includes natural stone throughout, upgraded acoustic glazing, V-ZUG appliances and fully enclosed storage rooms, alongside an amenity offering focused on wellness, entertainment and everyday convenience.&nbsp;

Residents will have access to a gym and yoga studio, a wellness centre featuring traditional and infrared saunas, a cold therapy shower and treatment room, as well as a residents' lounge and golf simulator/cinema room for entertainment.&nbsp;Kooyongkoot has also considered the everyday convenience of its residents by offering a private carwash and pet wash facilities on site as well as dedicated parcel lockers and oversized fully enclosed storage rooms.&nbsp;

[smartcode_project:default project_id=102717 project_image_fid=355303]

The project's attention to detail has already resonated with buyers. Earlier this year, Kooyongkoot recorded one of Boroondara's highest apartment sales when an $8 million penthouse was purchased by a Melbourne CEO downsizing from a nearby family home.

"Every detail feels deliberate, from the overall design down to the smallest touches," the purchaser said.

"The level of quality and refinement is exceptional, but what really sold it was how liveable it felt... It felt like a place where everything had been considered, not just a luxury building."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=102717 project_image_fid=355304]

Sustainability also formed a key part of both award submissions. Kooyongkoot is targeting a minimum 7.5-star NatHERS rating across all residences, supported by passive design principles, high-performance glazing, EV charging infrastructure, water reuse systems and a wellness model focused on lower-energy dry facilities rather than pools and large wet areas.

Located within walking distance of Scotch College, Methodist Ladies' College, Koo​yong Lawn Tennis Club, Aubur​n Village and Camberwell Junction, Kooyongkoot continues to target owner-occupiers looking to remain in Melbourne's inner east without compromising on space or quality. A limited selection of two, three and four-bedroom residences remains available, with prices starting from $1.9 million.

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=102717]

Kooyongkoot wins Gold and Silver at Better Future Melbourne Design Awards

New apartment supply has become increasingly constrained across <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/parramatta-nsw-2150">Parramatta</a> in recent years, with fewer projects progressing through to completion as development conditions have become more challenging.

It makes <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/novm">NOVM</a>'s 2021-completed <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/buildings/the-lennox-parramatta-12-phillip-street-parramatta-nsw-2150">The Lennox</a> one of the most recently completed residential towers on the Parramatta River, and among the newest apartment developments in Sydney's second CBD.

With the project largely completed before the sharp escalation in construction costs and inflation following the pandemic, The Lennox is now offering pricing that would be difficult to replicate in a comparable new development in Parramatta today, or across much of Western Sydney.

The majority of the 413 apartments at The Lennox sold before and shortly after completion. A limited release of the remaining apartments has recently been brought to market by capital partner <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/project-marketer/equitifund-group">Equitifund</a>, with entry-level pricing from $700,000 and two-bedroom apartments available from under $1 million.

Rising above the Parramatta River at 12 Phillip Street, The Lennox comprises one, two, three and four-bedroom apartments, appealing to first home buyers, young professionals, families, downsizers and interstate investors seeking a completed apartment in one of Australia's fastest-growing economic centres.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=5743 project_image_fid=372394]

Rather than positioning Parramatta as an alternative to Sydney's CBD, Equitifund believes the city has reached a point where it stands on its own merits.

"Parramatta is no longer simply an alternative to Sydney CBD, it's becoming a destination in its own right," Equitifund Executive Chairman Greg Huxley said.

"The Lennox captures that evolution with a level of quality and amenity that's difficult to match at its price point."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=5743 project_image_fid=953]

Designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/marchese-partners">Marchese Partners</a>, the tower responds directly to its riverfront setting through expansive glazing and open-plan layouts that maximise views across the Parramatta River and city skyline. Interiors feature engineered timber flooring, stone benchtops, stainless steel appliances and floor-to-ceiling glazing, while generous balconies extend the living spaces outdoors.

Marchese Partners says the project was conceived to balance high-quality apartment living with practical, long-term functionality, pairing larger, efficient floorplans with amenities more commonly associated with five-star hotels.

That emphasis continues through the resident facilities, which include a 20-metre rooftop swimming pool, fully equipped gym and wellness spaces, full-time concierge, a residents' lounge, function room, private lifts, secure basement parking and rooftop communal areas overlooking the Parramatta River. Ground-floor boardwalk retail and dining further activate the riverfront and integrate the building into the surrounding public realm.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=5743 project_image_fid=925]

Australian housing and finance group Equitifund has secured the remaining apartments, believing there are few completed apartment opportunities in Parramatta that offer the same combination of location, amenity and pricing.

Equitifund National Sales Director Ben Hamblett says buyers are increasingly recognising that premium apartment living no longer needs to come with Sydney CBD pricing.

"The Lennox is where aspirational living becomes attainable," Hamblett said.

"Wake to river and mountain views, step into Sydney's Second CBD, and arrive home to resort-calibre amenities, all without the harbour price tag."

Hamblett says owner-occupiers are also attracted by the convenience of having Westfield Parramatta, Church Street's dining precinct, Parramatta Park, Riverside Theatres, Western Sydney University and major transport connections all within walking distance.

"At The Lennox, lifestyle is not an afterthought, it is the foundation."

[smartcode_project:default project_id=5743 project_image_fid=5374]

The Lennox places residents within walking distance of Parramatta Square, Westfield Parramatta, Church Street Eat Street, Parramatta Station, the ferry wharf, Light Rail, the future Sydney Metro West, Parramatta Park and CommBank Stadium, reinforcing Parramatta's position as one of Australia's most connected metropolitan centres outside Sydney's CBD.

Equitifund says buyers visiting the display suite consistently comment on the quality of the finishes, generous floorplans, river and skyline views, and the walkability of the location. The project has attracted a broad mix of local professionals, upsizers, downsizers, buyers relocating from Sydney's inner suburbs and interstate investors seeking long-term growth opportunities.

That demand aligns with Parramatta's continued evolution as an economic powerhouse. Equitifund Research and Market Insights specialist John Bekiaris says sustained population growth, infrastructure investment and expanding employment opportunities continue to support long-term housing demand across the city.

"Parramatta has evolved from a satellite city into one of Australia's most important economic centres. Population growth, infrastructure investment and employment are all supporting sustained long-term housing demand."

[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=5743]

The apartment price gap drawing Sydney buyers west

A luxury beachfront apartment at Rainbow Bay has more than doubled in value since it sold off the plan six years ago, setting a new local apartment record in the process.

The three-bedroom apartment in the Flow development on Petrie Street, the first of four new projects locally by Paul Gedoun's S&amp;S Projects, has sold for $7.4 million, after originally selling for $3.27 million when the project launched in 2020.

The seventh-floor apartment, comprising 187 sqm of internal living space and a 54 sqm balcony overlooking Froggies Beach and Snapper Rocks, was purchased by a local family.

The transaction was negotiated by Pezet Matheson director Kerry Pezet and equates to more than $30,000 per sqm.

Pezet said the sale reflected the limited opportunities to buy into the boutique beachfront development.

"The sale highlights the rarity of opportunities within the boutique beachfront development, where residences seldom become available," Pezet said.

"Flow is one of the Gold Coast's most tightly held buildings. Buyers from our database move quickly when residences become available, and achieving an off-market sale at $7.4 million demonstrates the depth of demand for property of this calibre."

<img alt="Flow" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c585b206-2130-4eee-a50c-3f27c51a7c70" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-07-06%20at%208.33.25%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=m3pHRDV62Y3fvN.XQuQHq.52ilTWpRLf" />

Flow was the first of four luxury apartment developments delivered by Paul Gedoun's S&amp;S Projects at Rainbow Bay and was completed in 2023.

Positioned on the beachfront overlooking Snapper Rocks, the residence includes three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a powder room and views stretching north along the coastline towards Surfers Paradise.

Pezet Matheson Residential principal Mitchell Lambert said buyers continued to prioritise quality beachfront apartments in tightly held locations.

"Flow Residences offers a rare combination of elevated beachfront positioning, architectural excellence, comprehensive resident amenity and premium finishes, which is exactly what discerning purchasers are seeking," Lambert said.

"The transaction further reinforces Rainbow Bay's reputation as one of Australia's premier coastal lifestyle destinations, where limited supply and growing demand continue to support strong market performance."

Pezet Matheson originally marketed and sold out Flow off the plan, making the latest transaction a return to one of the project's original buyers.

Paul Gedoun is selling his third project, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/radia-rainbow-bay-271-boundary-street-coolangatta-qld-4225">Radia Rainbow Bay</a>, after recently completing, and selling out, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/buildings/esprit-217-227-boundary-street-coolangatta-qld-4225">Esprit</a>. He has plans for a <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/news/qld/first-look-s-s-projects-proposes-88-apartment-wellness-tower-at-coolangattas-boundary-street">fourth building</a>, 88 apartments on <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/209-213-boundary-street-coolangatta-qld-4225">Boundary Street</a>.

Rainbow Bay apartment doubles in price since off the plan sale during pandemic

Public Transport

<html><body>
GUEST OBSERVATION
I began my life as an activist academic in 1979 when the Western Australian government closed the Fremantle railway, saying buses would be better. Patronage immediately fell by 30% and I ran a four-year campaign to save the railway. We won. I have been writing books and running campaigns ever since on why trains and trams are better than buses. But I have changed my mind. The technology has changed, and I think it will end the need for new light rail.
“Trackless trams” are based on technology created in <a href="https://www.alstom.com/aptis-new-experience-electro-mobility" target="_blank">Europe</a> and <a href="http://www.crrcgc.cc/en/g7389/s13996/t286142.aspx" target="_blank">China</a> by taking innovations from high-speed rail and putting them in a bus.
I went to China to check out the CRRC trackless tram (they call it autonomous rail transit, or ART). I came back convinced it’s a transformative transit technology.
Light rail is a connecting service. It joins up corridors or links heavy rail stations to surrounding areas and sometimes completes shorter corridors that lack rail lines. Buses were filling these functions in most cities but failing on two fronts:
<ul>
<li>buses were not competing with cars so cities were filling with traffic</li>
<li>buses did not enable denser development to be viable so cities were sprawling rather than redeveloping.</li>
</ul>
Light rail had many success stories of competing with cars and attracting denser development, so commentators like me did our best to make them policy-relevant (see, for example, <a href="https://theconversation.com/all-aboard-the-growth-of-global-rail-and-our-future-cities-10377" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-not-in-the-knitting-urban-rails-growing-significance-13754" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-needs-to-follow-the-us-in-funding-urban-rail-projects-64666" target="_blank">here</a>).
<img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237648/original/file-20180924-129871-1xcaehy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="">
The battery-powered trackless tram, or ART, in operation in Zhuzhou, showing the trackless autonomous guidance system. CRRC Zhuzhou Institute, Author provided
So what can the new technology do?
Trackless trams are neither a tram nor a bus, though they have rubber wheels and run on streets. The high-speed rail innovations have transformed a bus into something with all the best features of light rail and none of its worst features.
It replaces the noise and emissions of buses with electric traction from batteries recharged at stations in 30 seconds or at the end of the line in 10 minutes. That could just be an electric bus, but the ART is much more than that. It has all the speed (70kph), capacity and ride quality of light rail with its autonomous optical guidance system, train-like bogies with double axles and special hydraulics and tyres.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bXB87NWHvDg?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" width="440" height="260"></iframe>
The first trackless tram rolled out for a road test in Zhuzhou, south China’s Hunan Province, on October 23 2017.
It can slide into the station with millimetre accuracy and enable smooth disability access. It passed the ride quality test when I saw kids running up and down while it was going at 70kph – you never see this on a bus due to the sway.
<img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237821/original/file-20180924-85776-6jou1l.PNG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="">
 A child runs along the trackless tram with the author looking on. Author provided
The autonomous features mean it is programmed, optically guided with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System" target="_blank">GPS</a> and <a href="http://www.lidar-uk.com/how-lidar-works/" target="_blank">LIDAR</a> technologies, into moving very precisely along an invisible track. If an accident happens in the right of way a “driver” can override the steering and go around. It can also be driven to a normal bus depot for overnight storage and deep battery recharge.
The standard ART system is three carriages that can carry 300 people, but it can take five carriages and 500 people if needed. In three years of trials no impact on road surfaces has been found.
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/290106133" frameborder="0" width="500" height="281"></iframe>
The author discusses his conclusions after visiting China to assess the operation of trackless trams.
How do trackless trams improve on light rail?
Trackless trams can avoid the worst features of light rail – disruption and cost. It can take years to lay rail tracks, causing major disruption to local economies, as is happening in Sydney.
Similar disruption has happened in the Gold Coast, Canberra and elsewhere, but ultimately light rail systems have been highly successful in attracting patronage and land development. This will happen in Sydney too when the project is complete.
However, the cost has been far beyond original expectations. Sydney is costing over $120 million per kilometre. The Gold Coast was similar. Canberra and Newcastle are over $80 million per kilometre, as was the cancelled light rail in Perth.
The trackless tram costs around $6-$8 million per kilometre. And it can be put into a road system over a weekend.
The big test is whether the trackless tram can attract development around its stations as light rail can. That is the missing link in our cities. How can we unlock urban regeneration and prevent our cities sprawling ever outwards with poorer and poorer suburbs while the well-placed inner and middle suburbs become more and more expensive?
The divided city needs something that can unlock affordable medium- and high-density housing in new urban centres across the city. Following many discussions with the urban development industry, I think the trackless tram can do this. The cost can be afforded as a contribution to any new development and will bring the uplift in land value that unlocks investment.
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/278969345" frameborder="0" width="500" height="281"></iframe>
 Trackless trams could be transformative for a city.
We have developed a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S073988591630097X" target="_blank">model</a> that means governments do <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://vimeo.com/278969345" target="_blank">not need to find all or even any of the capital costs</a>. This is how trams were <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2413-8851/2/3/84/htm" target="_blank">first built as real estate projects</a>.
But governments are needed to manage the process and create the land assembly and other urban regeneration processes as well as community engagement. This will help show where best to route such a system and how to manage it as a transit system operating for the public good. Governments can help with risk management on the financing, as in <a href="https://theconversation.com/spills-and-city-deals-what-turnbulls-urban-policy-has-achieved-and-where-we-go-from-here-102184" target="_blank">City Deals</a>. We have produced a <a href="http://sbenrc.com.au/research-programs/1-55/" target="_blank">guide and manual</a> for how to do this.
Australian cities are lining up
Cities across the world are lining up to trial these trackless tram systems. So far, Australian cities moving to use them are Townsville, Hobart, Melbourne (in Fishermans Bend and other sites), Sydney (in Liverpool and perhaps Parramatta Road where the first studies were done) and Perth – where five separate corridors are competing to run the first ART trial.
The table below summarises the main characteristics of buses, light rail and trackless trams, showing the improvements the new technology provides on key criteria.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237660/original/file-20180924-88806-u7yo20.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237660/original/file-20180924-88806-u7yo20.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
Others would rate some characteristics higher or lower, but for me the trackless tram looks a winner due to its ride quality, land development potential and cost.
Time will tell if the early demand for ART translates into a real transformative change – a disruptive innovation. It reminds me of the early days of solar and batteries, which are now completely disrupting coal power systems.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103690/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin University
This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-trackless-trams-are-ready-to-replace-light-rail-103690" target="_blank">original article</a>.
</body></html>

j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

Why trackless trams are ready to replace light rail: Peter Newman

<html><body>
Laurence &amp; Alastair chew the fat on the Victorian Budget, released on the 1st of May 2018.

They're interested and keen to see more information on the plans for the apartment building exteriors standards. Dandenong's new stadium proposal gets a look in and they both lament the amount of road funding vis-a-vis new metropolitan public transport initiatives.

<iframe allow="autoplay" frameborder="no" height="300" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/438646938&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=true&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true&amp;visual=true" width="100%"></iframe>
</body></html>

urban.com.au

Weekly Podcast: Episode 13 - Victorian Budget 2018

<html><body>
GUEST OBSERVATION
Sections of cities all over the world are being demolished to meet increasing demand for transport infrastructure. The process of building new roads, harbour crossings, metro systems and light rail lines seems unending. Large-scale construction includes loss of public space, housing and backyards.
Historic suburbs, such as Sydney’s Haberfield, have suffered. And then there’s the issue of cost blow-outs and traffic gridlock. There are rumblings, too, about environmental impacts and equity of access. But there is actually one public transport option that can mitigate many of these concerns: cable cars.
Cable cars now grace many urban skylines, including some of the world’s most populous, congested and poorest cities, such as Colombia’s city of Medellin, but also the US city of Portland. These cities have integrated cable cars with existing transport networks. The newer versions are cheap, quick to build and solar generating. Perhaps it’s time for Australia to start looking skyward for solutions.
What are cable cars?
Cable cars are also known as aerial trams, gondolas, wires or ropeways. They are well known at ski resorts, but some cities are now including them as a form of public transportation. A pioneering example is the Colombian Medellin Cable, built in 2004. This was the first in the world to be fully integrated into the urban public transport system.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234196/original/file-20180830-195316-1jzii6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/234196/original/file-20180830-195316-1jzii6o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
The Medellin Cable has been credited with helping reduce the high crime rate in the Colombian city. <a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ryananderton/44280479791/in/photolist-bPMjeX-2asV2W8-eYbxoJ-8K88Yp-C4XwEe-eXZyDk-Czec9G-CRLjZq-Ybhrae-21KWeuw-Nby1G3" target="_blank">Ryan Anderton/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank">CC BY</a>
Medellin triggers images of modern-day gangsters (including the drug baron Pablo Escobar) and high murder rates. But in 2016, the city won the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize for extreme reduction in violent crime. This was attributed to a multi-targeted approach to sustainable urban redevelopment, with a focus on accessible transport.
The cable car was the main feature of this transport system. This has improved the lives of many in the poorer parts of the city by providing transport out of impoverished areas to employment and other opportunities.
The Mexicable in Mexico’s city Ecatepec in Morelos, opened in 2016. The journey, which spans 4.8 kilometres, used to take over an hour on the roads below. Now up to 30,000 passengers a day travel along the route of 17 minutes. It is solar powered and cost just A$US72 million to build.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Y1Besasn8-E?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" width="440" height="260"></iframe>
With a limit of 10 people per car, commuters feel safer. One explained: "bandits go after buses but leave the cable cars alone."
Cable cars are equipped with high-tech surveillance security, including cameras.
Another commuter, a woman this time, told Al Jazeera: "most of all I like the feeling of security … when travelling by bus I never know what my children would experience."
There are many other recent examples of urban transit cable cars including the Portland Arial Tram in the United States, built in 2007. Each of the tram’s two cabins has the capacity to hold 79 people.
The aerial tram travels a journey of just over 1 kilometre and cost US$57 million to construct. In comparison, a 1.6 kilometre stretch of an urban four-lane freeway costs US$60-$300 million. Cable cars require less land, less infrastructure and are quick to build.
There is also the Telepherique de Brest in France, completed in 2017. There are plans for an 11 kilometre cable car for Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and a 10 kilometre span for Istanbul, Turkey.
Australia could be next
According to Stephen Graham, a cities professor at the UK’s Newcastle University, city planning has traditionally tended to occupy a horizontal plane and adopt a flat perspective.
A geographer at University College London, Andrew Harris, considers this horizontal thinking as somewhat ironic, given that the 21st century’s urban age “has stimulated and necessitated three-dimensional urban growth with the construction of new overhead and underground infrastructure…”
We need to think three-dimensionally, and look skyward as well as underground. While the cable car industry is currently in a selling frenzy in cities all over the world, Australian cities have not engaged with this form of urban public transport.
Cable cars in Australia are mostly found in the ski fields or as tourist attractions. Those in the planning stages also follow the tourism model (such as for the Mount Wellington Cable Car in Hobart) rather than contribute to mass transit.
Cable cars are not constrained by the urban landscape and require minimal land or property acquisition. They are capable of providing mobility where other technologies are unworkable at street-level. Many are built over existing main roads and provide a direct public transport option to sitting in traffic. Most modern examples are user-friendly and easily accessible. The Mexicable has wheelchair access at every station.
Just think how Australian cities might be transformed. Imagine highly congested urban transport routes with an aerial tram moving almost silently, high above. This is the reality for an increasing number of urban commuters, globally.<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101829/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;">
Wendy Shaw, Associate Professor, UNSW
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/look-up-australia-cable-cars-could-ease-our-traffic-woes-101829">original article</a>.
Main photo: The Telepherique de Brest was completed in 2017. <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:T%C3%A9l%C3%A9ph%C3%A9rique_de_Brest_Capucins_01-2017.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a>. 
</body></html>

Look up Australia, cable cars could ease our traffic woes: Wendy Shaw

<html><body>
Last week's announcement of the <a href="/news/victorian-government-unveils-suburban-rail-loop-election-proposal">$50 billion, 90-kilometre long Suburban Rail Loop</a> by the Victorian State Government, has generated a flurry of opinion and counter-opinion.

As a Sydneysider, I thought I’d offer my view from outside your Melbourne bubble.

A key question is: What does the Suburban Rail Loop signal about the future of Melbourne, assuming it is built over the next 30 years?

Despite the obvious pre-election timing, this is an uncannily forward-looking plan with a range of city-shaping implications.

Firstly, there is a strong connection to existing planning strategy in that it reinforces current efforts to focus housing, jobs and additional quality of life opportunities around prominent middle-ring centres.

The idea is, of course, that this provides more ‘work and play’ options within range of more people all over the metro area. It also gives more shape to Melbourne’s relatively flat, low-density suburban sprawl. Youch.

With or without the Suburban Rail Loop, you’re already on this path: the NEICs (National Employment and Innovation Centres) and <a href="/news/top-20-melbourne-suburbs-with-the-largest-development-pipeline">fully stocked apartment supply</a> around suburban centres attest to this.

Basically, it looks like your Great Big City Centre - the hub of the Melbourne metro area - is getting meatier middle-ring satellites with a broader range of activities, jobs and housing - the spokes of this big hub. This is a fairly classic urban shape - a big centre orbited by suburban nodes which balance the centre’s mass, connected to it by a radial mass transit system.

Here steps into this picture the Suburban Rail Loop, cutting an arc across these radial lines and stringing together these newly-boosted suburban centres. By connecting these ‘spokes’, the rail loop forms the rim of the wheel and so better distributes passenger loads across the rail system, reducing CBD transfers and enabling cross-town trips.

With the Suburban Rail Loop, Melburnians can orbit their Great Big City Centre using mass transit, passing through a series of walkable and built up suburban nodes.

It forms a metropolitan transit grid - a metropolitan-scale ‘metro’ of sorts... About that ‘metro’: 

<h2>METRO RAIL, COMMUTER RAIL &amp; THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT</h2>

Metros rely on an interwoven network of lines to enable point to point journeys.

In contrast, Melbourne’s rail system resembles a traditional commuter rail system; its lines are arranged radially around the Great Big City Centre, shuttling large loads of people in and out.

Although Melbourne does have some large-ish suburban nodes on these radial lines, such as Box Hill, South Yarra, Caulfield, Dandenong and Footscray, it largely follows this pattern.

If you live along a line that suburban centre is on, that’s fine, but for all other journeys, the only realistic option is to drive or be driven.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public//pictures/article-images/melbourne-rail-network-with-srl-web-1_-_by_philip_mallis.png" rel="gallery-all" title=" maps.philipmallis.com "><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="300" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files//styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/melbourne-rail-network-with-srl-web-1_-_by_philip_mallis.png?itok=Xc7aLLKI" title=" maps.philipmallis.com " width="580"></a>

<figcaption>This diagram by Philip Mallis shows the effect of the Suburban Rail Loop on Melbourne's radial train system. Source: maps.philipmallis.com </figcaption></figure>On top of this, post-war car-oriented growth means many suburban centres aren’t even on a train line. Chadstone, Doncaster and Monash University in Clayton spring to mind.

The Suburban Rail Loop then breaks with Melbourne’s traditional metropolitan form.

<h2>Another thing about metros - they need a compatible urban environment.</h2>

Metros are too expensive to string through low-density environments.

Largely, they need to collect enough people on foot and deposit them at points across the network, again to destinations reachable on foot.

Melbourne’s Great Big City Centre is well-suited to walking with many destinations and an amenable environment, but most of the rest of the metro area requires road-dependent collection and distribution.

A built up, walkable urban environment is compatible with, and justifies the cost and capacity of, high-frequency rail service, but is incompatible with car-dependent transport.

<h2>Why is this?</h2>

Well, roads have a low capacity. They fall over when they are asked to carry lots of people to the same place at the same time.

They require a spread out urban environment to cater to dispersed trips. Think about the scale of ramps, carparks, and feeder roads required to serve your typical Westfield shopping centre, or the ramps and arterial roads to support a motorway. Contrast this to how many people cram into stairwells at Flinders St Station to access the platforms. Then, imagine if those people were all in cars with one or two people in them - you can barely fit a single car in one of these stairwells. People on foot, by contrast, are extremely space-efficient.

Roads are flexible, excelling at carrying distributed point to point trips, but are highly space inefficient with a low inbuilt capacity. 

A car-dependent environment must necessarily be spread out or else it overwhelms the roads that support it.

<blockquote>
The urban environment is shaped by transport, and transport shapes the urban environment. Simples.
</blockquote>

The Suburban Rail Loop, therefore, applies pressure on the places it serves to be more focused, with a range of activities and housing within walking distance, to justify its cost and capacity.

This signals a shift to a more 'Apartments.com.au' - at least a more urban ‘middle Melbourne’ complementing its Big Centre. Might this even put the brakes on your ever-spreading suburban footprint?

Looking to the future, perhaps <a href="/guides/weekly-podcast-episode-28-gogets-justin-passaportis-and-joshua-brydges">driverless cars</a> at each end of a person’s cross-town transit journey will vastly extend the catchment of these nodes.

<h2>SOME CAUTIONARY LESSONS FROM SYDNEY</h2>

From a Sydney point of view, there’s one last note I’d like to make:

By pre-emptively striking to secure a more Apartments.com.au, especially in the middle-ring, your city has more control and power over the resulting built environment once this direction matures.

Rail performs best when it is positioned at the heart or direct edge of a centre, plugged into its walkable streets, while arterial roads should skirt around centres at a respectful distance with link roads striking into edge-of-centre parking (much like a suburban shopping mall).

Sydney hasn’t managed this distinction very well.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public//pictures/article-images/img_00511782.jpg" rel="gallery-all" title=" Posted with Permission from an Anonymous Source"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="580" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files//styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/img_00511782.jpg?itok=aPjVFxzt" title=" Posted with Permission from an Anonymous Source" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Strathfield in the middle ring of Sydney. Poorly managing densification results in poor outcomes like this. Source: Posted with Permission from an anonymous source.</figcaption></figure>A large part of Sydney’s middle-ring looks like this - a haphazard mess of roads, density and traffic - especially outside the posh bits of the city. 

We started densifying around suburban centres decades ago, but the process has been unstructured, haphazard and often vision-less.

<blockquote>
Dense places must be walkable and have regularly-used services set into this environment. Otherwise, people will opt to drive, and with so many cars hitting the road, road network quickly become overwhelmed. Then, you have the undesirable situation where particulate matter from constant traffic enters the lungs of the people that live within its catchment. It’s not a good combo. 
</blockquote>

This has happened in many parts of Sydney, especially outside the posh areas - reinforcing another Sydney specialty - spatial inequality - and it provides a cautionary tale of what not to do.

Your city, on the other hand, has a positive vision that, coupled with good urban design, might hopefully avoid your northern neighbour’s pitfalls.

Melbourne, with Metro 1 (and hopefully Metro 2) allowing very frequent radial train service, plus a frequent Suburban Rail Loop, will have the necessary infrastructure to support enriched clusters of activity and housing, knitted into a metropolitan transit grid.

The Suburban Rail Loop is ambitious but full of potential.

Well done to you Melbourne, you are now entering a higher orbit.
</body></html>

ModernBradfield

Does the Suburban Rail Loop Signal a More 'Urban.com.au'? 

<html><body>
Mark's <a href="/news/traditional-residential-developers-cash-in-on-yarras-300000sqm-commercial-boom">Friday article</a> on the commercial development pipeline for the City of Yarra is both impressive and worrying.  Impressive because 300,000 square metres of space, should it all be built and occupied, would represent around 20,000 new jobs contained within the municipality and worrying thanks to a lack of public transport priority, especially along the streets with tram routes.

Throw in the residential development pipeline - half of which is under construction and likely provide new homes for approximately 7000-8000 people - you have to wonder what the breaking point will be.

As Apartments.com.au user johnproctor <a href="/news/traditional-residential-developers-cash-in-on-yarras-300000sqm-commercial-boom#comment-33643">commented on Friday</a>, the 20,000 new employees/jobs figure comes from assuming that 1 employee takes up 15 square metres of total commercial space,

<blockquote>
Pretty amazing. that's roughly 20,000 workers coming to City of Yarra if it's all realised.

Will hopefully drive counter peak tram movements in the area (that are already quite strong) and should also drive high capacity on the 246 bus route linking people from the north to bigger office precinct south (Hurstbridge/Doncaster/Mernda PT users to Cremorne) and south to north (Richmond PT users to Collingwood/Abbotsford)
</blockquote>

The increased patronage and movements on the tram network are the most worrying because Victoria Street, for instance, does not have counter-peak clearways. 

At the city end there is a good quality interchange (where the emphasis is on frequency of multiple services) at Parliament station and the Macarthur Street tram stop. 

At St. Vincent's interchange and right down to Hoddle Street there is minimal priority given to trams at cross roads - especially at Hoddle Street but the worst part of the journey is beyond North Richmond Station to Victoria Gardens.

I've timed it multiple times, in both directions and at the extreme end, it's possible the journey between Victoria Gardens and Parliament station will take 20 minutes. That's a 2 kilometre trip - jogging pace.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
By the way, this is in school holidays <a href="https://t.co/nqKe5BamlQ">https://t.co/nqKe5BamlQ</a>
— Alastair Taylor (@tayser82) <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://twitter.com/tayser82/status/1017674123982434304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2018</a>
</blockquote>

And while I deserve a slap over the wrist for being in a car at the time of taking that image above - I was the traffic - quite often I'm not and I'm one of the people travelling on one of those trams you can see attempting to crawl down Victoria Street.  In the evening peak clearways are in operation heading out of the city but the road is choked with parked cars in the counter-peak direction.

Victoria Street is only one of the major tram routes through Yarra and as Mark's article points out, the commercial development is occurring in Cremorne, Collingwood/Fitzroy - even on Hoddle Street - but what transport policies are in place to give public transport more priority in the area?

Yarra is served by the rail network from all major directions but trams and buses fighting for space on the road network are how most people get around the municipality.

Cremorne has a distinct advantage because much of the area is within a comfortable 10-minute walk of Richmond Station or East Richmond Station - and if they opened a northern entry to South Yarra station and improved pedestrian links across the river alongside the railway lines  - South Yarra would help in serving the tech &amp; marketing favoured area's employment growth.

Collingwood is serviced by the inner stations along the Hurstbridge/South Morang-Mernda railway lines but has Hoddle Street - a very pedestrian-unfriendly barrier - between the bulk of the suburb and the stations.  Like Fitzroy, Collingwood's public transport depends heavily on the radial tram routes and the cross-town smart bus routes on Johnson Street.

Tram services on Victoria Street, Brunswick Street, Smith Street, Bridge Road, Swan Street all, to varying degrees, have the misfortunate of being located within a narrow road corridor where the 'fight' over space, depicted in the tweeted image, is daily practice.

How many new office and residential buildings does it take before we see action on public transport priority on the City of Yarra's streets?

<table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="width:100%;">
<thead><tr>
<th scope="col">City of Yarra Residential Development Pipeline Status</th>
			<th scope="col">Dwellings</th>
		</tr></thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Planning Assessment</td>
			<td class="rtecenter">2030</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>Approved</td>
			<td class="rtecenter">2664</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>Registration &amp; Sales</td>
			<td class="rtecenter">887</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>Under Construction</td>
			<td class="rtecenter">5359</td>
		</tr>
<tr>
<td>TOTAL</td>
			<td class="rtecenter">10,940</td>
		</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Lead image credit: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Critical_Mass_Melbourne_-_Brunswick_St.JPG">wikipedia</a>
</body></html>

Alastair Taylor

Is it time to rethink on-street parking on tram routes in the City of Yarra?

<html><body>
EXPERT OBSERVER
How did imaginative planners past envision the future?
<img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/222918/original/file-20180613-153645-1muyq2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="File 20180613 153645 1muyq2a.jpg?ixlib=rb 1.1">
Some fanciful plans were imagined for Melbourne back in the day – some included jet cars.
Imagine for a moment a vast underground rail network that stretches as far as Melbourne’s suburban fringes. Trains arrive and depart every five to ten minutes, a station entrance is never further than a 15-minute walk away, and you don’t need to catch a train into the CBD and out again to travel between east and west, or north and south.
Trams are separated from road traffic. Cyclists are separated too, by reorganising lanes so parking spaces and bike lanes switch sides. That’s the dream, right?
There have been many dreams for Melbourne since European occupation. Plans for an immense extension to the grid of streets making up the CBD, a significant expansion of railways, and <a href="https://participate.melbourne.vic.gov.au/future/history-future-imagining-melbourne" target="_blank">daily jet-car</a> commutes were just some of ideas past planners presented to feed our imaginations.
Looking back at Melbourne’s planning history, we might be able to find some inspiration to deal with rapid growth by thinking outside the box.
Extending the CBD
The Melbourne CBD square bordered by Flinders Street, Spring Street, La Trobe Street and Spencer Street is known as the Hoddle Grid. This <a href="http://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM00677b.htm" target="_blank">grid was laid out</a> when there were fewer than 200 settlers, but is now the centre for a city of nearly 5 million people.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/226414/original/file-20180706-122280-10r8150.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/226414/original/file-20180706-122280-10r8150.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
The Melbourne swamp was a large saltwater lagoon located to the immediate west of the present CBD.<a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Before_1880.PNG"> </a>
Numerous proposals in the late 19th century aimed to extend the Hoddle Grid. These often focused on repurposing the West Melbourne swamp (a large saltwater lagoon to the immediate west of the city which was fully drained in 1890) to join the Yarra River to accommodate a network of shipping canals.
Engineer <a href="https://participate.melbourne.vic.gov.au/future/history-future-imagining-melbourne" target="_blank">John Millar proposed</a>, in 1860, to extend the grid westward into Port Melbourne (then called Sandridge). Most famously this proposal is remembered for Millar’s idea to redevelop the swamp (which had already been partially drained) into a botanical garden to resemble the British Isles. The intention was to preserve and cultivate plants native to England, Scotland and Ireland.
He made provisions for large ships to have docking areas, and for parks, gardens and ornamental grounds. This plan was lost in the flux of the times. Had it been realised, it would have drastically reshaped the young city and provided a still lacking interconnectedness with the western parts of the inner city.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224340/original/file-20180622-137725-5t6f6c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224340/original/file-20180622-137725-5t6f6c.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a> J
John Millar wanted to extend the city westward and drain the swamp. <a href="http://digital.slv.vic.gov.au/view/action/singleViewer.do?dvs=1531107422136~354&amp;locale=en_US&amp;metadata_object_ratio=10&amp;show_metadata=true&amp;VIEWER_URL=/view/action/singleViewer.do?&amp;preferred_usage_type=VIEW_MAIN&amp;DELIVERY_RULE_ID=10&amp;frameId=1&amp;usePid1=true&amp;usePid2=true"> </a>
An 1875 proposal for a shipping canal and docks west of the Hoddle Grid set out to achieve a similar outcome. A large canal would have cut past Sandridge to the west across the Yarra River, where a smaller canal would have connected the Moonee Ponds Creek near present-day South Kensington railway station. A familiar grid pattern would have filled the area, complete with intersecting railways.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223994/original/file-20180620-137750-1m4nt7n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/223994/original/file-20180620-137750-1m4nt7n.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
The outskirts of Melbourne’s CBD were peppered with docks and shipping canals in past proposals. <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/114194"> </a>
Extension of railways
Melbourne’s railways have been imagined and re-imagined many times over since the first train departed in 1854. Observed to <a href="https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/180_mares_urban_rail_essay_cities.pdf" target="_blank">resemble a hand</a>, the suburban lines all converge at the CBD.
Throughout the 1900s, the Tramways Board was responsible for Melbourne’s tram network. In the 1920s, the board proposed a <a href="http://www.hawthorntramdepot.org.au/papers/ecohist/ecohist3.htm" target="_blank">significant expansion of the suburban tram network</a>. One of the proposals was to introduce services across Bell Street, Moreland Road and Dawson Streets in the northern suburbs to not only have radial routes (which converge in the city) but also allow <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/115243" target="_blank">orbital</a> routes (which can intersect radial lines, without having to go into the city and back out again).
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224158/original/file-20180621-137728-aez4t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224158/original/file-20180621-137728-aez4t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
The Tramway Board proposed orbital and radial tram routes across the northern suburbs in the 1920s. <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/115347"> </a>
Throughout the 1920s the then Metropolitan Town Planning Commission compiled the <a href="https://www.planning.vic.gov.au/policy-and-strategy/planning-for-melbourne/plan-for-general-development-1929" target="_blank">Plan for General Development</a>, which identified urgent works and improvements to correct haphazard land boom development. One such proposal was the northern city underground to connect the Jolimont rail yards to North Melbourne railway station beneath Victoria Parade.
This was intended to distribute pedestrian traffic between Flinders Street, Prince’s Bridge and the new northern stations, as well as reduce walking times to stations from 15 minutes in some areas to within five and ten minutes anywhere in the grid. This scheme was abandoned partially due to the onset of the Great Depression.
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224168/original/file-20180621-137717-1g9p44r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/224168/original/file-20180621-137717-1g9p44r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt=""></a>
The 1929 plan for an underground railway in the north was partly abandoned due to the Great Depression.
Imagining for the future
Everybody involved in the planning process should spare a thought for yesterday’s Melbournes of tomorrow. Like those before us, we are yet to tackle one of the biggest challenges of getting many people places quickly.
We should continue questioning our dependence on motorcars, which are neither practical nor efficient for achieving the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-30-minute-city-how-do-we-put-the-political-rhetoric-into-practice-56136" target="_blank">30-minute city</a>. If we can seriously consider <a href="https://blogs.crikey.com.au/theurbanist/2017/05/17/melbourne-subway-map-rail-fantasy/" target="_blank">orbital railways</a> that can move people across suburbs without having to go into the city, we can prevent unnecessary congestion in the CBD.
Planners should continue to encourage walking and cycling (which includes making the streets safe), while also separating trams from other forms of traffic. This would attract more people to public transport, leaving the roads for those who truly need them.
Together with the <a href="https://transport.vic.gov.au/about/planning/transport-strategies-and-plans/" target="_blank">government’s focus on mass transit</a>, Melbourne <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/andrews-guy-give-thumbs-down-to-capp-s-ridiculous-cbd-traffic-plan-20180621-p4zmtr" target="_blank">Mayor Sally Kapp’s</a> provocative proposal to reduce road congestion in the CBD – by making some streets one-way and giving priority to pedestrians – is a step in the right direction.
Imagination is an important part of the planning and design process as it allows us to see infinite potential in the urban environment. Unfortunately, these dreams are often dismissed early due to increasing sensitivity to economic feasibility and immediate return on investment.
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97609/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">While budgets are important, we must remember that planning and design should be about improving the lives of the people in our cities and towns, even if projects come at a higher cost and take longer to deliver.
Aaron Magro is a PhD Candidate at the Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne
This article was originally published on <a href="https://theconversation.com/au" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.
</body></html>

How city planning is inspired by previous visions of the future

<html><body>
<h2>Comment</h2>

Apparently, 9 minutes will be shaved off the time to travel from Pakenham and the City when the Monash Freeway expands, yet again.

“The [Monash] freeway will be widened between Warrigal Road and Eastlink and between Clyde Road and Cardinia Road, cutting an estimated nine minutes off a peak-hour trip between Pakenham and the city,” according to a joint federal and state government media release.

The language might resonate with some voters but there comes a point where you have to call out rubbish.

Pakenham has a population of just under 50,000.  It's no small fringe suburb by any stretch of the imagination, but it also has an even better way of travelling "to the city", it's called a train.

The Monash Freeway might give Pakenham-dwellers a traffic-light-free journey to the city (at very least, to Montague Street or Kings Way) but not everyone in Pakenham is travelling to the city, nor is everyone who lives in any suburb between Pakenham and inner Melbourne travelling to the city. 

Huge amounts of traffic enter and exit the freeway between the aforementioned endpoints every day so why the focus on the extreme fringe to the centre of the city?

Central Melbourne does not need more cars funnelled into it.  I repeat, central Melbourne does not need more cars.  It is the one place which is incredibly accessible via the public transport network from any point in the metropolitan area and the one place where space is at such a premium that there are far more worthy land-uses than car parking.

The language that governments use when describing mega-road projects is understandable and calibrated to address specific interests - if its a new road, there will be time travel benefits and an upgrade will most likely 'appear' to fix things. 

Time savings are easily digestible and resonate but in the case of making trips from the outer suburbs to the city faster, the problem that permeates elsewhere - people believe its best to drive to the city when there are good alternatives - and those alternatives, the train network at the very least, is seeing improvements at the same time.

The Pakenham and Cranbourne lines are seeing major upgrades - tomorrow, Monday the 18th, there will be no level crossing between Dandenong and the City which removes the train and car conflicts, station facilities have been rebuilt and over the medium term a new signalling system and new route will allow even more trains to run on the corridor.

There might be some travel time benefits - a few minutes here, a few minutes there - when the new fleet of trains takes over total operations on the Pakenham/Cranbourne line, ditto when the route is altered to only stop at the new ANZAC station before getting to Town Hall/Flinders Street, but there could be more.

If the Monash is getting an extra lane in each direction every 5-10 years, and now we're finally seeing a one or two generational leap in rail technology and operations on the Dandenong corridor, is it not time to deliver big travel time benefits for train users by adding more track and running permanent express services?

We've discussed many of the constraints of track expansion in Melbourne on Apartments.com.au before and at the city end it'll get expensive, but the East-West Link is expensive, the West Gate Tunnel is expensive, the North-East Link is expensive. 

Melbourne's South East is the only section of the metropolitan area that is set to continue greenfields development out to the growth boundary and will include two of the five National Employment and Innovation Clusters (Dandenong South and Monash) as well as continue to enjoy direct rail access to the major job cluster at the end of the Pakenham/Cranbourne line in the city.

Road projects seem to be at least partially justified because freight users require them - with employment set to concentrate in Monash in particular, don't the governments owe it to the future employees of central Melbourne, Monash and Dandenong to connect these areas with fast express train services?

Lead image credit: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monash_Fwy_W_from_Tooronga_peak.jpg">Wikipedia</a>.
</body></html>

Monash Freeway upgrades: 9 minutes of short-term congestion relief

<html><body>
Raine &amp; Horne has welcomed release of the latest Committee of Sydney report, calling for the establishment of a ‘Sandstone mega-region,’ linking Greater Sydney with Newcastle, Wollongong, and the Central Coast.
The report by the independent think tank says faster rail could also slash door-to-desk commuting times, noted, executive chairman Angus Raine, who has been a long-term advocate for high-speed rail solution to Sydney’s housing affordability issues.
For example, the current journey time from Newcastle to Parramatta could reduce from 153 minutes to 60 minutes; Wollongong to the Sydney CBD from 85 minutes to 60 minutes and Gosford to the Sydney CBD from 80 minutes to 40 minutes.
Crucially, this network could also create new direct links from Newcastle to Parramatta and from Wollongong to Campbelltown and Liverpool – creating new opportunities and reshaping our region.
“A faster rail network will help relieve some of Sydney’s affordability pressures and underpin long- term property prices in regional centres such as Gosford, Newcastle, and Wollongong by as much as 5-10% when it becomes a reality,” Raine said.
The report also calls on NSW Government to introduce a network of one-hour or less heavy rail connections between cities within the mega-region and argues that building new housing across the rail corridor will help to take pressure off the market in Sydney.
The study argues that an additional 40,000 dwellings could be built across NSW by opening land across rail corridors and found that with improved rail connections by 2036, this network could deliver over $75 billion of housing affordability improvements for Sydney.
“I’d like to see fast train services to Goulburn, and Canberra included in a long-term mega-region plan, as well as a 30-year transport strategy that includes suggestions from urban futurists recommending tunnelling under the Blue Mountains to open up the Lithgow region," Raine added.
“This might sound absurd in 2018, but given Sydney has topographical restraints to its east, west, south and north, we need to look for solutions that will cater to population growth many decades into the future.
“I’m sure many Sydneysiders believed a bridge between Milsons Point and the CBD to be an absurdity in the 1880s too.
REINSW Deputy President Brett Hunter, an agent at Raine &amp; Horne said faster rail is necessary for the growing population on the Central Coast, and to connect more commuters to jobs in Sydney and Newcastle.
The proposed fast rail network would have an enormous impact on Central Coast real estate markets, according to Hunter, by attracting even more Sydney buyers.
“Commute times to Sydney are a major issue for Sydneysiders considering a shift to the Central Coast,” said Hunter.
“We could halve commute times with a fast train service between Sydney and Gosford, which would prove attractive to more Sydneysiders, who are looking for a way to break away from the city’s surging real estate prices,” said Mr Hunter.
“The median house price for Avoca Beach is under $900,000 despite the spike in Sydney buyer numbers over the last few years.
“However, we’d need to see work begin on a fast rail service before we could predict the longer- term impact on values in Avoca Beach, Terrigal, McMasters Beach and Copacabana,” said Mr Hunter.
The state government has already seeking ways to encourage more Sydneysiders to move to the Central Coast, a move Hunter supports.
“A fast rail from Sydney to the Central Coast would enable people to enjoy the intimate coastal lifestyle of the Central Coast but still earn a living in Sydney.”
</body></html>

jonathanchancellor-7SQnKwU6yx

Fast rail could help solve Sydney's housing affordability issues

<html><body>
GUEST OBSERVATION
Cities worldwide face the problems and possibilities of “volume”: the stacking and moving of people and things within booming central business districts. We see this especially around mass public transport hubs.
As cities grow, they also become more vertical. They are expanding underground through rail corridors and above ground into the tall buildings that shape city skylines. Cities are deep as well as wide.
The urban geographer Stephen Graham describes cities as both “vertically stacked” and “vertically sprawled”, laced together by vertical and horizontal transport systems.
People flow in large cities is not only about how people move horizontally on rail and road networks into and out of city centres. It also includes vertical transport systems. These are the elevators, escalators and moving sidewalks that commuters use every day to get from the underground to the surface street level.
Major transport hubs are where many vertical and horizontal transport systems converge. It’s here that people flows are most dense.
But many large cities face the twin challenges of ageing infrastructure and increased volumes of people flowing through transport hubs. Problems of congestion, overcrowding, delays and even lockouts are becoming more common.
Governments are increasingly looking for ways to squeeze more capacity out of existing infrastructure networks.
Can we increase capacity by changing behaviour?
For the last three years, Transport for London (TfL) has been running standing-only escalator trials. The aim is to see if changing commuter behaviour might increase “throughput” of people and reduce delays.
London has some of the deepest underground stations in the world. This means the Tube system is heavily reliant on vertical transport such as escalators. But a long-standing convention means people only stand on the right side and allow others to walk up on the left.
In a trial at Holborn Station, one of London’s deepest at 23 metres, commuters were asked to stand on both sides during morning rush hour.
The results of the trials showed that changing commuter behaviour could improve throughput by increasing capacity by as much as 30% at peak times. But this works only in Tube stations with very tall escalators. At stations with escalators less than 18 metres high, like Canary Wharf, the trials found the opposite – standing would only increase congestion across the network.
<img src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/static_files/files/147/escalator-hype-sml.gif?1527814909" width="100%">
By standing only, 30% more people could fit on an escalator in the trial at Holborn Station.
The difference is down to human behaviour. People are simply less willing to walk up very tall escalators. This means a standing-only policy across the network won’t improve people flow uniformly and could even make congestion worse.
Is people movement data a solution?
With the introduction of ticketless transport cards it’s now possible to gather more data about people flow through busy transport hubs as we tap on and off.
Tracking commuters’ in-station journeys through their Wi-Fi enabled devices, such as smart phones, can also offer a detailed picture of movement between platforms, congestion and delays.
Transport for London has already conducted its first Wi-Fi tracking trial in the London Underground.
Issues of privacy loom large in harvesting mobile data from individual devices. Still, there’s enormous potential to use this data to resolve issues of overcrowding and inform commuters about delays and congestion en route.
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/K-FwqFVqQY4?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" width="440" height="260"></iframe>
London’s transport authority hopes the data from tracking users’ phones will help ease congestion, plan better timetables and improve station designs.
Governments are also increasingly turning to consultancy firms that specialise in simulation modelling of people flow. That’s everything from check-in queues and processing at terminals, to route tracking and passenger flow on escalators.
Using data analytics, people movement specialists identify movement patterns, count footfall and analyse commuter behaviour. In existing infrastructure, they look to achieve “efficiencies” through changes to scheduling and routing, and assessing the directional flow of commuters.
Construction and engineering companies are also beginning to employ people movement specialists during the design phase of large infrastructure projects.
Beijing’s Daxing airport, due for completion in 2020, will be the largest transport hub in China. It’s also the first major infrastructure project to use crowd simulation and analysis software during the design process to test anticipated volume against capacity.
The advice of people movement specialists can have significant impacts on physical infrastructure. This involves aspects such as the width of platforms, number and placement of gates, and the layout and positioning of vertical transport, such as escalators.
Movement analytics is becoming big business
People movement analytics is becoming big business, especially where financialisation of public assets is increasing. This means infrastructure is being developed through complex public-private partnership models. As a result, transport hubs are now also commercial spaces for retail, leisure and business activities.
Commuters are no longer only in transit when they make their way through these spaces. They are potential consumers as they move through the retail concourse in many of these developments.
In an era of “digital disruption”, which is particularly affecting the retail sector, information about commuter mobility has potential commercial value. The application of data analytics to people flow and its use by the people movement industry to achieve “efficiencies” needs careful scrutiny to ensure benefits beyond commercial gain.
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92827/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">At the same time, mobility data may well help our increasingly vertical cities to keep flowing up, down and across.
Andrea Connor, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University
Donald McNeill, Professor of Urban and Cultural Geography, Western Sydney University
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/growing-cities-face-challenges-of-keeping-the-masses-moving-up-down-and-across-92827" target="_blank">original article</a>.
</body></html>

Growing cities face challenges of keeping the masses moving up, down and across

<html><body>
Both tunnel boring machines (TBMs) that are building the new Forrestfield-Airport Link in the WA capital have smashed through into the Airport station pit having travelled 1.9km thus far.

In common with tunnel projects around the world, the TBMs are named - Grace and Sandy.

Grace, the frontrunner, pierced the Perth Airport station box earlier this month with Sandy smashing through on May 21st. 

The Forrestfield-Airport Link project began life under the previous WA administration and has since been subsumed into the wider Metronet program which the new WA Government run an election platform on.  

The new line will branch off from the existing Midland line to the east of Bayswater and include three new stations, two underground and the terminus, Forrestfield, will be on the surface to the east of Perth Airport.

<iframe allowfullscreen="true" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="315" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fforrestfieldairportlink%2Fvideos%2F1708872085871404%2F&amp;show_text=0&amp;width=560" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" width="100%"></iframe>

A new flying junction is being built at Bayswater where the new tunnels will head under the Swan River and toward a new station to be named Redcliffe that will be located approximately 500m from the old Domestic and now dedicated Qantas terminal at Perth Airport.  

The second new station will be known as Airport Central, to be built nextdoor, to the south of the Perth Airport control tower.  This precinct of Perth Airport was traditionally the International terminal but has now morphed into a hybrid domestic (Virgin) and international precinct.  The Perth Airport masterplan from 2014 calls for consolidation of airport terminals in the vicinity of the Airport Central station.

The tunnels continue eastward from Airport Central and then surface just before the terminus station at Forrestfield where a major new bus/rail interchange will be built that will give residents living in Perth's east and hills district a 20-minute rail journey to the CBD.

<figure><a class="colorbox colorbox-insert-image" href="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public//pictures/article-images/forrestfield-rail-route-diagram-updated-30-nov-2017.png" rel="gallery-all" title="Tunnel elevation diagram showing station locations and depths beneath the surface - image: Metronet"><img alt="" class="image-article-full-width-580px" height="102" src="/sites/urban.melbourne/files//styles/article_full_width_580px/public/pictures/article-images/forrestfield-rail-route-diagram-updated-30-nov-2017.png?itok=seLUNhuN" title="Tunnel elevation diagram showing station locations and depths beneath the surface - image: Metronet" width="580"></a>

<figcaption>Tunnel elevation diagram showing station locations and depths beneath the surface - image: <a href="https://www.forrestfieldairportlink.wa.gov.au/">Metronet</a></figcaption></figure>The wider Metronet program was a policy platform the new Western Australian ALP Government took to the last election and includes a large array of public transport projects that would see multiple new rail lines and extensions.

Perth's existing rail network has 33 level crossing across the metropolitan area and a level crossing removal program is included in the wider Metronet platform.

There is a project to extend the Thornlie branch which is a small branch of the south-eastern Armadale at present, to Cockburn Central on the southern Mandurah line.

Perth looks set to join Melbourne in beginning to convert existing electrified rail lines over to automatic train control which the Metronet <a href="https://www.metronet.wa.gov.au/projects/automatic-train-control">website</a> states will occur over a 12 year period.

Lead image credit: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/forrestfieldairportlink/">Forrestfield-Airport Link / Metronet on facebook</a>.
</body></html>

Public Transport

Editor's Picks

Have something to contribute?

Developments

New apartments

New townhouses

News

Public Transport

Editor's Picks

Receive the latest news stories to your inbox

Have something to contribute?

Developments

New apartments

New townhouses

News