Presentations and Papers
Summary - The Metro - An Unfamiliar Solution to a Vexing Problem
Presenter: Max Michell
Land availability, housing affordability and extended travel times are the blight of large contemporary cities. There is a looming issue of the lack of sustainability in Australian city development in its current form. Mobility is a major issue and it is this aspect of city planning and management that this paper addresses.
The author firstly looks at what ails large cities in this country with particular reference to city transport. From this follows some specifics with particular reference to Sydney.
The concept of a Metro is introduced and the salient characteristics compared with the traditional radial suburban rail network. In particular the attributes of a Metro are enumerated, since they are fundamental to understanding how they are capable of resolving many of the worst aspects of big cities.
To provide a quantitative measure of the impact on public transport use that could arise from a Metro, a simple comparative method is developed using some well known overseas cities with established Metro networks.
The author discusses the salient issues in more detail and develops a general case for a Metro network in Sydney as part of a paradigm shift to new transport solutions for an ageing and congesting city
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