Background

Implications

Regional aspects

Assessing and measuring the current situation

Indicators

Management responses

Discussion

Future directions

Recommendations

Related issues

Background

Today's transport systems allow more people than ever to move around with relative ease at affordable prices, but there are risks to consider as well. The automobile, in particular, has provoked growing concern about its impact on the environment, on public safety and health, and on quality of life (WBCSD 2001).

Tasmania's transport systems play a vital role in achieving a high quality of life for its residents through the mobility and access opportunities they provide. However, many forms of travel, and the development of transport infrastructure upon which these forms rely, can have substantial, and well documented impacts on the natural and built environment and quality of life of individuals within it.

A combination of the magnitude and mode of travel contributes to the relative cost. The mode of transort refers to the type of transport being used, such as var, bus, or bicycle). The magnitude refers to the time spent travelling and the distance travelled.

The decisions and activities related to the movement of people and goods are generally of such a scale and influence that significant impacts on the environment and quality of life of individuals do occur. Impacts may directly result from insensitive planning, design and construction of infrastructure or indirectly, via the impacts of activities which rely on or use the transport network (DIER, 1999).

Thus, decisions that relate to the planning and development of transport infrastructure, or which attempt to influence travel patterns or preferences, play an important role in the achievement of both environmental and social goals in Tasmania.

The previous SoE report investigated some of the links between land use and transport indicators, and the implications for environmental quality. In particular links were identified between:

• urban density and car use;
• residential location and public transport usage; and
• residential location and mode of travel to work.

The data pointed to three basic patterns: increasing private motor vehicle ownership, increasing proportions of trips by private motor car and decreasing urban density associated with the subdivision of previously rural land or bushland, primarily for housing. Time savings achieved through high quality outlet roads were largely annulled by residential changes driven by travel time and location preferences.

Implications

The implications on social equity and environmental integrity of low urban density and increased reliance on private motor vehicles are both direct and indirect.

Transport is a fundamental aspect of the Tasmanian economy and, directly, provides a significant contribution to the economy. Construction relies on transport of materials and people, food must be transported to and from shops and people require transport to and from work, recreation and other activities. High levels of private automobile ownership and the development of high quality outlet roads has provided the opportunity for people to live in suburbs removed from their place of work, education or shopping.

Private motor vehicle use, the dominant mode of transport for the general population, strongly influences patterns of land-use development. Similarly, land use patterns, and location of residences, services, and facilities strongly influence the mode of transport chosen to access these facilities and services. Features of settlements that contribute to automobile dependence include low density peripheral housing, separation of land uses by zones and declining diversity of land use (i.e. residential areas being separated from employment and commercial areas) (Newman and Kenworthy 1999).

There are also key relationships between land-use patterns, transport and impacts on human health, social equity and environmental quality. In particular, dependence on private motor vehicles, borne from separation of land-use and transport planning, is cited as a key contributor to social and environmental transport problems.

Both mode and magnitude of travel influence level of impacts occurring. Therefore, patterns of land-use play a significant role in determining the nature, severity and occurrence of these costs of transport.

The social and environmental implications of present approaches to land use and transport are described in the previous SoE report as falling into three categories:

• the production of waste: combustion emissions and landfill;
• construction of infrastructure; and
• use costs such as road fatalities.

Some of the key conditions of low-density residential sprawl and associated automobile dependence are given below, along with examples of impacts, which are derived from these conditions.

Conditions associated with low density, low use diversity residential sprawl and their related impacts

Condition	Related impacts
Increased demand for fast efficient road routes from increasingly dispersed locations	Increased road building fragmentation of bushland and localised habitat disturbance; increase in rate and quantity of water run off from hardened surfaces, (and assoc. suspended solids and pollutants); economic costs of construction; acquisition of land, social disruption; and, visual impacts of infrastructure.
Greater time and distance travelling by car at higher speeds and greater number of people travelling	increased road accidents increased wildlife roadkill congestion (increased demand for fast and efficient road routes etc.) stress
Increased fuel usage 1	depletion of global oil resourcesBR> increase in atmospheric pollutants: NOx; CO 2 ; aerosols; O 3 ; hydrocarbons etc. increased demand for oil production and refinement

1. The trend for decreasing average fuel consumption per 100 km, also reported in the previous SoE report, appears to have been offset by increasing travel distances and average travel. Furthermore, reduction in fuel consumption has tended to encourage more car travel, and with this numerous indirect disbenefits, including construction of new roads (particularly highways or bypasses), congestion, and road accidents (although the latter has fallen due to changes to safety regulations regarding car usage).
    

Source: ESD working groups 1991; SoE 1996 (s14.5); Westerman (1998).

Construction, operation and maintenance of roads can adversely impact on the environment through:

• vegetation removal and decline;
• soil erosion and sedimentation;
• surface water and groundwater contamination;
• altered stream hydrology;
• diversion and/or concentration of flows causing soil moisture changes;
• structural changes to stream flow (e.g. culverts, drop structures);
• weed invasion;
• disease spread (e.g. pathogens such as phytopthora die back) (McRobert, 1997).

The social and economic implications of transport and land use include:

• the cost of infrastructure provision and maintenance;
   
• equitable access to services;
   
• the liveability of settlements;
   
• health and safety.
   

The average age of the population of Tasmania is increasing and older persons are more likely to be injured or killed in motor vehicle accidents (DPIWE 2000). The increasing frailty of the population means that an increase in protection to road users is required through lowering speed limits and improving planning and technology. Further, an ageing population will increase the proportion of the population potentially disadvantaged through loss of access to services if they are no longer able to drive (or can afford to drive).

Traditional approaches to development of transport infrastructure have not necessarily resulted in the equitable provision of the positive aspects generally associated with transport: mobility and access. Ensuring mobility and access for members of the community is as much dependent on providing varied and appropriate means of mobility, and encouraging appropriate city design and location of services, as it is about providing efficient infrastructure. Indeed, the construction and development of sophisticated transport systems and infrastructure can actually reduce the access opportunities it aims to provide.

By way of example, the provision of dedicated space in our towns and cities for the movement and storage of private vehicles (i.e. roads and parking) reduces the amount of space available for exchange and interaction. By planning and designing for the efficient movement of cars we frequently exclude or inconvenience the movement of people on foot or by other forms of transport, and dedicated substantial areas of land exclusively to the movement of private motor vehicles. Furthermore, the location and design of many urban facilities, including essential services such as shopping centres, virtually prohibits access except by car and bus.

Regional aspects

Regional dimensions include how transport, land use patterns and land cover interact throughout the State. New roads are often a precursor to changes in land use and environmental impacts that may follow the availability of vehicle access to new areas. These interactions cannot be easily represented whether as maps or statistics.

New roads are a key influence on the area of wilderness in the State as remoteness from mechanised access is itself a factor that defines wilderness. The map of major and minor roads gives a visual representation of those areas of the coverage of the road network and areas that remain largely free of roads. However, vehicle access through the proliferation of minor tracks, such as four wheel drive tracks, is also a land management issue in some of the remoter areas of the State.

In the more populated areas of the State, roads and land use interact in ways that have a significant influence on the demand for energy for transport, household costs from motor vehicle use, pollution caused by motor vehicles, and the provision and maintenance of expensive infrastructure. For Hobart, this interaction creates a dispersed pattern of settlement that can be seen through the map of major roads, built-up areas and subdivisions.

Low density residential patterns, facilitated by faster and more flexible individual transportation, produce inefficient land use in terms of absolute space occupied and the costs of servicing with roads, sewerage, water, etc. Inefficient land use, among its other consequences, will also result in less land being potentially available for conservation and protection of habitat. With greater Hobart containing a number of threatened species and priority vegetation communities identified by the RFA, efficient land use is also a biodiversity priority.

The economic burden of infrastructure maintenance is an important regional transport issue, and is indicated in part by length of road and bridge statistics by local government area. The ABS (2001a) noted that, at January 2001, local government authorities maintained 14,045 km of roads and 123,768 m² of bridge deck areas (concrete and wooden bridges) Statewide. The report also identified that there were 6,652 km of Local Government sealed roads in the State, of which 38.5% were located in urban areas and 61.5% located in rural areas. The majority of Local Government unsealed roads were located in rural areas (96.6%). Northern Midlands local government area (LGA) had the longest total length of roads owned by local government (976.4 km), with the majority of roads being rural (90.4%). Brighton had the shortest road length (151.4 km), with 49.8% being urban and 50.2% being rural. Southern Midlands had the largest bridge deck area at 10,693 m², while Devonport had the lowest at 1,065 m² ABS (2001a).

Assessing and measuring the current situation

There are a number of indicators relating to transport and land use. Those that follow provide some perspectives on the issues, but by no means a comprehensive assessment. For example, a range of demographic factors, such as age, also influence the countless individual decisions that collectively create the urban and transport footprint, and the consequences of this for the environment. The demographic measures included below are limited to changes in population within urban centres.This is a consequence rather than a 'driver' of the location deciions made by people. Household ccupancy rates are a further influence on the locational choices. There are also a range of indicators of the consequences of the locational decisions made by people. Land use and land cover are two of these indicators.

Indicators

Population Distribution - at a glance

• Continued in depth

• The indicator highlights some of the relationships between transport and land use. Internationally, the old idea of a city as separate from its hinterland is breaking down as urban centres today are becoming diffused across the wider landscape. The forces that shape these trends, including the mobility provided by motor vehicles, are also influential and pervasive in Tasmania. The trends demonstrated indicate a growing dispersal of population, with strong implications for transport use, infrastructure provision, and the environment.
   


• The share of State population within major centres declined from 51.2% in 1996 to 47% in 2001. In virtually all cases where an existing built-up area is surrounded by non-urban areas, the existing built-up surburb exhibits a declining population, whilst the surrounding areas, often of traditionally rural land use, are growing.
   


• The fastest growing areas in greater Hobart between 1991 and 1996 were almost exclusively outlying rural-residential areas or peripheral suburbs. A trend is evident for growth in residential population outside 'traditional' urban areas. Furthermore, the highest population growth is occurring in areas remote from commercial centres in residential single land use suburbs such as Austins Ferry and Ten Mile Hill; or in mixed rural/rural-residential areas, such as Otago and South Arm.
   


• In greater Hobart, population has been generally static since about 1995 (ABS, 2001). Therefore changes in population at local levels are used to demonstrate changes in residential preference, and, in cases of increase, may indicate the expansion of urban development.
   


• Of the 70 fastest growing CDs, 45 were located in CDs described as 'non-urban', and a further 12 were located outside the Hobart urban centre in outlying urban centres such as Seven Mile Beach, Old Beach or Kingston, or peripheral Hobart suburbs such as Austins Ferry, and Otago.
   

New Dwelling Completions - at a glance

• Continued in depth

• Land use patterns, and location of residences, services, and facilities strongly determine the mode of transport chosen to access these facilities and services. Both mode and magnitude of travel influence level of impacts occurring. Therefore, patterns of land use play a significant role in determining the nature, severity, and occurrence of these transport costs.
   


• Tasmania is experiencing the mix of dwelling trends that are evident nationally: increasing dispersal to coastal and outlying areas, together with some evidence of a growing popularity of inner city living.
   


• An increasing popularity of inner city living may be due to a range of demographic factors for which the 2001 Census may shed some light. Explanations may include popularity of inner city living by young adults who were choosing not to have children. Older couples and retirees may also be preferring the access to services and opportunities that inner city living provides.
   


• Greater urban consolidation in inner city areas brings potential infrastructure and environmental benefits. It maximises the use of existing infrastructure, and may help to reduce the conversion of land from non-urban to urban uses. As shown in the 1996 Census, those living in inner urban areas are more likely to walk or use a bicycle in their journey to work.
   


• In Hobart, one of the challenges of providing greater opportunity for inner city dwellings is retaining the character of the built environment.
   


• Trends for dispersal of population across the landscape beyond the established urban areas remain clearly evident in dwelling approval data.
   

Mode Choice by Trip Purpose by Area - at a glance

• Continued in depth

• The residential preference of the majority of the population is to live within half an hour of their place of work (Newman and Kenworthy, 1999: 41). With the development of high level outlet roads, such as those in Hobart, the thirty minute threshold from key employment centres such as Hobart central business district, Glenorchy, and Rosny, has been extended well beyond the traditional fringes of the city. These key centres can now be reached within a half hour journey from the 'satellite towns' of Richmond (28 km from Hobart GPO), Dodges Ferry (42 km), New Norfolk (38 km), and Huonville (39 km).
   


• Using this one example of travel preference, strong implications for the land use/transport relationship can be drawn. The case study of Clarence SLA shows that for one area at least, workers frequently chose to live, or are forced to live, in a location remote from their place of work. Although this case study does not specifically indicate mode of travel, the schema developed by Westerman (1998) outlined above would imply that such residential choice is closely related to transport choices. The consistently low levels of use of alternative transport, such as walking and cycling within the Clarence SLA presented above, may infer a reliance on private motor vehicle transport for much of these journeys.
   


• Patterns of travel to work may differ elsewhere as a function of such variables as type of occupation, residential location, mix of uses, urban density, and physical/infrastructure barriers, among others
   

Vehicle Ownership - at a glance

• Continued in depth

Although ownership can not imply usage, it is an important indicator of travel preference. Car ownership has implications for transport choices. There has been no significant overall change in levels of car ownership in recent years that might indicate changes in transport preferences. An increase in the registration of motor cycles may be driven by a range of factors, including affordability and running costs.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions for Road Transport - at a glance

• Continued in depth

• There is concern that current State specific greenhouse gas emission estimates are not accurate, since they are based on national survey data, and national transport characteristics. As such, these estimates are unlikely to be insensitive to changes in transport related greenhouse gas emissions that might be attributable to changes in the interaction of transport and land use, such as increases in the area of lower density fringe urban housing. The indicator is viewed as a relatively poor measure of the greenhouse gas emission consequences of land use and transport. This would improve through the addition of more Tasmania specific data.
   

Public Transport Use - at a glance

• Continued in depth

• Public transport usage has continued to decline in Hobart for all types of trips and passengers. When associated with car ownership data presented above, the decline in public transport usage potentially reflects an increased reliance on private motor vehicles.
   


• Buses can provide a low impact alternative to cars by producing per traveller less airborne pollutants, and less impacts on the road infrastructure. However, for such a benefit to be realised, there needs to be a minimum of 12 passengers on an average coach, to account for the impacts per person (Stead 1999). The decline in public transport therefore has particular implications for the level of disbenefit associated with transport.
   


• To a large extent, the demonstrated change in preference to private automobile use for more trips, and more varied types of trips, can be attributed to changes in land use patterns, increased speeds of intra-urban travel, and abundant parking provision, rather than a decline in levels of service provided by public transport. Indeed, numerous innovations have been undertaken by Metro Tasmania, including more smaller, more frequent, buses for the inner suburbs ('busy bee' service), express trips to and from outer suburbs in peak times ('Metro express' services), and providing multiple termini in the CBD, Glenorchy and Rosny. In the near future, the development of 'cross town' services is aimed to be developed to account for the growing variety in types of trips (Metro Tasmania 1999). The reluctance of residents to use public transport, despite improvements in the level and flexibility of service provided, is indicative of the cultural, physical, and behavioural challenges public transport faces.
   


• It may be interpreted that the decline in bus patronage is inevitable. Based on similar findings elsewhere in Australian and American cities, Newman and Kenworthy (1999) conclude buses rarely provide real and attractive alternatives to private motor vehicle use because of the relative average speeds of travel, and that cities where buses are the only public transport alternative are disadvantaged. In Hobart, research undertaken for the 1997 SoE indicated that individuals living in an outlying suburbs (in this case Austins Ferry, Blackmans Bay, Bridgewater, Fern Tree, Opossum Bay, Risdon Vale, Seven Mile Beach, and Sorell) who are reliant on buses for access to services, can be between 10 minutes to greater than 3.5 hours time disadvantaged per trip (SoE report 1997).
   


• Although no such data has been compiled for Hobart, average bus speeds for mainland cities are of the order of 20 km/h slower than average private car speeds (25 km/h compared with 46 km/h) (Newman and Kenworthy 1999:90). Conversely, Sydney's trains transport passengers on average 5 km/h faster than cars, making them a relatively attractive option for travel and commuting.
   


• More telling analysis linking land use to public transport decline would be achieved by assessing the rate of public transport usage by residential density, and residential land use type or distance from key commercial/employment centres.
   

Management responses

Through the sustainable development objectives of the RMPS, and visioning documents such as Tasmania Together, and Getting there together, Tasmania has a mandate to pursue sustainable development.

Four key directions are articulated in Getting there together, a State Government initiative developed as an off shoot to the Tasmania Together, Statewide community visioning process:

• support economic growth, social well being, environmental sustainability and lifestyle;
• undertake research and use innovation;
• plan, invest, and manage strategically;
• an effective transport management framework.

Attempts to address the balance of the benefits and impacts of transport are also covered in existing policy documents. For example, the environmental policy of the Department of Infrastructure, Energy, and Resources Transport Division states that the division is committed to:

• progressing towards sustainable development;
• complementing government and community efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions;
• conforming to appropriate State and Federal environmental legislation, in particular the State resource management and planning system suite of legislation;
• implementing the State policies and strategies which complement this legislation.

The State Government's Tasmanian greenhouse statement of July 1999 provides a statutory basis for approaching improvements to transportation of goods and people, and is driven by the National greenhouse strategy. The division of Tasmanian greenhouse statement, which deals with transport, mandates the government to the achievement of five key goals. These are to:

• integrate and promote best practice in transport and land use planning;
• improve public transport services;
• increase the fuel efficiency of passenger and freight transport;
• encourage greenhouse friendly forms of transport, such as cycling and walking;
• encourage the movement of information rather than people.

At a national level, as a component of meeting the requirements of the Kyoto protocol, the Australian Greenhouse Office is developing mandatory fuel consumption labelling for new passenger cars, and is developing fuel consumption targets (AGO 2001).

Discussion

In general, the transport patterns contributing to negative social and environmental impacts indicated by the previous SoE report have continued over recent years.

In particular:

• the location of residences has become increasingly decentralised;
   


• car ownership has continued to increase;
   


• car usage for travel to work has increased;
   


• public transport patronage has continued to fall.
   

The strong tendency for centralised workplaces, and the potential for further dispersal of the resident population into low density rural-residential areas outlined through the data above, is likely to further drive the pattern of separation of work and residence. Combined with declining public transport usage, an increase in both distance travelled by private motor car and the number and type of trips undertaken in cars seems inevitable. In turn, this pattern of travel preference tends to demand the construction of road infrastructure, which then further encourages the urban and suburban development of peripheral areas, and therefore greater reliance on the road network. These patterns tend to be inefficient, inequitable, and have multiple environmental implications.

Given the numerous and well documented costs of car dependence for both environmental and social reasons, approaches to dealing with transport demand, and the nature of transport modes chosen, need to be innovative, and move beyond the traditionally disparate nature of land use and transport planning. Such changes are mandated through existing policy and rhetoric surrounding 'sustainable development', and 'better cities', although can only be achieved through incremental changes to the way decisions are made regarding the implications of individual projects. Having said this, some progressive decisions need to be taken in order to drive the direction of decision-making, and punctuate the transition to a more sustainable approach. These include demonstration projects, and undertaking to work at achieving regional approaches to considering the appropriate location of urban and residential development involving cooperation between local and state governments.

Future directions

Through the guidelines set out in the RMPS, Tasmania Together, and Getting there together:

• make progress towards sustainable development;
   


• implement guidelines for the decrease of greenhouse gas emissions, including a policy to enable the increase use of non-gas emitting forms of transport, and the better use of public transport;
   


• realise the local aspects of the Kyoto protocol
   

Tasmania Together and the RMPS

Relevant Tasmania Together goals and standards for issue reports within the Settlements chapter are listed in the linked file. The Tasmania Together Progress Board reported on progress toward targets for benchmarks set (Tasmania Together Progress Board 2003). Indicators, targets, baseline data and latest data are provided for the nine months to June 2003. Further information, including progress report updates, is available from Tasmania Together.

Involvement of the community, and the fair and orderly use of resources are also fundamental principles of the RMPS. The RMPS objectives have been developed to advance the principles of sustainable development.

Recommendations

The following are some of the key recommendations for 2003 that relate to the issue of transport. The mix of recommendations highlights the need to look at the impacts of transport choice at broad scales and local scales.

Related issues