Research

GAMUT (Governance and Management of Urban Transport) is a collaborative research centre dedicated to promoting and supporting sustainable urban transport in Australia and the Asia Pacific region. 

Based at the University of Melbourne, GAMUT works with a network of researchers to focus attention on the need for innovative institutional design for integrated transport systems.

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GAMUT is one of a global network of Centres of Excellence in Future Urban Transport created by the Volvo Research and Educational Foundations, an independent research and educational institution. 

It has produced a total of 57 research reports which are of significant benefit to local government in transport planning and practice.

GAMUT 2009 research papers - including

• Carbon Emissions Trading and Australia's Urban Transport by Leigh Glover.
• The Capacity of State and Local Government to Deliver Sustainable and Integrated Transport - Working Paper No 1 by Carey Curtis and Rachel Armstron.
• Victorian Infrastructure Summit Paper by Bill Russell

GAMUT 2008 research papers- including:

• Success stories: greenhouse reductions from transport policy change by John Stone and Paul Mees
• Travel minimization and the 'neighbourhood' by Carey Curtis and Doina Olaru
• Climate change, transport and land use, local challenges of governance by Nicholas Low

GAMUT 2007 research papers- including:

• How to double the capacity of the Dandenong line, without new infrastructure by Paul Mees
• Integrated Management of Sustainable Urban Passenger Transport Systems in Dispersed Cities: A Review of Successful Institutional Interventions by Leigh Glover

GAMUT 2006 research papers- including:

• A Good Future Transport System: Urban Production and Consumption Perspectives by Professor Kevin O'Connor
• The Journey to Work in Melbourne by Patrick Moriarty, Paul Mees

GAMUT research is about how to understand and implement 'sustainable transport'. The research program covers three themes and seeks to answer nine research questions.

THEME 1: Models of Integrated Urban Passenger Transport Systems Under Resource and Environmental Constraints.

THEME 2: Innovation (and Barriers to Change) in Urban Transport.

THEME 3: Finance and resource allocation in urban transport.

For further information, see the GAMUT website or contact them at gamut-infounimelb [dot] edu [dot] au.

This report discussed the reallocation of street use from on-street parking to active transportation infrastructure, such as widened sidewalks or bike lanes.

Such conversion have become a controversial issue in many cities over the past several decades. The research finds that opposition to such changes is often based on the assumption that on-street parking is vital to business and that removing on-street parking will decrease customer numbers and therefore commercial activity.

However, the report also finds that cities are becoming increasingly interested in providing space for active transportation, citing the health, safety and environmental benefits as primary catalysts. Bike Lanes, On-Street Parking and Business was conceived as a research study to investigate the attitudes of merchants to the  reallocation of street use from on-street parking to active transportation infrastructure, to test assumptions about modal share and economic activity, and to gauge merchants’ and residents’ preferences for changes in street use allocation.

This report presents the findings of surveys of 96 merchants and 510 visitors in Bloor West Village.

This study examines the future of personal transportation in megacities of the world, in particular, the future role of personal vehicles.

The study focussed on 15 existing megacities from around the globe, including New York, London, Moscow and Rio de Janeiro, and analysed them against:

• population,
• wealth,
• level of motorization,
• public transportation, and
• modal split. 
  

Projections through to 2025 were made for each megacity for changes in ownership of personal vehicles; distance traveled by personal vehicle within the inner core, for commuting, and for leisure; and for number of road fatalities.

This new report by the Asian Development Bank concludes that current transportation planning practices are unsustainable and discuss policy and planning changes needed to create more efficient and equitable transport systems.