Green Transport: Rob Adams

Rob Adams
City of Melbourne

• we're building in financial stress (on the fringe)
• we can transform our cities - as we have done in Melbourne
• transport is about moving more people, rather than more vehicles, past a point

Quotes:

• I'm 'an absolute optimist'
• 'we should resist it (change to greater densities), it will be more liveable'
• shovel ready projects to respond to the stimulus package 'I don't know of projects like these' 'I'm afraid we're going to waste it'

5 May 2009

Green Transport Breakfast

Rob Freemantle
VicRoads

• each person makes about 4 trips per day
• that is 14m trips per day across metro Melbourne
• add population growth - each person making 4 trips per day
• have to make best use of the existing network
• creating employment close to where people lives reduces the need for travel
• we will still need roads, but need to put them to the best use
• that is why we need network operating plans
• some roads will be managed with the whole network and economy at the forefront, others will be local roads responding to local needs
• Freight Futures optimises some routes - Principal Freight Network
• Higher Productivity Vehicles which carry 2 x 40 foot containers reduce truck movements by a third
• carpooling can make an enormous contribution especially at the peak Current car occupancy is 1.08
• cycling has grown 20% p/a over the past 4 years
• 40% of trips are 2 kms or less

Integrated Land Use and Urban Planning

Significant development applications must be referred to the Director of Public Transport. The guidelines are at



http://www.transport.vic.gov.au/doi/internet/transport.nsf/AllDocs/D32392B7AC935635CA25731B000AFB7D?OpenDocument

Climate Change Adaptation Symposium
3 and 4 June 2009

Dr Peter Christoff
spoke passionately, as he always does, about building community learning and capacity around climate change.
He was insistent that we would not have such weak targets in the CPRS if people understood the urgency of the challenges ahead. Governments can only do so much.
Institutions need to be flexible, adaptive.

Rob Adams

Climate Change Adapation Symposium
3 and 4 June 2009

Rob Adams

Rob spoke about the need to densify the city. He spoke again about the desirability of increasing density along tram lines.

• 75% of emissions come from cities - this is why we have to work with cities
• the liveability that people talk about is becoming sustainability
• 'design a good street and you design a good city'
• all the most liveable cities are dense - Barcelona for example. Buildings of 7 to 8 storeys. Create 75% active frontages. Hang on to your heritage buildings
• we have all the space we need along major transport corridors to build all the housing we need without extending the urban growth boundary.
• 'productive suburbs' that can remain largely unchanged
• we have got to tackle the cost of building over 3 storeys as it is inhibiting consolidation

There is a discussion about density along tram lines at

http://www.walkingmelbourne.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5809&start=0&sid=1237bdae3cc7a1208c232c81294748b8

Chicago's climate change adaptation plan

Climate Change Adaptation Symposium
3 and 4 June 2009

Julia Parzen
How Chicago has institutionalised Climate Change adaptation
I highly recommend this site www.chicagoclimatechange.org

Key messages

• 'there was a lot of process'
• built around involvement and engagement and collaboration
• designed the plan with participation

• Julia emphasised how much attention to process underpinned the development of their strategy 'there was a lot of process'
• She spoke about how Chicago had institutionalised their climate change adaptation framework
• She is not a climate change expert but experienced in organisations and process
• Everything was based around stakeholder involvement and engagement and collaborations. This was built into their structures. They worked with industries, businesses, research institutions and community members
• did not separate adaptation and mitigation - bringing them together in one strategy
• wherever possible they built on existing initiatives, relationships - the assets based model [McKnight - very Chicago]
• worked with whatever was important to people whether it was trees, gardening, concern about prices increases
• asked extra questions of whoever was working on an existing project
• the model can readily be updated
• risk factors were based on assessment criteria to avoid personal preference
• performance measures included permeability, morbidity
• used infra red mapping to identify heat islands and focussed tree planting there
• report emissions every 3 years

The five strategies in their plan are:

• energy efficient buildings
• clean and renewable energy
• improved transport
• reduced waste and industrial pollution
• adaptation

see www.chicagoclimatechange.org

Climate Change Adaptation Symposium
3 and 4 June 2009

Some points arising:

• there is an emerging clarification of roles with the Commonwealth assuming responsibility for mitigation (through the CPRS) and the States taking more responsibility for adaptation. This raises funding questions for the states, as well as whether it achieves the urgency around mitigation. The role of local government was barely mentioned
• adaptation is part of a continuum rather than a new and distinct discipline in its own right
• we should be wary of being too compartmentalised around adaptation and mitigation
• when is the optimum time to make an intervention?
• what level of intervention is appropriate?
• how do we share and engage with our community around the knowledge that we have shared and learned?
• all adaptation will be local!