Flying around Australia

Lately I've been busy with meetings around Australia and that meant I would have again the opportunity to observe transport systems around air travel.

My flight to Rockhampton was very early in the morning so I had to catch a taxi to Brisbane airport. I called the taxi company on the phone that I've found on the net and a few minutes later there was a Toyota Prius taxi waiting for me outside my house. The drive was a breeze as it was pre peak hour and the taxi driver asked me if I wanted to go via the tunnels which I decline due to tolls and low traffic.

Rockhampton airport is not big but it is well organised and modern. Rental cars are located just in front of the entrance to the terminal. Your other options are either taxi or a bus service to the city.

Rocky, as the locals and other Queenslanders call Rockhampton, is the beef capital of Australia. Beef is celebrated everywhere with numerous bull statuses around the city.

A few days later, I had to fly to Melbourne. This time, the flight was in the afternoon so I had some time to catch the Airtrain rather than a taxi, as they can be very expensive. For a cost of around $15 you arrive 20 minutes later at Brisbane Airport. The train service is of a high level with the only problem that it stops at 22:00 and leave the late night flights without coverage.

In Melbourne for around the same money and the same travel time you get to go to from Melbourne Airport to your hotel in Melbourne CBD by buses.  Skybus is an outstanding bus service that not only connects Tullamarine Airport to the CBD but also delivers you to your hotel door (or close) for the same price that takes the rest of the passengers just to Kings Cross station.

I was quite surprised when I arrived at Kings Cross station, as the lady that sold me the return ticket at the airport booth didn't say anything for the hotel part of the trip. I felt like I was at an asian capital. A number of small buses like the one in the picture above and drivers hanging outside the ticket office. I guess we do learn some things from our asian neighbours. The best part is that even on the return trip you can arrange to be collected outside your hotel in the CBD. And all these without really asking for hotel reservation papers or anything.

Transport systems that support city airports are a critical link to the city's overall transport system. For the visitors it's often the first impression that they get. A frequent and well operated public transport system that connects the airport to the city is crucial especially to cities that have a tourism focus.

Olympic Games traffic

I am watching the Olympic Games 2012  opening ceremony and as always my mind goes to transport and traffic. 

The Games being such a huge event, involving thousands of participating athletes, coaches and spectators are such a great challenge for the transportation planners and traffic engineers of each hosting city. 

Even in the hosting city selection procedure, transport and traffic is the second most important aspect of the candidate cities’ proposal after venues. Cities are struggling to persuade the “immortals” that they can manage traffic during the Olympic games in a way that not only will be effective but also sustainable. The games provide the opportunity for the cities to build new transportation system like the Athens Metro and tram. 

But even big transport infrastructure projects like public transportation systems and construction of new motorways and arterials are not enough to ensure that athletes would not need two or three hours of travel to get to their Olympic venue. Transport planning, traffic management and mobility management plays a big role in this task. After all, transportation network capacity is not designed to support all this additional demand for travel. 

One of the traffic management measures used, is sending a significant percentage of the Olympic city’s residents away from the city or having them stay at home. Usually this is achieved by giving civil servants mandatory leave and generally by making it so much more difficult for people to travel to their usual every day destination, so they will prefer to go on holidays or stay home. Again Athens was an example for this with so many Athenians spending their days during the Olympic Games in the islands.

The objective is to enable athletes and officials to get to their events on time. This is accomplished by installing Olympic lanes. Roads or traffic lanes reserved for accredited Games vehicles – athletes, officials and of course sponsors – as well as emergency vehicles. In London there are 30 miles of Olympic Lanes installed mainly on some of the city’s main arterial roads, marked by white Olympic rings painted on to the road. 

No one else is allowed in these lanes, not even black taxis or bicycles and this raises discomfort, protests and even extreme police actions that don't exactly promote the Olympic spirit.  

Trying to achieve optimum traffic management is not an easy task as some of London’s biggest traffic engineering gaffes show. 

Olympic Games have blown out of proportion during the last decades thanks to the commercialization spirit. The sponsors and the often greedy national Olympic committees push to include more sports and more athletes to the Olympic Games and finally cities that host the games do not benefit from them overall.At least it seems that they benefit from some improvement to their transport systems and the added experience in mobility management.