The most realistic article by this author yet!

My prediction would be, in answer to the problem of travel is, nothing will change but the increasing heavy reliance on the car for personal and efficient transport for daily functions of survival.

It should be mandatory for politicians to live for an extended term, in the Western Suburbs of Sydney for a check-in on realism.
As families grow, so do the vehicle populations. Issuing infringement notices to residents with vehicles parked with no alternative, on pedestrian verges , is no solution to the problem of reliance on private transport.

Dan.

I don’t give a toss what happens in 2041.

One million more cars? Only if we're stupid and allow urban redevelopers to have their way! We do not need to commute to an inner CBD when we can do it at a local level and in easy walking or riding distance.

And means long overdue decentralization and rapid rail to ensure that's just what happens. Public transport post covid should include mandatory masks! No mask no ride!

Turnstiles that the driver or conductor control would allow that measure to be enforced! And he or she should have a supply of masks that cost 10 times the going price! And be able to offer same to the " morons"!

And that must apply to masks not worn properly with nose and or mouth or both not adequately covered! Turnstiles can also operate in reverse and take said "morons" way past their intended stop! If they are non compliant?

Rapid rail to be affordable, needs cheap, clean, safe energy and that's cheaper than coal, cheaper than any renewable, MSR thorium. Which is also carbon-free! See LFTR in five minutes on U tube.
Alan B.

I read this article with a sense of realising something I had not
thought about previously.
In my few visits to the US I had noticed that even small towns had
very significant factories in their surrounding areas.
As I understand it a significant percentage of people in that town
worked at those local factories.
I submit that model might be something we could adapt.
Already because of the price of houses there has been a move to
regional towns.
How you encourage a move in that direction I think would have to be
with a number of incentive such as tax penalties/incentives.
Such a move would increase supply line transport which I suspect was
what caused the US to build their interstate highways.
Anyway thats my idea, anybody salute that ?

>Heavy commuter rail works well for centralised workforces.
So it works well for the proportion of the workforce that are potentially the biggest source of congestion.

>The 9 to 5 commute is no longer. These days the journey to work can mean leaving
>at a different time every day, a school drop off en-route to work, then gym on the
>way home and maybe a stop for groceries too. Don't forget the kids either. That's >very difficult for public transport.

On the contrary, it's great for public transport! Demand being spread out across the day makes it easier to economically justify the provision of frequent public transport all day. Shops and gyms are typically located in places well served by public transport.

>Moving away from a centralised view of the economy and transport to one that
>encourages dispersed employment nodes around suburban hubs seems critical to
>maximising the infrastructure opportunities we already have.

That "centralised view" has always been an illusion - dispersed employment nodes have been a thing for at least half a century; probably much longer. But there has continued to be a focus on the CBD for two very important reasons: firstly the very high value jobs are far more concentrated there, and secondly because it's where the congestion problems are greatest.

Of course more could and should be done to improve public transport in the suburbs, and indeed in some cites much more is being done - most notably the new orbital railway planned for Melbourne.

But the country areas are where there's most unrealised potential. When people don't have to travel to the office every day, living further away becomes more practical, but there still needs to be the infrastructure to support it.