Challenge for green transportation: Buses and Carpools

Public transport was an obvious alternative to private vehicles but interviews with drivers identified a very poor knowledge of the Canberra bus services. Additionally, services to the campus were not scheduled to meet the community needs, particularly those of students whose classes were running outside normal peak demand periods. To address this the university management collaborated with the local transport authority to develop a more effective schedule. This resulted in some increase in bus commuting, though was probably most effective in reducing ‘decay’ – that is, minimizing the number of users swapping to private vehicles because they were more convenient.

Like most transport strategies, attempts were made to promote carpooling, thus reducing the number of vehicles travelling to campus. A database was developed to allow drivers to find suitable matches (people living in the same area, working the same times) and again, while some used this service, the uptake was minimal, in part because there was artificiality in the relationship. Many people were uncomfortable with the idea of sharing a vehicle with a stranger. We found that a more effective approach was to encourage families to drive together where practical, emphasizing in media a goal of reducing their family environmental footprint, as well as saving a few dollars on petrol.

Post by Muhammad Azim