Economics drove our first sustainable urban transport system and the unsustainable one that followed

Typically New Zealanders look to learn from experience in other countries but then need to assess whether those situations are applicable to New Zealand. This paper instead looks to New Zealand's own past experiences for circumstances that have influenced the success and sustainability of public or private transport systems. While the paper draws on historical data, the paper is not intended as a comprehensive history of transport in New Zealand. Rather the paper reviews the eras in which different forms of transport were dominant, highlights a number of the economic issues influencing transport behaviour, illustrates that people's transport behaviour in New Zealand has been economic rather than emotive, and concludes that if we want behaviours in transport that are sustainable then we need the economic settings to direct this type of behaviour. This paper divides the period 1900-2005 into four key phases of urban transport in New Zealand cities, showing the key role of economics in first supporting sustainable forms of urban transport, then the role of economics in driving and reinforcing the shift to unsustainable forms. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E215472.

• Authors:
  • DRAVITZKI, V
  • LESTER, T
• Publication Date: 2007-2

Language

• English

Media Info

• Pagination: 11P
• Serial:
  • INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABILITY ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE, 2ND, 2007, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
  • Publisher: NEW ZEALAND SOCIETY FOR SUSTAINABILITY ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE (NZSSES)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Behavior; Conferences; Economics; History; Planning; Transportation; Travel; Urban areas
• ITRD Terms: 9001: Behaviour; 8525: Conference; 255: Economics; 9096: History; 698: Journey; 143: Planning; 1155: Transport; 313: Urban area
• Subject Areas: Economics; History; Planning and Forecasting; Transportation (General); I10: Economics and Administration; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01076048
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: ARRB
• Files: ITRD, ATRI
• Created Date: Sep 18 2007 9:34AM