Article: Share your transport plans at the Ideas Festival

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Share your transport plans at the Ideas Festival

Share your transport plans at the Ideas Festival
Article from: The Courier-Mail

February 18, 2009 12:00am

HAVE you got an idea that could transform our state or simply one that could make a difference in your neighbourhood? Share it with us.

The Courier-Mail is looking for ideas that could change the way we live.

We're holding a series of community forums in conjunction with the Ideas Festival to find out what sets off the light bulb above your head.

The Courier-Mail Conversation Series kicks off this Sunday on the topic of transport.

Others to follow are Climate Change Responses, Food Choices and the Future for Our Children.

Come along to the free public forums and have your say or post your big idea below.

On March 28 at the Ideas Festival, the thoughts from the forums will be brought together in a special discussion.

If you've ever fought your way to work on the bus, train, bike or in the car, you've probably thought of a better way to move people around.

Bring your ideas to the first forum this Sunday to discuss Transport Alternatives.

Among those attending to spark ideas are Dr Matt Burke, from the Griffith University Urban Research Program, The Courier-Mail's green blogger Graham Readfearn, and Mark Rossiter, the chief executive of Penny Farthings Pushbike Parking.

The forum will begin at 11.30am and runs for one hour at the Brisbane City Council Neighbourhood Fair, Bowman Park, Chiswick Rd, Bardon.

The Ideas Festival, co-sponsored by The Courier-Mail runs from March 25 to 29 at the Cultural Centre at South Bank.

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Ideas Festival calls for sustainable transport plans

Ideas Festival calls for sustainable transport plans
Article from: The Courier-Mail

Tonya Turner

February 20, 2009 12:00am

BEIJING has bicycles, Rome has Vespas - could Brisbane benefit from a similar mode of transport? That's what the Conversation Series is asking.
Matt Burke, of Griffith University's Urban Research Program wants your imput at the first community forum in The Courier-Mail's Conversation Series on Sunday.

The Conversation Series is being held in conjunction with the Ideas Festival, which kicks off next month.

"It's an idea about getting ourselves towards greater transport diversity," Dr Burke said.

"It's not an anti-car perspective but a pro-mobility and pro-accessibility perspective.

"We need to create a transport future whereby people have access to goods and services they need, to be happy and productive and efficient."

Dr Burke said we would become more efficient in the way we used resources in the future.

"It's not just about oil but also our labour and our time," he said.

As the population grew and more people used cars and public transport, finding transport alternatives became more urgent.

"Already we're seeing that no longer is the family sedan the norm," he said.

"The trend of differentiation is going to continue and we're going to see more things like light electric vehicles and motorbikes."

He said one impediment to motorcycle use was the need for special licences.

The forum will begin at 11.30am and runs for one hour at the Brisbane City Council Neighbourhood Fair, Bowman Park, Chiswick Rd, Bardon.

Panelists leading the forum include professor Phil Heywood of Queensland University's Technology School of Urban Design, and The Courier-Mail's Graham Readfearn.

The Ideas Festival, co-sponsored by The Courier-Mail, runs from March 25-29 at South Bank.

[stephenk]

I have an idea - how about holding the community forum somewhere more accessible by Public transport than a park in Bardon?

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Public peddles ideas on transport troubles

Public peddles ideas on transport troubles
Article from: The Courier-Mail

Ursula Heger

February 22, 2009 11:00pm

COMMUTERS want increased train frequency, regional transport bodies, lower speed limits in suburban streets and an innercity congestion charge.
These were the key factors raised at the first of three community forums held by The Courier-Mail in Brisbane yesterday.

About 30 Brisbane residents met at Bowen Park, in the inner-northern suburb of Bardon, as part of next month's Ideas Festival.

The discussion, facilitated by a panel of public transport academics and The Courier-Mail's green blogger Graham Readfearn, heard suggestions on how to improve transport alternatives in the state's southeast.

QUT School of Urban Development Professor Phil Heywood said he believed Queensland Rail needed to make better use of the rail infrastructure and implement a bigger inner-city underground rail system than currently planned by the State Government.

"We have a marvellous array of surface rail systems in southeast Queensland; we need to use them better," he said.

"We could do very well with (an underground) line that runs from the Gabba, underneath (Queensland University of Technology), and down on to Brunswick St in the Valley.

"One idea is a heavy loop in the city and then articulation through all the different forms of transport."

Professor Heywood said he also wanted bus technology to improve, to make commuting more pleasurable.

Public participants said they wanted to better bicycle facilities at railway stations and additional rail capacity in Brisbane's tunnel projects.

Griffith University transport planning researcher Matt Burke said he supported lowering the speed limits to 30kph in narrow suburban streets.

"Particularly outer suburban landscapes where cycling is down to 0.4 per cent of all trips, and the reason is that it is a hostile landscape," he said.

Mr Burke said a reduction in speeds limits would encourage more people to use bicycles for short trips, such as to the shops, pub, cinema or school.