Use and Abuse of Language in Transport Ian Ker Principal Planner/Economist ARRB Transport Research.

Use and Abuse of Languagein Transport

Ian KerPrincipal Planner/EconomistARRB Transport Research

You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive

You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive

Road-rage hits elephant in Sri LankaMonday July 2, 3:53 PM (AFP) Road-rage hits elephant in Sri Lanka.

A Sri Lankan elephant experienced a fit of road-rage, pushing aside a bus after the driver rudely obstructed its way. The elephant was ambling along a main highway in the central town of Eheliyagoda recently when a private bus overtook it and came to an abrupt halt in the path of the pachyderm, the Lankadeepa newspaper reported. As several trumpet calls failed to get the obstructing bus out of the way, the tusker pushed the offending vehicle and smashed its windows before continuing its journey.

Police did not press charges.

More Language Cyclists Dislike

Nanny State? Or Aunt Sally?

A government perceived as having excessive interest in or control over the welfare of its citizens, especially in the enforcement of extensive public health and safety regulations.

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language

Working with the Market

Clearer perception of costs, benefits and impacts

Working with the Market

Clearer perception of costs, benefits and impacts Removing ‘barriers to entry’

‘try before you buy’ choose what works for you no need for long term commitment information opportunity

Automobility is Bad language

auto - self, own, of or by oneself mobile - shifting position readily; not fixed

automobile - shifting position readily by oneself?

Automobility and Academia More than metal and (e)motion Inevitability of the automobile Oil makes the wheels go ‘round The auto as liberation

technology Centrifugal spin Trapped behind the wheel Cultural icons and rites of

passage Foul play Blowing smoke

Where do they go to die? Moving away from cars Where are we now? Calming traffic

University of California at Berkeley‘Automobility 121’

Syllabus 2003

Regulation is in the Eye of the Beholder

A Level Playing Field?Mass car ownership offered us a control over time and space which no previous generation has ever had, and we took it up willingly and enthusiastically. But it has got out of hand. It has now started to defeat its own advantages: There is much talk of a 'level playing field' - but playing fields are never level, which is why we change ends at half time. It's now half time - literally: we are probably about half way to the levels of traffic that would eventually apply if trends continue unchecked, and that just won't do. So we need to find a better way, or better ways.

Phil Goodwyn (1997), Solving CongestionInaugural Lecture as Professor of Transport Policy

University College, London

Transport Infrastructure Funding: A Level Playing Field?

Roads Large continuing investment

needed Mainly from current user

revenues Hypothecated funding sources Users apparently meet

expenditure… …but expenditure less than cost

in cities:ExternalitiesDeteriorating asset

Public Transport Large continuing investment

needed Mainly debt funded No dedicated funding sources Users do not meet

expenditure… …but expenditure greater than

cost:Few externalitiesImproving asset

Some Consequences Roads in cities are underpriced:

relative to public transport in absolute terms ‘hidden’ deficit

Roads are not subject to financial analysis Public transport is ‘deficit-funded’

20% ($40 million) of cost 25% of ‘deficit’

is interest on debt

Bicycles fight for whatever they can get

Pattern LanguageFundamental to any science or engineering discipline is a common vocabulary for expressing its concepts, and a language for relating them together. The goal of patterns within the software community is to create a body of literature to help software developers resolve recurring problems encountered throughout all of software development. Patterns help create a shared language for communicating insight and experience about these problems and their solutions. Formally codifying these solutions and their relationships lets us successfully capture the body of knowledge which defines our understanding of good architectures that meet the needs of their users. Forming a common pattern language for conveying the structures and mechanisms of our architectures allows us to intelligibly reason about them. The primary focus is not so much on technology as it is on creating a culture to document and support sound engineering architecture and design.

http://hillside.net/patterns/patterns.htm

No Pattern LanguageThe Building of the Tower of Babel

by

Pieter Bruegel, 1563.

Oil on oak panel, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Making Travel Behaviour Change Work

Funding Travel Behaviour Change Programs Government ‘walking the talk’

Getting the economic signals right Transport pricing Taxation

Coherent supportive context Leadership by example Developing tools for employers Sharing information Supporting workplace travel plan development and implementation

Rhetoric to Reality: What Inhibits Change?

Planning as a substitute for action ‘Expert servants’ Structural and institutional inertia The best as enemy of the better Not really believing it yourself

Never hire an architect who claims “I’m an architect - not a change management consultant”.

Vivian Loftness, Professor of Architecture

Local Politics

Misunderstanding Why should local government be marketing public transport for

State Government?

Misperception We’re already ‘better’ than other places

Misinformation It isn’t all it’s cracked up to be

Not ‘Just’ Physical Activity & Health

Independence Cognitive Development Physical Fitness Self-esteem Sense of Community Sense of Place

Not ‘Just’ Physical Activity & Health

Independence Cognitive Development Physical Fitness Self-esteem Sense of Community Sense of Place

Achieving and Perfecting