GAMUT Research
Research Outook
The GAMUT Centre seeks solutions to the institutional and political problems besetting urban transport:
- How can government and the community respond to the urgent need to make urban transport ecologically sustainable and socially equitable?
- How can research inform policy for sustainable and equitable transport in our cities?
- How can these goals be met while enhancing the quality of life and economic prosperity of citizens?
Global warming today was caused not by China, India and the developing world, but by the industrial activity of the developed world, especially Europe, North America and Australia, whose prime and immediate responsibility it is to act to reduce carbon emissions.
Research Themes
1. Integrated Urban Passenger Transport Systems Under Resource and Environmental Constraints.
Cities of the future will have to work with greatly reduced dependence on oil and greatly reduced greenhouse emissions from fossil fuels – including petrol. What will these constraints mean for urban transport? If there is to be greater reliance on walking, cycling and public transport, how can these active modes be well connected with the different mechanized modes of public transport – buses, trains, trams and light rail – to deliver a frequent, fast and reliable service, even for cities with dispersed residential and work locations?
2. Innovation (and Barriers to Change) in Urban Transport.
New policies, organizations and government institutions will be necessary to deliver urban transport systems that meet the needs of twenty first century cities. Long established ways of understanding the transport problem, and methods of delivery of transport systems and infrastructure, stand in the way of the necessary new policies. We will study the institutional barriers to sustainable transport, and how to overcome them.
3. Finance and Resource Allocation
How transport services and infrastructure are paid for strongly affects the form of urban transport delivered. We are investigating:
- whether there are biases and distortions in the funding system;
- the effects of partnerships between the government and private sector, and whether privatization of public transport has delivered a fair and effective outcome;
- new methods and sources of funding for public transport, and how mega-transport infrastructure projects have been evaluated in the past, and how this evaluation can be improved in the future.
Research Approach
GAMUT believes in a collaborative, multidisciplinary approach to research. Such an approach, transcending traditional national, interstate, academic and professional boundaries, is needed to deal with the future scope and complexity of urban transport problems in the 21st century.
GAMUT Research Projects
- THEME 1: Models of integrated urban passenger transport systems under resource and environmental constraints.
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THEME 2: Innovation (and Barriers to Change) in Urban Transport.
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THEME 3: Finance and Resource Allocation in Urban Transport.
- Associated GAMUT Projects: Projects being conducted by GAMUT partners.