A Comparison on Daily Trips

Riley Flanigan• 1stAssociate Director at Urbis - City Strategy | Urban Design | Master Planning

Great insights here, really speaking to the massive, costly and unsustainable infrastructure inefficiency of low-density sprawl.

David Hayward• 2ndTransportation Strategist 

The recent Council of Mayors (SEQ) tour of North America as reported by tony moore uncovered a potential transportation benchmark blueprint of Vancouver for Brisbane to emulate in its transport infrastructure investments for the 2032 Summer Olympics and legacy beyond. 
 
This indicative comparison of the latest demographics and pre-COVID transport systems of Brisbane and Vancouver reveals a number of relevant similarities and differences between the two cities ranked in The Economists Top 25 most liveable cities in the world.
 
The main similarities between the two cities are the scale of population and the public transport modes primarily comprise of on trains, buses and ferries.
 
The striking differences between the two cities include:
1. Brisbane’s average commuting trip length being double Vancouver’s,
2. Public transport services and infrastructure is larger in Brisbane yet results in fewer passengers compared to Vancouver, and
3. Active travel mode shares for commuters in Brisbane is less than half the amount as Vancouver.
 
Ultimately it appears Vancouver’s future transport task will have fewer challenges compared to Brisbane’s by virtue of having an urban form and footprint that is more conducive to being mobilised effectively and efficiently by active and public transport.
 
Content & Graphic Credit: Sarah Dewbery Will Fooks Tom Kennedy Seth Santos

Michael Major BA (Hons), MDMView Michael Major BA (Hons), MDM’s profile • 2ndStrategy & Design Director - Property Development Advisor - Design Thinker - NeuroArchitecture Advisor

Great basic observational gap analysis. Im not an expert in public transportation infrastructure but I’m very interested. Armed with this knowledge, what can we possibly expect to be done by 2032 to narrow this gap?

Riley FlaniganView Riley Flanigan’s profileAuthorAssociate Director at Urbis - City Strategy | Urban Design | Master Planning

Hate to be a pessimist Michael, but the unfortunate reality is that the problem is baked in. Under the existing paradigm of incentives and processes, suburban areas will unfortunately never densify to any significant degree to make Brisbane's urban footprint more efficient. We can only lead with transit infrastructure to catalyse new sustainable settlement patterns in areas that are capable of renewal, and greenfield areas - neither of which is being done!