Smart Urban Transport 2005 Conference, a two day event was held 13 - 14 September 2005, at Rydges Southbank, Brisbane, Australia focused on the benefits that can be achieved by adopting a more integrated approach to provision of transport services and featured the best practice in strategy and policy, systems and technologies, network planning and delivery and associated institutional and organisational design.

A sister but separate event required its own registration was a joint one day conference with the University of Queensland will be held on 15 September on Transit Oriented Development. Click here for more information.

South East Queensland’s size and density and the service characteristics of transit services that can be provided at a reasonable cost are quite different to that of Europe, Asia and USA’s larger cities. Queensland’s approach to delivery of integrated transit to South East Queensland was effectively showcased within the event that featured the best of global practices.

Topics to be presented included:
• Establishment of a regional transit authority
• Criteria for design of an integrated ticketing system and choice of technology
• Development and implementation of an integrated public transport services network
• Bucking the trend – gaining patronage through an integrated approach
• Branding and marketing including role of smart cards
• How do major transit initiatives (eg busways and interchanges) relate to the entire public transport system in terms of branding and marketing?
• Successful approaches for suburban and central city markets
• How much integration is enough?
• Value for money – in retrospect where would design changes be made if starting again?

Several influential transport professionals gave key note presentations. Bruno Wildermuth of Singapore having been closely involved in the development of Singapore and Hong Kong’s public transport including ticketing systems provided his views on where public transport in major cities should be headed. Paul Anderson, until recently Chief Operating Officer of the Bangkok Transit System, reported on the role of advanced ticketing systems in improving public transport operation and financial outcomes. Alan Hoffman, the founding principal of The Mission Group, a strategic planning firm specializing in innovation in the areas of transportation and urban development based in San Diego California, spoke about his experience on transit planning and land-use integration

Silvester Prakasam of Singapore’s Land Transport Authority in his role as Head of Automatic Fare Systems for public transport reported on almost three years of operation of Singapore’s ez-link ticketing system. Dr Sara Cheung of Hong Kongl discussed the importance of branding and marketing for public transport operators. She has advised public transport operators in China including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Thailand. John Stott, Chairman of the New South Wales (NSW) Public Transport Ticketing Corporation, and former head of the NSW State Transit Authority, also spoke on their integrated ticketing plans and bus reform. There were further invited presentations by international and regional speakers, many representing regional and international rail and public transport systems.

The conference provided a good opportunity to find out about the new A$35 billion infrastructure plan for South East Queensland which was announced in April. Over 100 transport projects were included with several billions dollars planned to be spent in the next five to seven years.