Keynote presentation: Technology and Transport - from horse & cart to smart places
| Tuesday, May 9, 2017 |
| 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM |
Overview
Andrew Ryan, Sunshine Coast Council
Details
Director Infrastructure Services
Speaker
Mr Andrew Ryan
Director Infrastructure Services
Sunshine Coast Council
Technology and Transport - from Horse & Cart to Smart Places (Learnings from the IPWEA International Study Tour)
ABSTRACT
Overview
Roads have been fundamental to societal and economic development over the history of humanity. They have always served as corridors for the movement of people and goods and since the industrial revolution, in the movement of powered vehicles. With this has come changes in the scale, functions and impacts of roads on communities.
In the past, and now over recent decades, more emphasis has been placed on using roads as places for engagement and community activity, and now we see the emergence of smart cities technologies that create the opportunity for the next major evolution in the design and development of roads.
This presentation presents an overview of learnings gained from the 2016 IPWEA International Study tour, and creates a link to the smart city plan that is being implemented within the Sunshine Coast Council region.
Study Tour
A group of four Australian local government and public works engineers including myself visited North America and Europe in August / September 2016. During the tour we visited the cities of Los Angeles, then on to Minneapolis in the State of Minnesota for the APWA Public Works Exhibition and Conference, then to New York and across to Madrid, Spain, and Amsterdam in The Netherlands before returning to Australia, and met with many councils and fellow professional engineers.
The theme of the study tour was “Sustainable Practices and Innovation in Public Works”.
Key Elements in Future Road Design
• Transport & mobility - The future for transport planners and traffic engineers will get blurry in the next five to ten years with significant change coming through in vehicle communication systems and the progression towards autonomy. Mobility is increasingly becoming the focus of transport systems design, over the more conventional segregation of modes, which is being driven by the disruptive technologies (such as Uber) and the integration of urban design and smart technology with mobility planning.
• Urban design - Great urban design doesn’t happen by accident and takes commitment and effort and involves art works, dedicated open space, integrated transport (mobility) systems, and above all , designing for the people first. Where this doesn’t happen, cities and towns cease to function as healthy places and atrophy sets in.
• Smart Cities - Many cities are jockeying to lead in the smart city arena – a committed local government is best placed to facilitate and / or deliver this technology in collaboration with the private sector as we manage the control the public realm that people interact with daily – not the Telco’s, not the state governments. Roads that are designed as smart assets, have the potential to gather data, manage vehicle and pedestrian movements, treat water, connect communities and even generate energy while reducing our overall carbon footprint.
Conclusions
The considered design and integration of these three elements by road and traffic engineers will see roads continue to develop and evolve to suit multiple needs to be a critical infrastructure asset to serve current and future needs.
Roads have been fundamental to societal and economic development over the history of humanity. They have always served as corridors for the movement of people and goods and since the industrial revolution, in the movement of powered vehicles. With this has come changes in the scale, functions and impacts of roads on communities.
In the past, and now over recent decades, more emphasis has been placed on using roads as places for engagement and community activity, and now we see the emergence of smart cities technologies that create the opportunity for the next major evolution in the design and development of roads.
This presentation presents an overview of learnings gained from the 2016 IPWEA International Study tour, and creates a link to the smart city plan that is being implemented within the Sunshine Coast Council region.
Study Tour
A group of four Australian local government and public works engineers including myself visited North America and Europe in August / September 2016. During the tour we visited the cities of Los Angeles, then on to Minneapolis in the State of Minnesota for the APWA Public Works Exhibition and Conference, then to New York and across to Madrid, Spain, and Amsterdam in The Netherlands before returning to Australia, and met with many councils and fellow professional engineers.
The theme of the study tour was “Sustainable Practices and Innovation in Public Works”.
Key Elements in Future Road Design
• Transport & mobility - The future for transport planners and traffic engineers will get blurry in the next five to ten years with significant change coming through in vehicle communication systems and the progression towards autonomy. Mobility is increasingly becoming the focus of transport systems design, over the more conventional segregation of modes, which is being driven by the disruptive technologies (such as Uber) and the integration of urban design and smart technology with mobility planning.
• Urban design - Great urban design doesn’t happen by accident and takes commitment and effort and involves art works, dedicated open space, integrated transport (mobility) systems, and above all , designing for the people first. Where this doesn’t happen, cities and towns cease to function as healthy places and atrophy sets in.
• Smart Cities - Many cities are jockeying to lead in the smart city arena – a committed local government is best placed to facilitate and / or deliver this technology in collaboration with the private sector as we manage the control the public realm that people interact with daily – not the Telco’s, not the state governments. Roads that are designed as smart assets, have the potential to gather data, manage vehicle and pedestrian movements, treat water, connect communities and even generate energy while reducing our overall carbon footprint.
Conclusions
The considered design and integration of these three elements by road and traffic engineers will see roads continue to develop and evolve to suit multiple needs to be a critical infrastructure asset to serve current and future needs.
Biography
Andrew is currently the Director Infrastructure Services with the Sunshine Coast Council, one of Australia’s fastest growing regions, with a population around 300,000 people, and an asset base of around $4b. Andrews’ department is responsible for all physical services to the wider Sunshine Coast region, with a staffing of some 600 people, and annual capital and operational budgets in the vicinity of $300m.
Andrew was awarded the honour of being selected as the Institute of Public Works Australia (Qld) “Professional Engineer of the Year “ in 2016, and has significant engineering expertise with a focus on asset management , project management, workforce and service transformation through information technology, while leading and implementing Council’s smart city strategy that will transform future community services and economies.
Andrew holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering, a Master’s in Business Administration (Technology Management), and a Company Director Diploma with the Institute of Company Directors. He is also a Registered Professional Engineer Queensland and has been awarded with grade Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia, and is also a Fellow of the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia.
Andrew is also the Local Disaster Coordinator for the Sunshine Coast Council area and has lead and coordinated numerous region wide responses to significant and high impact storm events across the region, while ensuring that staff and fellow agencies coordinate, engage and train together during peace times. He is also the Chair of the Suncoast Christian College Board in a volunteer capacity.
