Griffith University’s Cities Research Institute (CRI), which works closely with industry partners and policy makers, continues to play a pivotal role in informing the planning, construction and management of transport systems across Queensland.
At its heart, CRI is uncovering innovative and cost-effective solutions to the challenges. This includes alternative sources of funding for transport infrastructure.
Headed by Principal Research Fellow Associate Professor Matthew Burke, the Institute’s work delivers a range of social benefits through transformative research into the effects of urban sprawl and automobility, and the development of world-leading travel behaviour-change programs.
The work is proving vital in improving transport investment policies that ultimately enhance urban living.
In 2019, an Australian-first study uncovered evidence that urban traffic congestion, particularly around school drop off zones, has become worse due to the rising number of students entering Queensland’s secondary school system.
Research found more students travel by car to private secondary schools with the car trips almost twice as long as those students who attend state schools.
The net effects says PhD candidate Yiping Yan is that private school travel trips are having a disproportionate impact on traffic congestion during peak hour times.
“We found at the primary school level, the differences aren’t great but when we saw the data for private secondary schools, there was a major difference in those whose students were driven to school.
The research, presented at the Australasian Transport Research Forum, also found these trips to private secondary schools were on average twice as long as the primary schools meaning cars were on the road longer.
