WORKSHOP ON THE FUTURE OF URBAN PASSENGER TRANSPORT, 12-13 MAY 1981. SUMMARY REPORT

The workshop was convened to serve two functions: 1) to explore current issues and directions with a view to developing a greater appreciation of any action necessary for urban public transport as a whole, and 2) to provide a background for delegates to the Bureau of Transport Economics Transport Outlook Conference. Summaries of the opening address and resource papers were given as follows: Opening address (Hutchinson,MJ); The demand for urban passenger transport (Australia. Bureau of Transport Economics. Special studies branch); Financial performance of Australian urban public transport (Henning, L and Shaw, A); Industrial structure and disputation in urban public transport (Kunz,M); Institutional and policy issues: options and development (Pak-Poy,PG). Sessions 2-5 involved group discussions reporting back to plenary sessions as follows: Session 1- Demand and supply aspects of urban public Transport; Session 2-Management and operations; Session 3-Resources and rules; Session 4-Overview and outlook. Participants were neither united nor optimistic on the future of urban public transport. This sector is likely to continue into the 1980s as a high cost and troublesome component of the transport industry. (TRRL)