Nga Momo Waka / Transport

Emerging mobility technologies, including connected shared platforms and automation, are disrupting urban transportation. There is an expectation that Shared Autonomous Vehicles (SAVs) will eventually replace ubiquitous private car ownership by offering efficient, flexible, and affordable on-demand mobility. However, the meaning of the car and its functions are not limited to facilitating mobility.

This paper describes a method for delineating functional labour market areas (LMAs) in national commuting networks. Identifying functional, rather than administrative, LMAs is important for analysing spatial patterns of economic activity. Functional boundaries capture the geography of interactions among employers and employees, whereas administrative boundaries typically ignore such interactions...

Prior to the Covid-19 lockdowns, Building Better researchers assessed the impacts of the South Island’s Alps to Ocean (A2O) cycle-trail. The study focussed on the sustainability of tourist trails and how associated tourism initiatives were working together to improve the economic, social, and environmental performance of Oamaru and settlements in the Waitaki Valley...

Auckland is New Zealand’s most diverse city, but the impacts of diversity are likely to be less if interactions between different groups are limited by where they live and work. This study examines exposure to local cultural diversity based on where people work as well as where they live. The study also examines whether the relationship between commuting and exposure to diversity differs between. . .

In this extended report for BBHTC (which later became a peer-reviewed journal article of the same name in the New Zealand Population Review), researchers ask does commuting increase workers' exposure to difference and diversity? The uneven spatial distribution of different population subgroups within cities is well documented. Individual neighbourhoods are less diverse than cities...

This think piece explores energy strategies and policy in relation to its generation, usage patterns, and outputs, all within a holistic wellbeing-led framework. The piece emphasises a home-focused energy approach that considers housing, local energy generation and storage, and electric vehicles as a circular zero carbon ecosystem. The researchers investigate a low-carbon Tāmaki Makaurau...

This working paper investigates the potential for land reclamation based on the deployment of disruptive mobility in Auckland’s CBD and ten other metropolitan areas. It assumes shared electric autonomous vehicles (SEAVs) will be the dominant transport system in the near future, that this would reduce the demands for car parking, and that existing open and covered car parking can be reclaimed for urban needs...

This paper looks at the characteristics of disruptive mobility. This includes three intertwined technological trends: automation, electrification, and smart shared mobility. The research investigates the potential positive and adverse impacts of disruptive mobility on urban form and the built environment in the future. It recommends planners and urban designers engage more with disruptive mobility...

This paper investigates the architecture of decision-making that influences delivery and outcomes of urban environments. It uses the case study of a new style of pedestrian crossing proposed for Massey Road in Mangere, Auckland. Local traffic concerns impeding walking and cycling were identified through a community engagement process. A neighbourhood-scale intervention was designed...

This think piece presents four scenarios of autonomous vehicle adoption and then present some of the potential impacts on travel behaviour, urban form, and wellbeing, with a particular focus on ageing populations. The scenarios range between an axis from high and low automation and an axis from hyper and collaborative consumption. Although there is a wealth of accumulated knowledge. . .

This research focuses on four scenarios designed to trigger debate about plausible future transport systems. The research used workshops, discussion, and stakeholder consultation to develop four scenarios between two uncertainty axes (automation and consumption). The four scenarios are: Custom Cocoons, Mode Nomads, Amped Autos, and Active Scouts. Fundamentally, it asks. . .

It has been widely claimed that autonomous vehicles will support the mobility of older adults. However, complex interactions between demographics, transport systems, the built environment, and health and wellbeing mean that outcomes are far from certain. Policy makers need to decide what outcomes they want from mobility futures and to identify how best to achieve those outcomes with the resources...

This document supports forward-planning, additional research initiatives, and public consultation by transport officials and other relevant stakeholders by summarizing a pilot policy scan of national autonomous vehicle regulation and initiatives. It explores concerns influencing contemporary government policies. Three are shared internationally: safety and ethics, liability and insurance, and policy for ageing...

A magazine article examining higher-density housing in Auckland. Higher-density housing requires quality urban development to deliver liveable, walkable communities. A National Science Challenge-funded survey in Auckland showed this is what people want from where they live. Associating enhanced liveability with higher density at first glance seems illogical. In the early part...

This paper examines how liveability is enhanced in intensified suburban contexts. Three case study areas in Auckland were used: Albany, New Lynn, and Onehunga. Key reasons for moving into higher-density housing were opportunities to form social networks, affordability, and proximity to schools, shopping, public transport, and employment. The research also examined walkability and car...