Team Name:
Four Musketeers
Team Members:
Four Musketeers
The project, “Ride-Wise Smart Mobility Solutions” aims to reduce private vehicle reliance in Victoria by enhancing sustainable transport systems. With decreasing of the car usage, especially in suburban areas, this project proposes several strategies to encourage greener transportation choices, ease congestion, and reduce carbon emissions.
Some Key components we proposed include expanding bike lanes, particularly in suburban areas where infrastructure is underdeveloped, and testing two-level buses and hybrid public transport systems. Through these efforts, we aim to provide more efficient and environmentally friendly alternatives for private car usage. Vehicle registration policies will be revised to impose higher fees on high-emission vehicles, as well as a buy-back program where owners of older cars can trade them in for Myki credits, giving incentive for the shift toward public transport.
The project solutions we proposed is a comprehensive sustainability focused app called RideWise. RideWise will integrate public transport options including trains, trams, buses, and bikes and make it into a single platform, allowing users to access real-time information on routes, times, stops, and estimated arrival times. The app will also include features for finding available bikes, bike lane information, and a low cost ride sharing option with hybrid vehicles, rewarding users for eco-friendly transport choices. In this app, we also provide Safety features, such as “track my journey” and “check on me,” this will ensure secure commuting across all transport options.
In addition, RideWise will promote sustainability campaigns and public encouragement events while offering surveys for users to provide feedback on new transport solutions like two-level buses and trams. The app will also send pop-up notifications about increases in bike and public transport use and how these changes are contributing to carbon emission reductions.
To support these changes, the app Urban Mobility Impact Simulator will give a feature , which will calculate the effects of policies on urban mobility, congestion, emissions, and public health. This data will enable policymakers to make informed decisions about future infrastructure investments, ensuring that the city’s transport network becomes more sustainable, efficient, and accessible. The goal from this project is to encourage a shift toward public and active transport, reducing private car dependency and improving both environmental and public health outcomes for the region.
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Data Story: Promoting Sustainable Urban Infrastructure in Victoria
The Victorian Government aims to reduce carbon emissions and foster sustainable urban development by promoting active transport and reducing reliance on private vehicles. To achieve this, it’s crucial to understand the relationship between vehicle registration, public transport usage, and the availability of bike infrastructure in urban areas. Leveraging data insights can help drive informed decisions and promote more sustainable transportation options.
Act 1: The Challenge and Goals
Our journey begins with the challenge: How can the Victorian government promote sustainable urban mobility while reducing reliance on private vehicles? The goal is to develop data-driven solutions to optimize urban infrastructure by analyzing the correlation between vehicle registrations, public transport usage, and the availability of bike lanes in urban and suburban areas. This aligns with Victoria’s commitments to reducing carbon emissions in the transport sector. By improving public transport, expanding bike infrastructure, and reducing car dependency, we aim to build a sustainable future for Victoria.
Act 2: Data Gathering and Preparation
To address this challenge, we collected several key datasets, which act as the foundation of our analysis:
To reveals car ownership patterns across Victoria, identifying regions heavily dependent on private vehicles we utilize Motor Vehicle Registration in Australia from 1990 to 2020 datas
We highlight usage levels and areas underserved by buses, trams, and trains regarding the Monthly Average Patronage by Day Type and by Mode dataset.
To pinpoints areas with well-developed or lacking bike lanes and cycling paths, datasets of Bicycle volume and speed were used.
Act 4: Visualization and Insights
Our findings are visualized in a series of heatmaps and charts, offering a clear view of mobility patterns across Victoria. The maps show regions with high vehicle dependency and low public transport and bike infrastructure availability. These are areas where interventions, such as expanding public transport networks or building additional bike lanes, are most urgently needed. By overlaying public transport usage and bike lane availability with vehicle registrations, the heatmap reveals both the gaps in sustainable transport options and opportunities for development.
Act 5: Strategic Solutions and Deployment
Armed with researched insights, we propose several actionable solutions to reduce car dependency and improve urban mobility:
1. Expand Bike Infrastructure : we propose creating fragmented bike paths which will encourage cycling as a viable transport option in suburban areas where bike lanes are underdeveloped.
2. Hybrid Public Transport Systems: Introducing two-level buses and hybrid vehicles to increase capacity, reduce emissions, and provide more efficient services.
3. Policy Changes: Revising vehicle registration policies to impose higher fees on high-emission vehicles and implementing a buy-back program, offering Myki credits in exchange for older, less-efficient cars.
4. RideWise App: A comprehensive platform integrating public transport, bike-sharing, and ride-sharing options, providing real-time data on routes, stops, and availability. The app rewards users for choosing eco-friendly options and includes safety features such as “track my journey.”
5. Sustainability Campaigns: RideWise will also promote public awareness through events and user surveys, gathering feedback on new transport innovations like two-level buses and bike-sharing programs. Notifications on emission reductions will help users understand the collective impact of their transportation choices.
Act 6: Simulating Impact
The Urban Mobility Impact Simulator within the RideWise app will model the effects of these changes on urban mobility, congestion, emissions, and public health. Predictive modeling will demonstrate how a shift from private vehicles to public or active transport can:
Reduce congestion by encouraging cycling and public transport will ease traffic in both urban and suburban areas.
Cut carbon emissions: Fewer cars on the road means a substantial reduction in transport-related emissions.
Improve public health by increasing physical activity from cycling and walking contributes to better health outcomes for Victorians.
Conclusion:
The Ride-Wise Smart Mobility Solutions project offers a clear pathway for Victoria to transition towards a more sustainable, efficient, and accessible transportation network. By reducing car dependency, expanding public transport options, and enhancing bike infrastructure, we can create a greener urban landscape while improving the quality of life for all Victorians.
Description of Use Another reference and dataset used to compare the vehicle census.
Description of Use This dataset was used to determine the usage of private vehicles.
Description of Use This dataset was used to determine the increase of vehicle registrations and compare it to public vehicle count.
Description of Use This dataset was used to determine the public transport usage, which shows that it is high during peak hours in central Melbourne but drops significantly off-peak, pointing to the need for better services and more bike lanes.
Description of Use This dataset has been used by the team to determine in which areas in Victoria has most bikers, which helped analysed their urban infrastructure, such as having more bike lanes in some suburbs lead to less private car ownership.
#Designing sustainable urban mobility solutions
Eligibility: Use at least one dataset from data.vic.gov.au
Go to Challenge | 26 teams have entered this challenge.
