Category Archives: Transport

SEQ has expensive public transport due to low density and costly trains

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Gene Tunny

While hard on commuters, the recent Translink fare hike (see Brisbane Times coverage) still leaves South-East Queensland with a heavily subsidised public transport system, which it will continue to have given a relatively low population density and historically poor choices … Continue reading →

Posted in Brisbane, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

West is best – high income earners love Brisbane’s leafy western suburbs

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Gene Tunny

I’ve mapped the ABS’s latest small area income data for Brisbane below, and it shows, unsurprisingly, the leafy western suburbs remain popular with high income earners. (For greater clarity, you can right click and open the map in a new … Continue reading →

Posted in Brisbane, Labour market, Transport | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Guest post – Old Queenslanders in a New City

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Gene Tunny

This is a guest post from my friend and colleague Brad Rogers, who is also Secretary of the Queensland Branch of the Economic Society of Australia. Views expressed are Brad’s own, and are not necessarily shared by me, our employer … Continue reading →

Posted in Brisbane, Housing, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Congestion charges part of solution to costly congestion

Posted on November 4, 2013 by Gene Tunny

Infrastructure Partnerships Australia appears to make some good points in its lobbying of the Abbott Government on the need for congestion charges to help alleviate traffic congestion and defer or avoid the need to augment transport infrastructure, as reported in … Continue reading →

Posted in Infrastructure, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Govt should explore transport demand management options before committing to costly infrastructure

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Gene Tunny

While it’s good news the Government has found a much cheaper alternative to Cross-River Rail, before committing billions of dollars to an underground rail and bus network (see this morning’s Courier-Mail report), the Government should ensure it has fully considered … Continue reading →

Posted in Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Benefits of higher urban population density – more cycling and walking to work

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Gene Tunny

I’ve commented before on the need to boost population density across Brisbane to reduce the large costs associated with transporting people long distances to the CBD for work.  The State of Australian Cities 2013 report released yesterday by the Commonwealth … Continue reading →

Posted in Brisbane, Transport | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Commonwealth should give up student target – big savings possible from higher ed reform

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Gene Tunny

The Commonwealth is projected to spend over $10 billion on higher education by 2016-17 according to the 2013-14 Budget papers (see chart above). Hence it’s unsurprising the Government is looking at savings in this area, as reported in the Australian … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Toowoomba, Transport | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Is it the right time for a $5M Milton CityCat stop?

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Gene Tunny

La Dolce Vita cafe on Park Rd, Milton is almost a second home to me and, given I live close to the Toowong CityCat stop, I’d benefit a great deal from the Brisbane City Council’s planned Milton CityCat stop (see … Continue reading →

Posted in Transport | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Government should fully repeal compulsory bike helmet law

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Gene Tunny

I’m a great believer in bicycle helmets and I’d never ride my bike on the road without one. Indeed, a nice red Giro helmet I owned undoubtedly saved me from a nasty head injury when I decked it after hitting … Continue reading →

Posted in Health, Transport | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Pause in recovery in new motor vehicle sales in Qld

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Gene Tunny

While Queensland had decent growth of 6.9% through-the-year to February 2013 in new motor vehicle sales, we actually had the lowest growth rate across all States and Territories in new sales (see today’s new ABS data). Eyeballing the data, I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Retail trade, Transport | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment