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In the boilers of pulp mills the fuel blends used vary because they are essentially composed of residual forest biomass. Consequently, the physical-chemical properties of the produced ash streams can exhibit high temporal variability, making their proper management and recycling difficult. This study aims to characterize the ash from the incineration of biomass samples used as fuel in order to understand its influence on the properties of the generated ash fluxes. This can anticipate suitable blending procedures that minimize the variability of the ash characteristics. For this purpose, typical biomass samples (eucalyptus bark, treetops and knots, pine treetops, silver wattle, Sydney golden wattle, white poplar, and grey willow) were incinerated (at 550 and 825 °C) and the resulting ashes were characterized. The thermal behavior of the biomass was evaluated by TG/DTA and the generated ash content was determined. The particle size distribution (laser diffraction), morphology (SEM), mineralogy (XRD), and chemical composition (XRF) were other evaluated properties. From the results obtained it is concluded that the ashes cannot be used as raw materials for clinker production. However, they can be used in concrete and mortar formulations, as a cement substitute or as filler. The maximum incorporation amount depends on the type of biomass used, ranging from 54 wt% for pine treetops to 100 wt% for eucalyptus bark. This knowledge is fundamental to understand how to optimize the biomass blends used in industrial combustion systems to obtain ashes with suitable properties to be used as secondary raw materials in building materials formulations. [Display omitted] • Eight types of biomass fuels used in two bubbling fluidized bed boilers were studied. • The ashes generated after biomass incineration at 550 and 825 °C were characterized. • Slagging and fouling are forecast to happen in the combustion systems under study. • The obtained ashes cannot be used as secondary raw material for clinker production. • Maximum ash incorporation in cementitious formulations ranges from 54 to 100 wt%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Field studies presented in the “Impact of fire on Tunnels in Hawkesbury Sandstone” (Smith and Pells, 2008) comprised a high temperature furnace placed against a sandstone cutting. A Truck fire in a Hawkesbury Sandstone cutting on the F3 Freeway north of Sydney, Australia, provided a “real world” and scaled up version of the field studies. Spalling of the rock occurred during the blaze. Photographs from during and following the event, plus descriptions are provided. Conclusions provided in the previous paper are reaffirmed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

For freight and servicing movements entering a city, parking provides the access enabling service to customers. This will invariably occur on the street in parking spots or in modern buildings in off-street facilities. In light of changing urban planning priorities and as a result, declining on-street loading zone spaces, this paper explores the provision and challenges of off-street loading docks to support freight and servicing task activity in major urban centres. While it may not be fully appreciated, provisions to adequately accommodate a city's generated freight task is critical to urban planner's broader objectives. As a non-discretionary transport task, freight vehicles will continue to enter cities. If good off-street loading dock facilities are not provided, vehicles will seek out legitimate or illegal on-street parking, and urban planner's place making objectives are likely to be compromised. The paper first considers the planning approaches that govern the provision of loading docks. This paper focuses on Sydney but draws on comparisons primarily to the Borough of City of London. Based on recent observations in Sydney, it then considers various stakeholder perspectives towards loading dock provision and use. Modelling approaches to forecast better requirements that could assist to overcome the planning issues faced are then outlined. The paper concludes with actions taken to address the challenges. • Lack of tools for planning loading docks leads to conflict between developers and government. • Poor provision of loading docks in new developments can compromise urban planning objectives. • Regression and clustering analysis techniques allow the capacity of loading docks and their levels of service to be estimated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on literatures on food justice, and geographies of care and the concept of care-full justice, this aim of this paper is to develop the concept of care-full food justice as an analytical framework through which to view the work of community food provisioning initiatives in the meantime. The paper begins by developing the concept of care-full justice, outlining that it is based on three premises: the inter-dependence of care and justice; an understanding of who is taking responsibility for care in the meantime; and an appreciation of the ways in which the five dispositions of an ethics of care might individually or collectively facilitate responses to injustice. Secondly, the paper provides an overview of the research project informing the paper, which documents community food provisioning initiatives in Sydney. Thirdly, drawing on the example of Addison Road Community Centre Organisation Food Pantry, the paper applies a care-full food justice approach to generate insights into how the values of attentiveness, responsibility, competence, responsiveness and caring with flow through responses to injustice enacted by the organisation. The paper emphasises that a care-full food justice approach enables us to attend to the calls for caring justice and just care, to equally value these formative ethics that might guide our analysis and engagement with organisations responding to injustice in the meantime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Quantify impacts of subscription bundles on travel behaviour and sustainability. • Verify MaaS potential to achieve societal and commercial outcomes. • Suggest a new commercial model for MaaS. • Quantify the net impact of MaaS on car-based use and shared-mode volume. • Perform an economic analysis of MaaS using transaction cost theory and market design. Mobility as a Service, or MaaS, is a relatively new business model that aims to disrupt the passenger transport industry by integrating existing mobility services into an intuitive smartphone app that allows everyday travellers to search, book, use, and pay for all their transport needs. In a fully integrated ecosystem, MaaS is envisaged to integrate not only travel information and payment, but also mobility services and societal goals to obtain the so-called four levels of MaaS integration. This paper empirically assesses the prospects of having a commercially viable and environmentally sustainable MaaS. Leveraging high-quality data collected by GPS-tracking technology, ticketing management systems, and survey questionnaires over the five-month in-field trial of MaaS in Sydney, this paper develops a discrete-count modelling system to quantify, for the first time, the impacts of MaaS on users' travel behaviour and extra volume/revenue for shared modes. Based on the quantitative evidence obtained, the paper suggests a new commercial model for MaaS and identifies the likely opportunities and challenges faced by MaaS integrators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Any serious challenge to car-dependency requires a better understanding of barriers to the uptake of alternative transport modes, including public transport. Such barriers will be complex and contextual. They may be major, such as the absence of a time competitive public transport option, or a collection of minor, seemingly peripheral inconsistencies between the needs of the user and the operation of the system. This paper provides a comprehensive examination of one such barrier – the restriction of pets on public transport. Typically, cities in Europe, and many in North America and the UK, permit dogs to ride public transport with their carers. Australian cities, in contrast, are more restrictive, deeming the popular practice of dog ownership in Australian cities a relatively car-dependent affair. Drawing from a survey of 1091 Sydney residents, we examine reactions to a hypothetical change in the city's pets on public transport policy to allow dogs to ride with their carers. Specifically, we examine the level of support for the policy change, explore who supports and who would be against the change, and unpick the potential impact of a policy change on user behaviour. We find a low level of opposition to policy change (23%), with only a small portion of respondents indicating that a policy to allow pets on public transport would discourage their use of public transport (21%). The key determinants of policy support relate to attitudes to dogs rather than transport related characteristics, highlighting the need for transport policy makers to look beyond transport issues when considering policy change. The paper concludes with reflections on the importance of investigating the smaller ways public transport policy might be able to encourage transition away from private car use. • Prohibitions on public transport can prevent the provision of an equitable and useful network. • Pets are prohibited on public transport in some cities, deeming pet ownership a car dependent practice. • Removal of this prohibition requires understanding peoples' attitudes to dogs, as well as transport. • A revised pets on public transport policy should be tailored to the network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel method to address the ferry network design problem (FNDP). Ferry transport is an increasingly important component of public transport, providing mobility for people in large cities with harbours or rivers. It is therefore important that ferry networks are well designed. The connections between ferry stations and the locations of hubs that are optimal for passengers are revealed by the maximum passenger utility spanning tree connecting all ferry stations. This paper harnesses the equivalence between entropy maximisation and utility maximisation to find the maximum passenger utility spanning tree which connects all ferry stations. A small example with five ferry stations illustrates how the spanning tree topology responds to the pattern of passenger demand. Two heuristics for solving the problem are compared for the Sydney Harbour ferry network with 36 ferry stations. One heuristic reveals the most important connections between ferry stations from a passenger perspective. The use of maximum passenger utility spanning trees for ferry network design is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel concept of mobile energy storage is proposed in this paper. • A detailed modeling of mobile compressed air energy storage with higher dispatchability and storage capacity is presented. • In concern to routing challenges, Google map's Application Programming Interface is used to find the target location. • A new heuristic-based technique that overcomes deficiencies of traditional constraint handling methods is proposed. • The proposed framework is tested through the IEEE 33-bus and 136-bus networks with different scenarios. • Various reliability indices and operating profits are measured to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed technology. Efficient energy storage technology is one of the key elements to enhance the flexibility, economy, and security of the power system. With the continuous development of energy storage technology, containerized mobile energy storage is coming into view, which has offered promising opportunities to improve distribution network (DN) performances and grid operating factors against emergencies. This paper proposes the concept of mobile compressed air energy storage (CAES) for an electric DN. The movable air storage tanks with stored energy are transported by trucks and placed at some distribution nodes/buses to improve DN performance. To overcome routing challenges for trucks, the configuration of the grid is mapped on the urban region of the city of Sydney, Australia, using Google map's Application Programming Interface. This approach can accurately model distances between current and targeted locations, unavailability of tanks during traveling, route congestions, and fuel consumptions. A new heuristic mathematical method is proposed in this paper to convert the constraints of the mobile CAES (MCAES) model into feasible search spaces, which significantly improves the convergence quality and speed. Operating results for both stationary and mobile CAESs are presented and compared. The methodology is applied to IEEE 136-bus DN in addition to IEEE 33-bus DN to demonstrate the competence of MCAES for larger-scale grids in optimizing the total operating profit, active power loss, energy not supplied, and voltage stability index of the grid. The crucial application of the proposed model can deal with natural disasters to avoid large-scale power outages and, eventually, mitigate the power system damages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses Sydney rail data to examine the relationship between station level ridership and local and regional accessibility. We use net transit accessibility, which is the additional number of opportunities reachable by transit over walking to represent the regional connectivity value provided by transit. We map accessibility at transit stations, and use the number of opportunities within walking distance as an indicator of local access. We find elements of place (or local) access, including access to jobs and to residents within walking distance (local access), and nodal (or regional) access, including transit access to distant jobs and residential locations are both significant indicators of station level ridership. In particular, the number of jobs within walking distance of a transit station is the best single predictor of transit ridership. This paper highlights the importance of high density around station areas for transit ridership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There exists a substantial amount of research on the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on significant changes in the location at which work takes place, especially working from home (WFH). There has been, however, very little systematic consideration given to the relationship between the substantial increase in WFH and the responses taken by organisations in reviewing their office (workspace) capacity needs in the future, including a switch of the mix of utilising workspace in the main office(s) and satellite office locations. The main aim of this paper is to explore the extent to which levels of working from home and increased use of rented satellite office space will be linked to changes in the amount of workspace required at the main office that was used pre-COVID-19. Using data from 459 businesses for three periods for pre-COVID-19, April 2022 (25 months after the outbreak of the pandemic) and stated intentions for 2023, we develop a random effects regression model for the Greater Sydney Metropolitan Area in which we identify some of the influences on the downsizing or not of the main office(s) work space, and comment on what we see as the most likely scenario for WFH and work space in the main office and rented satellite office space under the 'next normal'. The findings can be used to inform future commuting travel as well as changes in land use activity at specific locations, including possible reallocation of existing office space to other activity uses. • Main office workspace needs in the 'next normal'. • Downsizing of office capacity in presence of working from home. • Role of Working from home and growth in satellite office space rental on main office needs. • New empirical evidence in Sydney, Australia. • Contrasts between pre-COVID-19, April 2022 and the future works space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The voices of young adults (15−24) ring faintly in the conversation around nature-based solutions (NBS), an absence that results in a lack of both procedural and distributive justice in the provision of such solutions. NBS clearly shape young adults — including their connections with nature, engagement in pro-environmental behaviours, and social and psychological health — but the dramatic reshaping of urban areas via rapid growth, densification, and technological innovation means today's young adults have fewer opportunities to benefit from NBS. In a potentially vicious cycle, this shortfall can result in a weakened sense of connection with nature, leading to less time spent in natural environments and fewer sustainable behaviours. Achieving justice for young adults requires understanding their preferences, clarifying relationships between NBS characteristics and use, and translating research into evidence-based design. This paper fills these gaps by summarising interdisciplinary knowledge regarding the impacts of contact with nature on the development and well-being of young adults; describing case studies conducted in formal parks located in Australia's largest cities of Sydney and Melbourne to clarify connections between our existing knowledge and the real-world provision of NBS; and applying these findings to develop an appraisal framework comprising three primary attributes — order, diversity, and seclusion and retreat — that supports the design and integration of urban greenspaces that uniquely benefit young adults' social development and mental health. Finally, we explore the framework's implementation, demonstrating its utility and flexibility for urban planners, municipal policymakers, and natural-resource managers seeking to advance intergenerational equity. • Young adults are a missing middle in research on NBS and health, resulting in a lack of procedural and distributive justice. • Novel appraisal framework focuses on fostering social ties and supporting mental health among young adults via NBS. • Informed by literature review and Australian case studies, framework comprises order, diversity, and seclusion and retreat. • Framework advances collaborative planning that achieves intergenerational equity via creation and maintenance of urban NBS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pursuing Sustainable Development Goal 4 has led to more children and youth accessing schooling than at any point in history. However, this expansion of provision has not been without workforce challenges. UNESCO modelling indicates a global shortfall of 44 million teachers by 2030. The challenge of having a sufficiently qualified school education workforce where it is needed is amplified in locations where affordable quality stock of housing is limited. With most of the world's population urbanising, cities represent a new frontier in understanding the complexity of current and forthcoming teacher shortages, with significant public policy implications. Interventions aimed at individual workers, schools, or administrative boundaries have failed to arrest staff shortages as they are frequently applied too late or based on potential rather than realised data. This paper develops a novel measure, the Workforce Catchment Area (WFCA), and tests its applicability in the Australian city of Sydney. Analysis demonstrates that when integrated with housing and transportation costs it is possible to identify workforce distribution as a contributor to teacher shortages, and generate the data and evidence required by policy makers to set explicit policy goals and markers of success. • Housing the school education workforce is an under-studied issue in seeking to address teacher shortages. • Introduces a novel measure, Workforce Catchment Area (WFCA), and tests its applicability in the Australian city of Sydney. • Overcomes limitations of supply and demand ratios, closest workplace, and is based on realised rather than modelled flows. • Provides data on workforce distribution and a basis for targeted and tailored solutions by identifying areas under stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In previous work, a single-tether submerged spherical point absorber with asymmetric mass distribution (SPAMD) was proposed to enable harvesting wave energy induced by the surge and heave motion of the buoy. By taking advantage of the motion coupling arising from the asymmetric mass distribution of the buoy, the SPAMD was found to be up to 3 times more efficient than a generic single-tether point absorber (with uniform mass distribution buoy) under regular waves. For motion-coupled systems like the SPAMD, the mass distribution is a significant factor that governs the kinematics and the efficiency of the device. Therefore, in this paper, a 3DOF (surge, heave and pitch) spectral-domain model considering viscous drag was developed, to investigate the sensitivity of the mass distribution on the power output of the SPAMD in irregular waves. The aim of the sensitivity study is to provide a guideline for the wave energy industry when designing such devices. At the end of this paper, the yearly mean power output of the SPAMD with optimal mass distribution was assessed at three test sites near Yeu Island (France), Perth (Australia) and Sydney (Australia). It was found that in such sea sites, the SPAMD was at least 1.5 times more efficient than the generic single-tether point absorber, indicating that the SPAMD might have a significant commercial potential. Furthermore, for the three sites investigated, the performance of the SPAMD was found to be relatively tolerant to non-optimal PTO configuration, implying that sea-state specific tuning is unnecessary. • A SPAMD with low weight-to-buoyancy ratio is more productive at small wave periods. • The mass ratio of the SPAMD has a limited impact on the power output. • Mass-offset position has the greatest impact on the power production of the SPAMD. • PTO loading is relatively insensitive to the mass-offset position. • SPAMD can produce up to 53% more annual mean power than the generic single-tether PA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the boundary-making practices enacted by the hospital. Taking a hospital in Sydney, Australia, as our case, we investigate how the hospital holds together as a care environment through the coordinating movements of many materials, spaces, bodies, technologies, and affects. Drawing on interviews with hospital healthcare workers involved in care, research, and management related to COVID-19, we examine the multiplying effects of these movements to trace the ways in which the hospital is (re)made in relation with pandemic assemblages. We accentuate the material affordances of care environments and how care is adapted through the reshaping of the spaces and flows of the hospital. Through this, we highlight how care providers can work with the fluidity of the hospital, including through reorganizing routines and spaces of care, engaging with communication technologies to enact care at many scales, and remaking mundane materials as medical objects in the evolving care environment. • This paper develops a conceptual account of the making of 'the hospital.'. • The hospital has unfixed boundaries and is shaped by material and affective flows. • Materials and spaces are co-constitutive elements of care environments. • The hospital has adapted in response to COVID-19 through its material environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A computational model was developed to study the impact of optical and fluorescent properties on fluorescent cooling potential. • The relation between solar reflection and PL-effect as complementary optical heat rejecting mechanisms was studied. • The highest theoretical fluorescent cooling potential for visible and NIR-emitting fluorescent materials was estimated. Quantum dots (QDs) coatings have recently attracted attentions as novel nano-scale fluorescent cooling materials with adjustable thermo-optical properties for urban overheating mitigation application. In this paper, a mathematical method for the prediction of impact of optical and fluorescent properties (i.e. absorption edge wavelength (λ AE) and quantum yield (QY)) on fluorescent cooling indicators including re-emitted energy (Q PL), effective solar reflection (ESR), and PL-related surface temperature reduction was proposed. The experimental thermal evaluation testing on three PbS QDs sample with different fluorescent properties and their corresponding non-fluorescent samples was performed to assess the accuracy of the proposed predictive model and evaluate the impact of fluorescent/optical properties on their cooling potential. The validated model was then used to optimize the fluorescent cooling potential for QDs samples with different fluorescent/optical properties. According to the model results, surface temperature reduction potential through PL effect demonstrates its highest value for QDs with solar absorption and QY near to unity, and λ AE at around 1300 nm. QDs coatings with the optimal solar absorption, QY, and λ AE showed up to 35 °C lower surface temperature than their corresponding non-fluorescent reference sample in a typical sunny day in Sydney. The maximum fluorescence contribution (Effective solar reflection (ESR)- Solar reflection (R)) is also estimated to be 0.44 for the fluorescent material with optimal optical and fluorescent property. Results of this study will support the next phase of research on fluorescent cooling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E -commerce's rapid expansion has transformed consumer shopping habits and business operations. While it offers the potential to reduce customer trips, it has also contributed to increased vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT) by delivery vehicles, resulting in elevated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, especially in last-mile deliveries. This paper proposes a spatial approach to address the uncapacitated single allocation hub covering problem (USAHCP) to reduce the VKT by optimising the number and location of logistics hub. In this approach, the spatial features and strategic legislation of metropolitan areas are analysed. Integrating existing models, this location-based approach aims to design a collaborative last mile distribution network by locating micro-consolidation centres (MCCs) in metropolitan areas to service parcel lockers where end customers pick up their parcels. The method is applied to Sydney, Australia, using data provided by the largest courier companies in Australia. The results show that incorporating MCCs in the network reduces VKT due to their proximity to final destinations. Sensitivity analyses are conducted by differentiating maximum driving time constraints and specific times of day reflecting traffic patterns. The results provide significant advantages for logistics stakeholders, notably Transport for NSW, by reducing VKT and GHG emissions. Moreover, the developed method can be utilised by carriers and shippers in their strategic and operational decisions to enhance overall delivery speed and reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The need to recognise and account for the influence of working from home on commuting activity has never been so real as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only does this change the performance of the transport network, it also means that the way in which transport modellers and planners use models estimated on a typical weekday of travel and expand it up to the week and the year must be questioned and appropriately revised to adjust for the quantum of working from home. Although teleworking is not a new phenomenon, what is new is the ferocity by which it has been imposed on individuals throughout the world, and the expectation that working from home is no longer a temporary phenomenon but one that is likely to continue to some non-marginal extent given its acceptance and revealed preferences from both many employees and employ where working from home makes good sense. This paper formalises the relationship between working from home and commuting by day of the week and time of day for two large metropolitan areas in Australia, Brisbane and Sydney, using a mixed logit choice model, identifying the influences on such choices together with a mapping model between the probability of working from home and socioeconomic and other contextual influences that are commonly used in strategic transport models to predict demand for various modes by location. The findings, based on Wave 3 (approximately 6 months from the initial outbreak of the pandemic) of an ongoing data collection exercise, provide the first formal evidence for Australia in enabling transport planners to adjust their predicted modal shares and overall modal travel activity for the presence of working from home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Selecting materials that are energy efficient over their life cycle at the early stage of a design is dependent upon numerous parameters that make determination of all their impacts on the environment difficult. Choice of thermal insulation options for a building's external walls significantly affects its life cycle energy demands. However, the accurate impact analysis of different insulation options from a life cycle energy assessment (LCEA) viewpoint is influenced by numerous interrelated parameters and is generally too complex for designers to determine in the early material selection stage of design. The aim of this paper is to highlight this complexity by using the example of an evaluation of the LCEA of 18 different forms of thermal insulations that vary in type and thickness for a multi-storey residential building in Sydney, Australia. The sensitivity of the results to the Window to Wall Ratio (WWR), as an another effective variable on the building's operational energy demands, is then analysed. The study indicates that different thermal insulation options of external walls have a marginal impact on the building cooling energy demands in Sydney's climatic zone, whereas they significantly affect the heating energy demands. In addition, changing of insulation options produce significant increases in the embodied energy. The impact of various WWRs on the building's operational energy changes the result of the optimum and the least efficient choices among the 18 insulation options. Overall, the example highlights that it is not possible to quantify all the effective parameters in selecting materials in terms of designing an energy efficient building through its life cycle. This paper is part of a larger research project attempting to simplify the LCEA and enable designers to identify the most effective variables on a building's life cycle energy demand when selecting materials at the early design stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shifting climate patterns are causing extreme drought and flooding across the globe. This combined with the world's burgeoning population and insatiable thirst for water requires water service providers to think differently about the limited resources they manage. In Australia, the severe drought at the beginning of the century caused dams to fall to record levels. In response, many state governments invested heavily in rain-independent supplies such as desalination to augment and diversify traditional sources. However, extreme rainfall soon followed the drought, filled reservoirs and caused flooding in many locations leaving billions of dollars worth of damage and new water infrastructure standing idle. This is the case in Sydney, where the new desalination plant is still not used and the potential for major flooding has raised concerns over the safety of the large population downstream of the dam. This paper explores the growing need to understand the relationship between drought, flooding and infrastructure optimisation. The paper focuses on Sydney to illustrate the application of a system dynamics model. The new model explores options for raising the dam wall, offering airspace to assist flood protection, in contrast to options to lower the dam full supply level and utilise idle desalination capacity to fill the water security gap created. The illustrative results, using publicly available data, find that by lowering the dam water levels and operating desalination, significant flood protection can be achieved at a similar cost to raising the dam wall. The paper demonstrates the importance of optimising existing and new water resources for multiple purposes and how system dynamics modelling can assist water service providers in these complex investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effects of the number of active COVID19 cases on the wholesale prices of diesel and unleaded petrol (gasoline) across seven Australian states using daily data from 1 Jan 2020–11 September 2020. Our results indicate that statistically significant asymmetries with respect to COVID19 are observed in both wholesale unleaded petrol and diesel prices in all seven markets. When crude oil prices are falling substantially, the number of active COVID19 cases is highly significant in a negative relationship with petrol prices. However, when oil prices are rising (or not falling substantially), the negative effects of such a pandemic on fuel prices perplexingly disappear or become smaller. We find that the negative effects of COVID19 on diesel prices are more pronounced in more population-dense capital cities (i.e. Sydney and Melbourne). It is surprising to observe that the effects of COVID19 pandemic are driven by changes in oil prices: rising oil prices can substantially reduce the negative effect of this health pandemic on fuel prices. Our findings complement concerns from the national competition commission that while fuel prices have recently fallen to decades-long lows, fuel profit margins are at record high levels. • We investigate how COVID19 has affected wholesale diesel and petrol prices. • We employ daily data for 7 Australian states and territories (1 Jan–11 September 2020). • The number of active cases exhibits a negative relationship with fuel prices. • Falling oil price and increased cases act synergistically on fuel prices. • The COVID19 effects are characterised by the rocket-and-feather hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel method to simulate multifunctional biomimetic adaptive facades is proposed. • Multifunctional adaptive facades can be simulated with script-based controls. • 600 iterations of a multifunctional shading and ventilating Bio-ABS is analysed. • PVC glazing achieves shading, and SMA springs trigger ventilation by openings. • An adaptive façade over a non-adaptable one improves thermal comfort by 18 to 37.1%. Biomimetic adaptive building skins (Bio-ABS), being adaptable to changing environmental conditions, can foster improved comfort and reduced energy demand. Bio-ABS are climate-adaptable façades, and biological functions inspire their design. Buildings often require multiple functions for improved environmental performance. Multifunctionality refers to hosting multiple triggered by diverse stimuli interdependently. The realisation of multifunctional Bio-ABS may be challenging due to difficult construction processes, expensive materials, and the complexity in their application. Thus, digital modelling and simulation of multifunctional Bio-ABS are important to predict their performance. This paper reviews the studies on simulating Bio-ABS, proposes a novel simulation framework for multifunctional Bio-ABS and demonstrates it through a parametric case study. Performance comparisons among twenty base-case scenarios and 600 iterations of shading and ventilating multifunctional Bio-ABS provides shading through photovoltachromic (PVC) glazing and ventilation through Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) springs triggered openings. It is multifunctional by changing its morphology and physiology due to photovoltachromic glazing triggered by solar irradiance and Shape Memory Alloys being triggered by temperature. The results show that Bio-ABS improves building performance when compared against non-adaptable façades, reaching 37.1% for 90% acceptability limits and 18% for 80% acceptability limits for adaptive thermal comfort in an educational building in the humid subtropical climate of Sydney. Australia. The main outcome and contribution of this study is a novel simulation framework to predict the performance of morphology and physiology changing multifunctional Bio-ABS. Future work may focus on prototyping and validated experiments to close the gap between theory and the real world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An extensive set of experiments were conducted in this study to evaluate the impacts of different levels of loading and unloading on compressibility characteristics of landfill waste materials. To achieve this purpose, a large undisturbed waste sample with a diameter of 250 mm was collected from a landfill site, in Sydney. The collected sample was composed of mainly construction waste, decayed organic material, wood, metal, plastic, glass, paper, and cardboard. A large diameter Rowe cell setup was utilised to saturate the undisturbed sample followed by multi-stage unloading and reloading consolidation and creep tests, lasting approximately 330 days. The testing data on the landfill waste were used to determine the compression and recompression indices, as well as the coefficient of consolidation and creep index. These experimental results demonstrate that the compressibility parameters of the collected landfill material significantly depend on the loading history, and in particular, the over consolidation ratio. The findings revealed that the stress history of the waste material has a significant effect on the primary settlement and its rate as well as the long-term creep rate. Thus, it is inferred that the application of the preloading method can improve the compressibility parameters and significantly reduce the post-construction consolidation and creep settlement of landfills. • Rowe cell was utilised for unloading and reloading consolidation and creep tests on landfill waste from Sydney for 330 days. • Correlations were established forvariations of coefficient of consolidation and creep index with over consolidation ratio. • Preloading for closed landfill sites can significantly reduce the post-construction settlement of the waste including creep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• An agent-based simulation structure is developed for parking policymaking. • A simulation model of Kingsford town centre, Sydney, Australia is implemented. • A pricing formulation is proposed which accounts for parkers utilities. • An IPS system is introduced to quantify potential improvements of a parking zone. Car parking policies often aim to relieve or better distribute parking demand in central urban areas. Evaluating their effectiveness requires the investigation of traveller behaviour and responses to parking attributes such as availability, cost, walking distance, and time restriction. Parking policies, which are usually cost-intensive to implement, are crucial in solving parking problems and transportation system problems in general. To investigate parking policy properly, developing agent-based parking systems is beneficial. Motivated by a recent parking management system designed for Kingsford, Sydney, this paper introduces an agent-based simulation model to analyse the effects of different parking policies in a realistic dynamic framework. Furthermore, a novel behavioural pricing formulation is integrated into the simulation model, which dynamically seeks to maximise the total utility of all agents in the system with consideration of their travel behaviours. The model is implemented for the Kingsford town centre, to investigate the effects of different parking policies and demand scenarios on parking utilisation and system performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the short-term reduction in money and time costs associated with a reduction in car and public transport commuting activity in the Greater Sydney Metropolitan Area (GSMA) during a period of the COVID-19 pandemic in which Australia started to see an easing of restrictions (see Beck and Hensher 2020a). As of late May 2020, three months after COVID-19 resulted in restrictions in Australia, we saw an annual travel time reduction for car and public transport commuters in the GSMA of $5.58 billion, representing a 54.02% reduction in the Pre-COVID-19 total time costs, much of which we would suggest can be associated with reductions in congestions costs. Adjusting further for reduced employment volumes relative to pre-COVID-19 levels, to take into account reduced commuting activity due, in part, to a lower volume of work associated with a loss of employment or lower employment hours, the annual time cost reduction for all commuters who still have regular pre-COVID-19 levels of employment are estimated as $4.4 billion. Hence there is $1.17 billion worth of reduced time costs associated with significantly reduced employment hours, including a loss of employment. The implications for road investment linked to congestion in particular is profound, and shows how much of an increase in benefit to society, through congestion busting, can be obtained by more flexible work arrangements, even allowing for some switching into car out of public transport. Whether the current decrease in travel costs will be long-lasting is unknown, but it does support the appeal of working from home, if it is sustainable, as a policy lever to reduce levels of congestion on the roads and crowding in public transport. • Estimates the short-term reduction in money and time costs associated with commuting activity during a period of the COVID-19 pandemic. • Annual travel time reduction for all car and PT commuters of $5.58 billion, a 54.02% reduction in the Pre-COVID-19 total time costs. • The implications for road investment linked to congestion in particular is profound. • Shows how much of an increase in benefit to society, through congestion busting, can be obtained by more flexible work arrangements. • Support the appeal of working from home as a policy lever to reduce levels of congestion on the roads and crowding in public transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To characterize over-the-counter (OTC) medicine requests of Australian pharmacy consumers, to explore the factors predicting consumer behavior, and to examine the relationship between characteristics of consumers' requests and their satisfaction with the pharmacy.Design: Paper-based cross-sectional survey consisting of multiple choice, Likert scale, and open-ended questions.Setting and Participants: Surveys were administered in person to consumers exiting Australian community pharmacies between October 2018 and May 2019. Consumers who had purchased or requested an OTC medicine, could read and write in English, and were aged 18 years or older were eligible to participate. Data were analyzed descriptively and through logistic regression modelling.Outcome Measures: Respondent demographics, nature of the OTC request (whether direct-product, self-select, or symptom-based), reason(s) for OTC request, staff involved, and satisfaction with the visit to the pharmacy (0 = not at all satisfied, and 5 = extremely satisfied).Results: Six-hundred and five consumers from 51 pharmacies were surveyed. Most of the pharmacies were located in metropolitan Sydney (n = 48). The respondents were predominantly female (n = 353, 58%), 20-29 years of age (n = 202, 33%), and university-educated (n = 266, 44%). Sixty-five percent of requests (n = 395) were direct-product requests or self-selected, and the remaining were symptom-based (n = 210). Most OTC medicines requested were for the respondents' own use (n = 457, 76%). One-third (n = 197) of the requests were for respiratory conditions. Prior use of the medicine and a higher level of education were significant predictors of direct-product requests (P < 0.05, R2 = 0.22). The satisfaction scores ranged from 2 to 5 out of 5 (median = 5, interquartile range: 4, 5).Conclusion: Most requests were direct-product requests. Prior use and a higher level of education predicted the decision to directly request a product. Consumer satisfaction with their experience at the pharmacy was high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Daytime radiative cooling materials are studied in two cities with Urban Heat Island. • Contribution of wavelength band to the ability to achieve sub-ambient temperatures. • Materials studied under highly-insulated and highly-conductive conditions. • Material's behavior strongly depends on the location and the type of application. The objective of this paper is to present the potential of daytime radiative cooling materials as a strategy to mitigate the Urban Heat Island effect. To evaluate the cooling potential of daytime radiative cooling materials, 15 theoretical materials and seven existing materials were simulated: two radiative cooling materials, a coolmaterial, two white paints, a thermochromic paint and a construction material. The novelty of this study is that it shows that the optimal spectral characteristics of radiative cooling materials depending on the climate conditions and the type of application. A sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the impact of each wavelength emissivity on the ability to achieve sub-ambient radiative cooling. The sensitivity analysis comprised a total of 90 theoretical materials with 15 different wavelength combinations and 6 emissivity values. The heat transfer model, which includes conduction, convection, and radiation, was developed using a spectrally-selective sky model. Two conditions were considered: a very conductive surface and a highly insulated one. All the materials were simulated in two cities that suffer from the Urban Heat Island effect—Phoenix and Sydney. The mean surface temperature reduction achieved was 5.30 °C in Phoenix and 4.21 °C in Sydney. The results presented suggest that the type of application (active or passive) is a determinant factor in the design of radiative cooling materials. Modifying the spectra of the materials led to a substantial change in the cooling potential. A material that performs well in a dry climate as a passive solution could perform poorly as an active solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A detailed assessment of energy performances of BIPV/T-DSF was performed. • Three types of PV glazing and three types of ventilation modes were assessed. • The model with a naturally-ventilated air cavity showed the lowest consumptions. • The façade with Perovskite cells has the highest conversion of solar radiation. • Both DSFs with natural and mechanical ventilation collect useful thermal energy. Being the interface between indoor and outdoor, building envelope significantly influences indoor heating and cooling loads and thus affects building energy consumption. This paper presents the results of numerical simulation for the performance prediction of building-integrated photovoltaic/thermal double-skin facade (BIPV/T-DSF). Different BIPV materials (amorphous silicon PV, dye-sensitized solar cell and Perovskite based solar cells) were considered as the exterior cladding of a North-facing facade of an office building located in Australia. The performance assessment involved the selection of three climates in Australia, represented by the cities of Darwin, Sydney and Canberra. The air cavity created between the outer skin and the inner one were alternatively assessed in the non-ventilated, naturally-ventilated and mechanically-ventilated modes of operation, while a full sensitivity analysis was performed in order to assess the influence of different design parameters, such as internal skin's thermal transmittance, cavity depth, ventilation louvres' opening ratio and cavity ventilation rate. By comparing the different operational modes and BIPV technologies, it was found that naturally-ventilated DSF integrating the Perovskite-based solar cell could be the optimal configuration achieving the highest savings. Total annual energy savings of 34.1%, 86% and 106% annual were reached respectively in Darwin, Sydney and Canberra, in comparison to conventional technologies. In addition, this façade technology could further reduce the building's heating and cooling loads by harvesting thermal energy generated within the air cavity. The study finally demonstrated that the harvested electrical and thermal energy from the façade could cover a significant share of building's energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While there is a well-developed body of academic literature on how to procure public ground transport services and how to integrate those services, there is virtually no literature on how to do this in the context of regional air services. This paper aims to contribute to the area of strategic management of integrated transport based on the concept of mobility as a service. We show that customer-centric public transport integration (e.g. joint ticketing) with aviation as the highest priority can create business opportunities and competitive advantage for the 'air-bus' transport value chain. In the regional aviation context in particular, the door-to-door travel experience is of high importance given the potential competition from private car travel, except for island air services. Based on demand analysis and travel choice literature, we reveal that integrated planning and management efforts such as joint timetabling and joint pricing are most likely to have an impact on competitive advantage, demand (passenger numbers plus yields, measured in the customers' willingness to pay) and hence the attractiveness and profitability of regional air services. We use stated choice experiments for flights from Sydney to regional New South Wales (NSW), Australia to establish the willingness to pay for integrated ground transport add-ons to scheduled regional air services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Impact of childhood travel and residential location experiences on weekly number of public transport trips. • Path model shows dominance of current pro-car travel attitude. • Childhood experience is influential indirectly through perceptions and attitudes. • Perceptions, attitudes, SED and path dependency affect public transport demand. • Targeting policy at changing attitudes might be more effective than targeting change per se. Mobility policies and planning need evidence to target individuals effectively in moving to more sustainable transport behaviour outcomes where car use is reduced, and multimodal public transport use is enhanced. Building on more recent travel behaviour research which has a socio-psychological approach and the mobility biography literature, this paper focusses on an individual's public transport travel behaviour, as impacted by travel and residential location experiences in their childhood. The empirical analysis uses a bespoke retrospective survey with respondents from the Greater Metropolitan area of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia where understanding better the motivations underpinning travel behaviour are particularly acute, given the car dependent nature of Australian cities. A path model illustrates how residential neighbourhood perceptions and travel attitudes impact on travel behaviour and how these are influenced by background, including childhood residential and travel experiences. The results show the dominance of current travel attitudes on current travel behaviour but childhood experience is also significant and appearing to work by impacting current residential neighbourhood perceptions and travel attitudes, suggesting travel behaviour not only affected by personal attitudes and socio-demographic characteristics, but also influenced by context (spatial, social, cultural, etc.). When travel behaviour is seen as a social construct influenced by long standing and entrenched experiences influencing current perceptions and attitudes, policy that identifies which mobility practices are likely to be flexible and open to change is more likely to be successful in changing behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Literature suggests that value of time (VOT) may decrease due to advent of AVs. • Reduction in VOT may impact households' residential location choices. • This expectation was tested empirically using stated choice methods. • Empirical results do not suggest drastic changes in VOT due to AVs. The literature suggests that autonomous vehicles (AVs) may drastically change the user experience of private automobile travel by allowing users to engage in productive or relaxing activities while travelling. As a consequence, the generalised cost of car travel may decrease, and car users may become less sensitive to travel time. By facilitating private motorised mobility, AVs may eventually impact land use and households' residential location choices. This paper seeks to advance the understanding of the potential impacts of AVs on travel behaviour and land use by investigating stated preferences for combinations of residential locations and travel options for the commute in the context of autonomous automobile travel. Our analysis draws from a stated preference survey, which was completed by 512 commuters from the Sydney metropolitan area in Australia and provides insights into travel time valuations in a long-term decision-making context. For the analysis of the stated choice data, mixed logit models are estimated. Based on the empirical results, no changes in the valuation of travel time due to the advent of AVs should be expected. However, given the hypothetical nature of the stated preference survey, the results may be affected by methodological limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Bayesian network used to structure available knowledge and facilitate simulation of management alternatives. • Demand for urbanization and recreation were identified as dominant human drivers, exerting pressure on the beach ecosystem. • Demographic trends were integrated into a decision-making framework that supports beach managers. • Beach user surveys proposed as periodic network inputs, indicating beach recreational quality and management issues. • Urban WALROS classes were widespread across land-based sites, and more natural classes prevailed over water-based sites. Managing coastal areas under an Ecosystem Based Approach–Marine Spatial Planning framework acknowledges the complexity associated with the need to address multiple environmental and socioeconomic issues. The development of efficient management plans is critical to the implementation success of the framework; in this regard, unresolved challenges remain for measuring the effectiveness of planning plans and monitoring implementation progress. This paper describes the development of a Bayesian Belief Network as a prototype Decision Support Tool to assist coastal planning in the catchment areas of the Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia. The model was co-designed with local managers, underpinned by the Drivers-Pressures-States-Impacts-Responses analytical framework to identify key coastal cause-effect relationships, and by the Recreational Opportunity Spectrum framework to account for significant recreational areas. The Bayesian Belief Network was structured on a conceptualisation of the relationships between key pressures affecting coastal management targets (biological areas and human activities) and their impacts on the state of the variables, with emphasis on the beach ecosystem. The socio-economic component of the model consists of predictive socio-economic modelling on preferred beach activities, the assessment of beach recreational settings, and a beach quality survey. Conditional probability tables were derived from local and regional databases. The model structure allows decision makers enhanced understanding of key interactions between management variables, assessment of management scenarios, and increased accountability of planning decisions. Future work on the prototype could expand the model to become a Bayesian Decision Network, through the integration of proposed management actions and their utilities, thereby helping managers identify optimal decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Turbulent spray flames are complex combustion configurations and are difficult to be accurately simulated. In this paper, we focus on further development and validation of the two-phase spray flamelet/progress variable (TSFPV) model, which is first proposed in our previous work and shows sound performance because it is able to consider the effect of droplet evaporation on the flamelet structure. A spray evaporation source term (SEST) model is improved in the present work to model the evaporation sources and is applied to the calculation of one-dimensional laminar counterflow flames to generate the spray flamelet library. The SEST model is validated on the configuration of two-dimensional counterflow spray flames, and the a priori and a posteriori results show good agreement with the solutions using the Lagrangian particle tracking (LPT) method. The effect of pre-vaporized fuel vapor is further considered in the spray flamelet library, in which both the spray and gaseous flame regimes are covered. The TSFPV model is well validated on the configuration of the laminar mixing layer by comparing the a priori and a posteriori results with detailed chemistry (DC) solutions. Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of the Sydney turbulent lifted methanol spray flame Mt2A is conducted using the TSFPV model. The flame lift-off is correctly captured and the final predicted lift-off height is very close to the experimental value. The predicted mean droplet velocities show good agreement with experimental measurements, and the rms velocities agree well with the experimental data at downstream locations with a late jet breakup. The droplet size increases along the downstream direction and this trend is well reproduced in the current simulation, though the local peak value of droplet size near the upstream shear layer is not well captured. The central jet temperature at upstream locations is also well predicted by the TSFPV model. Overall, the results show good agreement with the experimental measurements, which illustrates the potential of the TSFPV model for spray combustion modeling. • A spray evaporation source term (SEST) model is improved to model the evaporation sources. • The effect of pre-vaporized fuel vapor is further considered in the spray flamelet library. • The two-phase spray flamelet/progress variable (TSFPV) model is validated by a priori and a posteriori analyses. • The TSFPV model is applied to the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of the Sydney turbulent lifted methanol spray flame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A new design method to assess 'Y' junction rock pillar stability in road tunnels. • Reconsidering the option of full pillar replacement with concrete. • Application to large-span road tunnel project. • Reducing carbon footprint and facilitating construction. This paper presents an innovative design method for a slender rock pillar formed in a road tunnel Y-junction. This method has been successfully implemented in two of Sydney's widest-span road tunnel projects. The pillar strength is estimated based on synthetic or virtual uniaxial compression testing results on pillar models with anticipated adverse geological features and conditions encountered in Hawkesbury Sandstone of Sydney using distinct element numerical modelling. The proposed pillar design comprises two main steps. Firstly, the Factor of Safety against rock pillar failure is calculated based on the estimated peak pillar strength with and without rock bolt stitching and induced stresses. If the target Factor of Safety is not achieved, a set of longer rock/cable bolts to install adjacent to the rock pillar as a new type of pillar treatment is proposed to minimise the support contribution of the rock pillar. The required minimum support pressure the rock pillar provides is calculated using a ground reaction curve concept. Then the safety factor against the Y-junction's global failure is calculated based on the rock pillar's minimum required support pressure and residual strength. The proposed design method is demonstrated in the context of a recent large road tunnel project in Sydney, Australia. The proposed design method can provide confidence in rock pillar stability, potentially preventing costly and carbon-intensive full pillar replacement with concrete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper analyses the impact of the bus reform package implemented in Sydney, Australia from 2005 onwards, focusing on the impact of bus network planning changes. The network planning changes included the concentration of services into corridors, more direct services, and greater network connectivity. Bus supply and patronage data are analysed for the 15 metropolitan bus contract regions in Sydney to test whether network planning changes increased patronage and whether the trade-offs in service planning had greater benefits than losses. Results show that changes in bus boardings are mainly driven by changes in km supplied, and that there are significant differences between the contract regions operated by State Transit Authority and private operators. The network reviews have a significant impact on boardings in several contract regions over and above the additional km supplied. The paper provides input into the policy evaluation surrounding the impact of network planning on supply and demand in the metropolitan area of Sydney. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The New South Wales (NSW) government created the Sydney Metro Authority to design, build and operate a completely separate underground Metro rail system to supplement the existing public transport network in Sydney. By the time the NSW government abruptly cancelled the entire Metro project in early 2010, the authority had conceived and designed a contract that was proceeding to procurement. This paper examines the nature of the proposed Sydney Metro contract in relation to its performance framework and compares this to the frameworks in current contracts for bus, rail and ferry public transport in Sydney. Against this background, the paper examines the extent to which the Sydney Metro approach has had an impact on subsequent public transport contracts in the context of the literature on public private contracting and incentives for public transport procurement. The paper concludes that little has been implemented, although the other mode contracts now enable more performance measurement and incentivisation. In particular, the decision to award contracts to existing (and mostly public sector) operators appears to have acted as a brake on developing these performance elements. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The New South Wales (NSW) government created the Sydney Metro Authority to design, build and operate a completely separate underground Metro rail system to supplement the existing public transport network in Sydney. By the time the NSW government abruptly cancelled the entire Metro project in early 2010, the Authority had conceived and designed a contract that was proceeding to procurement. This paper compares the elements of the proposed Sydney Metro contract to findings of the literature on optimal contracting and optimal incentives and on PPP best practice. The paper concludes that the Metro seems to have at least implicitly drawn fairly heavily on best practices and principles, but that its ultimate failure to be implemented is an instructive lesson about how operating environment can impede integration of useful knowledge and experience. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents a numerical investigation using large-eddy simulation. Two isothermal cases from the Sydney swirling flame database with different swirl numbers were tested. Rational grid system and mesh details were presented firstly. Validations showed overall good agreement in time averaged results. In medium swirling case, there are two reverse-flow regions with a collar-like structure between them. The existence of strong unsteady structure, precessing vortex core, was proven. Coherent structures are detached from the instantaneous field. Q-criterion was used to visualize vorticity field with distinct clear structure of vortice tubes. Dominating spatial–temporal structures contained in different cross sections were extracted using proper orthogonal decomposition. In high swirling case, there is only one long reverse-flow region. In this paper, we proved the capability of a commercial CFD package in predicting complex flow field and presented the potential of large eddy simulation in understanding dynamics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Bus services can be difficult to provide in low density areas on the urban fringe, with low residential density, dispersed development and high car use. Service planning guidelines often encourage coverage, but the result in low density areas is bus kilometres are spread thinly over a large area with poor frequencies. Flexible transport services offer an opportunity to redesign services to improve access and efficiency. The paper quantifies the role of flexible transport services in improving access to public transport within the existing subsidy budget. The Richmond–Windsor area of north-west Sydney is used as a case-study to present how a flexible transport service could be provided. The paper shows that the existing bus network could be redesigned to focus more on frequency by providing fixed trunk routes with a flexible transport service providing access to these trunk routes. Within the existing budget for bus service km and service hours, this provides a greater accessibility to public transport services and an opportunity to grow public transport patronage with higher frequency trunk route services. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• User benefits of active travel are undervalued in economic appraisal. • Appraisal of active travel has focused on social benefits, e.g., public health. • Users of new cycling infrastructure do derive a significant benefit from it. • User benefits can be valued using the logsum measure of consumer surplus. Walking and cycling have clear benefits for users, even though they may be slower than other transport modes. However, these user benefits could be undervalued using traditional economic appraisal, in which speed increases or travel time savings are highly valued. This paper explores the use of the logsum measure of consumer surplus for valuing the user benefits of new active transport infrastructure, using new separated cycleways in Sydney (Australia) as a case study. The results suggest the value of user benefits can be significant – of a similar order of magnitude to the estimated value of the public health benefits – and it becomes more pronounced as cycleways are integrated into a connected network. The method could be used to inform transportation investment policy decisions in other jurisdictions, where suitable travel survey data are available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Most existing 3D object recognition methods still suffer from low descriptiveness and weak robustness although remarkable progress has made in 3D computer vision. The major challenge lies in effectively mining high-level 3D shape features. This paper presents a high-level feature learning framework for 3D object recognition through fusing multiple 2D representations of point clouds. The framework has two key components: (1) three discriminative low-level 3D shape descriptors for obtaining multi-view 2D representation of 3D point clouds. These descriptors preserve both local and global spatial relationships of points from different perspectives and build a bridge between 3D point clouds and 2D Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN). (2) A two-stage fusion network, which consists of a deep feature learning module and two fusion modules, for extracting and fusing high-level features. The proposed method was tested on three datasets, one of which is Sydney Urban Objects dataset and the other two were acquired by a mobile laser scanning (MLS) system along urban roads. The results obtained from comprehensive experiments demonstrated that our method is superior to the state-of-the-art methods in descriptiveness, robustness and efficiency. Our method achieves high recognition rates of 94.6%, 93.1% and 74.9% on the above three datasets, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Queuing is central to the way city dwellers spend their time, access critical resources and perform social differences. In this paper, we explore the tactics of individuals negotiating access to goods, speed and status in the waiting line; and the strategies of authorities managing these queues. We propose that across numerous queues throughout the city, the interaction of such tactics and strategies produces a dynamic set of social relations and emotions that become prominent features of the urban experience: trust, rage, competition, boredom, relaxation, hostility, and anxiety among others. Drawing on ethnographic observations in Sydney, we examine the relationship between processes of commodification, authoritarianism and self-choreography in queue dynamics. Focusing specifically on airport terminal and bus waiting lines, we examine the ways commodification and authoritative queue management cultivate disciplined subordination, but also resistance. In more self-organized queues, social relations of trust and cooperation between strangers – critical components of a functional city – continue to be acculturated. However, we emphasise the need for an urban geography of queues that moves beyond the micro-dynamics of waiting lines in isolation, and makes visible larger scale processes of commodification and authoritarianism, affecting even the most spontaneous of queues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of transport planning model systems used in forecasting travel demand as input into project evaluation treat the location of firms as a given, and hence the best these model systems can do in terms of assessing the response of firms to improvements in transport systems is to redistribute the number of existing workers (as a proxy for the number of jobs) between zonal locations, holding the total number of jobs and firms constant (with the exception of an overall growth in jobs). Some exceptions assume an inducement response based on simple rules of firm response as a way of approximating induced trip demand attributable to the change in the number of firms. What is typically missing is an endogenous treatment of firm location choice through a formal model that is integrated into a transport and land use model system in a way that allows for feedback between travel and firm location. This integration is critical to capture the change in the total amount of business activity in each location and overall, that is not simply based on an-across-the-board assumption on the annual growth in jobs. This paper presents a jointly estimated aggregate zonal model of the number of firms and jobs in which the number of jobs is influenced by the number of firms at a specific location, together with elasticity estimates of each influencing effect in each industry sector. The employment model predictions for each industry sector can be input into a workplace location choice model in any integrated transport and location model system to obtain predictions of the impact of transport policies on the location decisions of firms. The Sydney Greater Metropolitan Area (SGMA) is used as a case study to estimate the systems of firm and employment location models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Growth in peak period electricity demand has driven the requirement for a significant expansion of Sydney''s electricity network. Energy efficiency and demand management activities in office buildings may be an alternative to electricity network augmentation, with significant economic and environmental benefits. This paper identifies and characterises trends in electricity peak demand in Sydney''s office buildings, comparing a range of high and low energy consuming buildings. The paper assesses the potential for energy efficiency and demand management strategies in office buildings to reduce peak loads and hence defer electricity network augmentation. Base building electricity load data was analysed for a sample of 25 Sydney office buildings, along with Sydney electricity substation and temperature data. Peak loads for buildings with best practice energy performance were found to be 26% lower than for buildings with average energy performance, while annual electricity consumption was 57% lower. With these findings, this paper has assessed the effectiveness of current energy efficiency policy for peak demand management and has recommended strengthening energy efficiency policies in order to capture coincidental peak load reductions, as well as new policies specifically targeting peak demand management. It was found that these measures could offer significant potential to defer network investment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Recycled water is a valuable resource that has potential to free up potable water supplies and recharge systems while improving the environment. Recycled water for washing machine could be one of the options as new end use of recycled water to alleviate the demand on existing and limited water supplies. This paper summarizes the findings of a research survey in Sydney, Australia to explore the attitudes and opinions of community towards the use of recycled water for different purposes, especially for the washing machine. The survey showed that 97% of the respondents were aware of the persisting water shortage problem while more than 60% of the respondents supported the use of recycled water for washing clothes. This paper exposes the basic concern of participants for using recycled water in washing machine. Health issue was found as the most concerns of the community. The survey also presents the further conditions to be considered for using recycled water for washing machine according to the participants’ opinions. Correlation between knowledge and attitudes of respondents was also found in this survey. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper continues to debate the importance of understanding in the NSW Bus reform process of the relationship between central agencies, service providers, the academic community, key consultants and contractors within the setting of the transport service organisation framework. Sydney is a modern city with heavy rail, light-rail, monorail and an extensive Harbour, with bus services owned by Government as well as private interests. The paper addresses the case for reforms, the approach taken, competition policy, the subsequent development of partnerships, performance of the regulator, passenger benefits, growth and the differences between Metropolitan/Outer Metropolitan and Regional and Rural bus services. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Climate change is causing an increase in the frequency and severity of floods in various regions globally, raising concerns about the efficacy of evacuation planning strategies that were created under different climate scenarios, particularly for vulnerable individuals. Urban areas are at high risk of flooding, making the evacuation of elderly people to safer locations a potential necessity in many future flooding situations. However, despite the significance of transportation planning in the evacuation of the elderly, there has been little research considering the impact of disasters on the areas undergoing evacuation. This paper aims to address this research gap by presenting an integrated evacuation approach for elderly people under flooding conditions. The proposed model combines a flood simulator with multi-objective metaheuristic algorithms to minimise the expected evacuation time for all evacuees and reduce the number of rescue vehicles used. To improve the performance of the optimisation algorithms, dominant properties are established, which are used to create a local search. The proposed approach is tested and validated using a case study in Sydney, Australia, and the findings suggest that the proposed method can generate effective evacuation plans for the elderly in a reasonable amount of time under realistic emergency scenarios brought on by extreme flood events. The study adds to the body of knowledge on disaster risk reduction strategies both theoretically and practically, and has crucial policy implications for emergency managers, planners, and decision-makers in countries where urban areas are becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The governance of COVID-19 has involved the proliferation of territorial practices, through border controls designed to regulate movements not only across national and state borders, but also within cities and city regions. We argue that these urban territorial practices have been significant to the biopolitics of COVID-19 and warrant close scrutiny. Focusing on the Australian cities of Sydney and Melbourne, this paper offers critical analysis of the urban territorial practices of COVID-19 suppression, which we categorise as practices of closure, confinement and capacity control. We observe these practices in measures including 'stay at home' orders, residential building and housing estate lockdowns, closure of and capacity limits on non-residential premises, postcode- and municipality-level restrictions on movement, and hotel quarantine. These measures, we argue, have reinforced and at times exacerbated pre-existing social and spatial inequalities. However, we also recognise COVID-19's real and highly uneven threats to life and health, and therefore ask what a more egalitarian form of pandemic governance might look like. We draw on scholarly writing on 'positive' or 'democratic' biopolitics and 'territory from below', in order to outline some more egalitarian and democratic interventions that have been pursued to suppress viral transmission and to reduce vulnerability to COVID-19 and other viruses. This, we argue, is an imperative of critical scholarship as much as the critique of state interventions. Such alternatives do not necessarily reject state territorial interventions per se, but instead point towards a way of addressing the pandemic by recognising the capacity and legitimacy of biopolitics and territory from below. They point towards ways in which we might see a pandemic 'like a city' in a way that prioritises egalitarian care through a politics premised on democratic negotiations among diverse urban authorities and sovereignties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism decisions are interdependent of one another. This study aims to explore the interrelations among three pertinent tourism choices, i.e., travel season, transport mode and length of stay, from a data-driven perspective. To achieve a joint model of three travel behavioural decisions, this paper adopts a Frank-type fully nested Archimedean copula function, which is capable of efficiently incorporating a logistic regression model, a multinomial logit model and a lognormal accelerated failure time model. Then, we empirically evaluate the proposed model framework using single-destination Sydney-based trip-level data collected in 2017–2018. Gumbel, Clayton and Frank copula results are compared. To illustrate its application, the modelling results are used to build a simulated COVID-19 pandemic scenario according to the social distancing restrictions within New South Wales, Australia, and a three-dimensional elasticity analysis for trip destinations is performed. The findings suggest the model provides nuanced insights into simulating tourist behaviours and transport policy appraisal aimed at tourism recovery or/and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While physical changes have been empirically recognised as a fundamental component of neighbourhood change, data and modelling constraints have limited the quantification of these indicators. Recently however, the proliferation of Big Data and advancements in deep learning (DL) techniques have enabled mass image processing. It is in this context that we build a Siamese Convolutional Neural Network using Google Street View (GSV) images to detect upgrades to properties as evidence of gentrification. The model achieves 84.8% test accuracy and 74.6% AUC. Building upgrades detected using the model are mapped using Kernel Density Estimation (KDE) and validated against Development Approvals. The DL GSV model is subsequently combined with the socioeconomic-based predictions of seven gentrifying suburbs from a prior Sydney-based gentrification study. The maps of predicted social change are validated against the spatial patterns of building upgrades detected by the DL GSV model. Of the five suburbs with sufficient data, the socioeconomic trends were affirmed with physical indicators of gentrification in four and questioned in one. The paper provides the first machine learning approach to combine social and physical indicators of gentrification. This automated, multi-dimensional approach enables the distinction of gentrification from other forms of neighbourhood change, helping to develop a more comprehensive understanding of gentrification occurring within a city. • Deep learning (DL) model created to detect upgrades to properties using Google Street View (GSV) data. • DL GSV model used to validate socioeconomic trends of previous Sydney-based gentrification study. • Semantic segmentation algorithm implemented to automate data cleaning process. • Study provides first machine learning approach combining socioeconomic and physical indicators of gentrification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Assess interest in various MaaS subscription bundles using Sydney trial data. • Establish the role of financial savings on MaaS bundle uptake. • Identify key drivers of user's choices between subscriptions and PAYG. • MaaS with PAYG option only is unlikely to grow the market. • MaaS could obtain a sizeable uptake with appropriate incentive and subscription bundles. Australia's first Mobility as a Service (MaaS) trial commenced in April 2019 in Sydney. A key objective of the trial is to assess interest in various MaaS subscription plans through bundling public transport, ride share, car share and car rental with varying financial discounts and monthly subscription fees, in contrast to pay as you go (PAYG). This paper develops a mixed logit choice model to investigate the participants' choice between PAYG and four subscription plans (or bundles) that were incrementally introduced over a 5-month period. This is the first paper to model real uptake as previous studies are based on stated preference data. New evidence is provided on what role financial savings, estimated using tracking technology embedded in the MaaS app, play in the context of modal offerings and a monthly subscription fee as well as socio-demographic and seasonal effects. Behaviourally, we present evidence on the extent of take up of each bundle relative to PAYG as well as elasticity estimates for all exogenous influences and estimates of willingness to pay and scenario assessment, particularly for how much someone would have to save over a previous month's cost outlay to be willing to subscribe to a particular bundle in a subsequent month. Within the context of the trial, the findings suggest a substantial market for mobility bundles but PAYG is an option preferred by many, particularly those with varying travel needs. We are, however, not in a position yet to conclude that these choices necessarily align with a contribution to societal sustainability goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]