Urban planning expert Andrew Miller of Canada at global services firm Hatch will be in Australia as a keynote speaker until April 5.
He is speaking at the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) National Congress in Perth, March 27-29, where he will present his keynote address Climate Change, Mobility, and the Future of City-Building, during which he will describe how Australian governments and land developers can help fight climate change through new technology and practices.
Miller identifies optimum locations for bike lanes, scooters, and dog-walkers, plus drone drop-off points, air taxi sites, and ghost kitchen locations with added robots.
He has designed integrated multi-modal transport networks for a variety of new developments in Canada and advised Canadian and Australian governments on how to future-proof their infrastructure plans.
Before joining Hatch, Miller was the mobility lead for Google’s smart-city firm Sidewalk Labs where he led development of innovative mobility systems for a proposed city of the future on the Toronto waterfront.
He has given 15 keynote presentations at major conferences and to global audiences – including to senior leaders at General Motors and Toyota, and at the Senate of Canada – on automated driving and the future of mobility. Miller is on the board of several organisations aiming to improve mobility networks in Toronto.
A major report The Driverless Endgame: Policy and Regulation for Automated Vehicles has been released by Miller that offers more than 40 recommendations for governments and regulators globally on how to prepare for driverless cars.
The report takes the position that driving automation is a technology that assists with the driving task, up to and including performing it entirely.
Popularly, and misleadingly, known as “autonomous vehicles”, this technology will alter, reduce, and eventually eliminate the role of the human driver, says Miller.
Various laws and regulations globally for the use and operation of road vehicles will require revision to ensure the safe and timely deployment of this technology, he explains.
The report aims to identify legislative and regulatory barriers that may impact prompt, safe deployment of driving automation on public roadways, and offers recommendations to address these gaps.
The report is available on request.
Hatch offers engineering, operations and development services in urban solutions, mining, energy, infrastructure and digital technologies, with Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Wollongong and Newcastle.
At Hatch, Miller advises organisations and governments on transit-orientated development, innovative mobility, and the future of cities.
He works with developers to design liveable areas for people, helping residents to move in a way that increases their health and happiness without increasing carbon emissions.
A recent study ranked Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide as among the worst cities globally for walkability and access to public transport, with only 37-44% of populations in these cities living in neighbourhoods with above-average walkability. Melbourne and Sydney also experienced the largest increases in vehicle congestion.
Prior to developing a transport masterplan, governments need to ensure they design for the behaviour people want from the outset, says Miller.
“All technology starts as a novelty for the wealthy before it trickles down,” Miller reckons. “For example, Tesla was the only electric vehicle available for a long time, but there are now more affordable options and prices are continuing to decrease. Similarly, initiatives such as Google’s drone delivery service, which opened its fourth drone hub in Queensland in late 2022, are starting to make their mark in the retail sector.”
Throughout 2022, the drone service delivered around 150,000 packages in Australia.
Similarly, air taxi infrastructure start-up Skyportz has announced a partnership with Secure Parking, hoping to deliver more than 400 potential air taxi landing sites in prime Australian locations ahead of their intended launch date in 2024 or 2025.
Major companies such as Toyota, Uber, Airbus and Hyundai are already investing in the electric aircraft sector.
Given the rapid growth and investment in this sector, it will only be a matter of time before the general public have access to this technology, so government regulation needs to be prioritised now to start planning effectively, says Miller.
Driverless cars will launch in Australia, with many tech giants working on making the idea a reality, he says.
“There is still resistance to driverless vehicles, with safety, effective implementation and regulation concerning critics, but the concept has incredible benefits,” Miller explains.
“For example, Amazon-backed self-driving start-up Zoox is already trialling and close to launching robotaxis on Californian roads.
“Zoox aims to not only minimise road congestion, but also improve safety – with 94% of all US crashes occurring because of human error, services such as Zoox could significantly reduce this statistic.”
Miller sees says a significant need for improved infrastructure for bikes, as well as e-bikes and e-scooters, across Australia where states and territories have been “incredibly slow” to introduce the concept, with the use of both publicly and privately owned e-bikes and e-scooters still completely prohibited in NSW (with the exception of several year-long trials).
E-bike and e-scooter safety remains a key concern for governments and the public, Miller explains.
“However, research has found a trip by a car or motorcycle in dense urban areas is far more likely to result in the death of a road user or pedestrian than a trip by a micro-vehicle.
“Planning for the future of micromobility, through the effective regulation of speed, is crucial in making what is currently still a vision a reality.”
