fields of study
PATREC's research program and areas
PATREC has one newly introduced program and five research focus areas in which to undertake research and deliver high-impact outcomes, although there are interactions between them. These focus areas are responsive to research needs, competence and funding opportunities.
New Program
Climate action in transport and land use planning
The Western Australian Climate Policy released in late 2020 provides the focus and catalyst for climate adaptation and emissions reduction in WA. It is structured around six key themes, four of which relate to transport and land use planning – Government leadership, Lower-carbon transport, Resilient cities and regions, and Storing carbon and caring for our landscapes. It further highlights the need for stronger engagement with industry and research organisations to, inter alia, develop and support technology pathways for net zero emissions.
Given the overlap of four of the six themes with planning and transport, the Director General Transport in collaboration with the Chairman of the WA Planning Commission, and with the backing of the Chief Scientist, initiated a proposal for a research program of climate action related to transport and land use planning, through PATREC.
PATREC was considered an appropriate platform for delivering this new program, given its WA focus, demonstrated track record of governance arrangements ensuring delivery of policy-directed research and its cross-university collaboration, currently involving three of the four WA public universities.
The PATREC Board endorsed the concept of this new program of research on 24 March 2022 and a variation to the PATREC Collaborative Research Agreement was signed on 24 July 2023 by collaborating parties, committing core funding for an initial two-year period, 2023-2024.
The program commenced with three “foundation” research projects, attracting further funding from interested and affected parties:
- Feasibility of battery-electric buses for regional school bus services (UWA, DoT, PTA, iMOVE CRC)
- Mapping the Circular Economy of WA: Monitoring the contributions of circularity towards achieving Net Zero – Stage 1 (Curtin, DoT, iMOVE CRC)
- Accounting for carbon in the planning for new residential suburbs (UWA, DoT, DPLH, iMOVE CRC)
Focus Areas
Integrated land use and transport futures
Improving land use and transport integration now and into the future, using a systems-based, scenario-oriented, big data analytics approach to longer term strategic forecasting and evaluation, depending on and informing, integrated LU-T modelling.
Smarter travel decisions
Deployment and integration of technology to enable more intelligent and connected transport choices, helping Australian cities use resources more efficiently and deferring the need for new infrastructure.
Integrated freight system optimisation
Supporting the planning for freight transport efficiency and effectiveness by providing a comprehensive overview of the freight patterns generated by industrial activities of varying types, involving multi-modal supply chain optimisation, and methods and technologies for the heavy vehicle real-time monitoring.
Emerging technology and network optimisation and intelligence
A data-driven decision support system for optimising road network operations which will: incorporate heterogeneous datasets of various types and quality; give accurate real-time information of the traffic conditions; automatically analyse historical trends and identify recurring patterns to help form optimal intervention strategies.
Transport infrastructure investment risk management
Incorporating uncertainty in transport infrastructure planning and policy through adapting portfolio-wide strategic infrastructure investment planning and management tools, guidelines and frameworks to account for emerging risks.