16 INSIGHTS 2018
T
he 2017 Sustainable Cities Mobility Index ranked 100 of
the world’s leading cities according to the sustainability
and effectiveness of their transport networks. The Index
used a triple bottom-line approach of People, Planet and
Profit to analyse the cities. The research was undertaken by the
Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr).
Brisbane was the highest ranked Australian city at 48th, fol-
lowed by Sydney 51st, Canberra 53rd, Melbourne 55th and Perth
87th. According to the Index, Australian cities were held back due
to the effectiveness of their transit networks. Factors such as no
functioning metro networks, low uptake of public transport, heavy
reliance on roads and private vehicles, as well as poor uptake of
active commuting options all resulted in Australian cities scoring
poorly across sustainability and effectiveness measures.
Despite the relatively low ranking of Australian cities, it’s not all
bad news according to Arcadis Managing Director of Infrastructure
in Australia Pacific Phil Kajewski.
“Australia’s cities largely all ranked middle of the road for the
sustainability of their transport. This doesn’t mean that we are
doing poorly, just that we can do better.
“We’ve seen significant infrastructure investment over the past
year, with projects underway such as metro rail in Sydney and
Melbourne, and major roads like NorthLink in WA.
“The benefits from these massive transit projects are yet to be
realised. All the top global cities have integrated mobility systems
including metro, light-rail, bus and road — many have had metros
for years.
“For Australian cities to continue to remain globally com-
petitive and mobile we must continue to invest in a range
of road and public transport projects, ensure transport plan-
ning for these projects is strongly linked to land-use planning
and do what we can in this planning to encourage mixed-
mode journeys that include active mobility, such as walking
and cycling.”AUSTRALIAN CITIES RANKED ‘MIDDLE OF THE ROAD’
FOR SUSTAINABLE
TRANSPORT
Brisbane leads Australia for sustainable and effective transport according to the 2017 Sustainable Cities
Mobility Index from design consultancy Arcadis. Hong Kong topped the index and seven out of the top
10 spots went to European cities.