Urbanisation is one of the biggest trends affecting the transport sector. In the next 10 years, the projected growth in Banyule alone is expected to add 5,000 car trips to our road network during peak hour.

Our industry partner, North East Link Project (NELP), is the biggest transport project in Victoria’s history, completing the missing link in Melbourne’s freeway network. NELP will link the M80 Ring Road to an upgraded Eastern Freeway with Victoria’s longest twin road tunnels. It will also include a massive overhaul of the Eastern Freeway, Melbourne’s first dedicated busway, a new park and ride in Bulleen and the completion of the M80. Up to 135,000 vehicles will use NEL every day, reducing congestion in the north-east while maintaining local roads for local trips. More than 25 kilometres of new and upgraded walking and cycling paths will be built, improving active transport pathways along the project corridor.

Students are asked to take on the role of consultant for NELP, to investigate local active transport issues, and come up with a design solution that will improve the liveability and connectivity of the area, and create a pleasant, attractive and engaging journey for active transport users. Students will learn about infrastructure and transport of the future, consider a range of careers that could lead to working in the transport industry, conduct interviews and surveys in their local community to discover problems, identify user needs and understand the context in which the issues exist. On conclusion of the program student groups with the best design solutions will be pitching their ideas to a panel of industry experts.

The program is suitable for all year levels, particularly geography students (including VCE), who may benefit greatly from an experience that involves solving real-world problems for local industry, whilst developing skills in working with Computer Aided Design, Adobe Illustrator, ArcGIS, App design, microcontrollers and sensors.