Overview

This unit of study introduces the policy principles, pathways and solutions with the likelihood of greatest impacts in achieving sustainable mobility in the world’s growing cities. Students will develop a good understanding of the global challenges facing urban transport and mobility, and the range of tested and proven solutions to address the global challenges in transport. It will also provide participants with renewed thinking, and fresh approaches, to help them transform the concept of urban mobility, and shape the future directions of a sustainable world. In particular, the unit will introduce participants to the principles and applications of low carbon and low emission mobility solutions, the opportunities available through land-use transport integration, active, public and shared transport, vehicle electrification and automation, the role of transport technologies in reducing energy use and emissions of transport systems, and pathways for integration of sustainable transport solutions in urban planning policies.

Requisites

Prerequisites

Postgraduate

Admission to cognate PG degree

Undergraduate
CVE30003 Transport Engineering

Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Semester 1
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
02-March-2026
31-May-2026
Last self-enrolment date
15-March-2026
Census date
31-March-2026
Last withdraw without fail date
21-April-2026
Results released date
07-July-2026

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  • Discuss the key challenges facing urban transport and mobility in large and fast growing cities
  • Discuss the key principles of low carbon mobility solutions, policies and initiatives with the greatest likelihood of achieving sustainable urban mobility
  • Discuss how the principles of sustainable urban transport (Avoid, Shift, Share, Improve) can be applied to address the challenges facing urban mobility
  • Compare the relative merits of established and emerging transport solutions, policies and strategies, and their contributions to improving urban transport
  • Discuss the role of transport technologies and Intelligent Transport Systems in reducing congestion and transport emissions
  • Discuss and compare the various policy principles and pathways for deployment of sustainable transport solutions

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
Online
Lecture		 3.00 12 weeks 36
Online
Class		 1.00  12 weeks  12
Unspecified Activities
Independent Learning		 8.00  12 weeks  96
TOTAL     150

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
Oral Presentation Individual  10 - 20%  1,2,3,4,5,6
Online Quizzes Individual  20 - 40%  1,2,3,4,5,6
Literature Review Individual  40 - 50% 1,2,3,4,5,6
Mid Semester Test Individual  10 - 30%  1,2,3,4,5,6

Hurdle

As the minimum requirements of assessment to pass a unit and meet all Unit Learning Outcomes to a minimum standard, a student must achieve:

(i) an aggregate mark of 50% or more, and
(ii) at least 50% in the Literature Review Paper.

Students who do not successfully achieve hurdle requirement (ii) will receive a maximum of 45% as the total mark for the unit.

Content

Week 1: Unit introduction and background

  • Unit aims and learning outcomes
  • Unit outline, structure, content, and assessment
  • The changing landscape of urban mobility
  • Key sustainable transport strategies and solutions
     

Week 2: Global transport challenges 

  • Rapid urbanisation
  • Road safety
  • Traffic congestion
  • Ageing infrastructure, opportunities and barriers to investment
  • Pollution and emissions
  • Resilience of infrastructure and transport services
  • Transport energy
  • Climate change
  • Impacts of transport on health and well-being
     

Week 3: Opportunities and emerging trends in sustainable transport

  • Limitations of conventional transport planning approaches
  • What is sustainable transport?
  • What is low carbon and low emissions mobility?
  • Planning for sustainable transport
  • Conventional versus sustainable approaches
     

Week 4: Policy principles for sustainable transport

  • Urban transport energy efficiency principles
  • Policy instruments
  • Key policy principles
     

Week 5: Land use, transport and energy integration (LUTEI)

  • Background and motivation for LUTEI
  • Principles of sustainable land use and transport
  • Alignment of policy and practice
  • Case studies
     

Week 6: Public and active transport and shared mobility

  • Public transport
  • Active transport
  • Ride sharing and reducing reliance on car ownership
  • On-demand public transport and shared mobility solutions
  • Tech-enabled car, bike, and scooter sharing programs
     

Week 7: Fundamentals of transport technologies and their role in sustainable transport

  • The changing landscape of transport technologies
  • Why is it important to respond to disruptive technology forces?
  • Characteristics of disruptive technologies and identifying the technologies that matter
  • Technology hype cycles
  • Pitfalls and considerations of potential impacts
  • Policy and regulations
     

Week 8: Applications of technology and digital innovations in sustainable transport

  • Technology-driven smart mobility
  • The role of disruptive technologies in shaping urban mobility
  • The role of digital platforms in facilitating collaborative mobility opportunities
  • Tech-enabled shared mobility
  • Smart mobility benefits: More for less
  • Legislative support challenges
  • Privacy, software resilience and cybersecurity challenges
  • Case studies and applications
     

Week 9: Transport electrification

  • Basics of transport electrification and reducing reliance on fossil transport fuels
  • The role of transport electrification in the energy transition
  • Changes in consumer attitudes
  • Charging infrastructure
  • Regulatory policies
  • Future potential: Convergence with other disruptive forces
  • Challenges: Mineral extraction and recycling of batteries
     

Week 10: Transport automation

  • Transport automation development
  • Vehicle technologies and autonomous driving functions
  • Levels of driving automation
  • A cyber-physical system – how does autonomous transport work?
  • Impact on car ownership
  • Impact on intersection control and congestion
  • Impact on mobility, parking, and public spaces
  • Impact on public and active transport
  • Impact on the environment and pollutants emissions
  • Public attitudes to autonomous vehicles
  • Ethical challenges
  • Regulations
     

Week 11: The role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in promoting sustainable transport

  • AI in the context of emerging trends in transport digitalisation and automation
  • AI framework and fundamentals
  • Key ethical concerns with AI
  • Ethical decision-making and accountability
  • AI reliability, data privacy and security
  • Managing AI risks
  • Core principles for a human-centred approach to AI ethics
  • The role of AI in tackling transport challenges and improving sustainability
     

Week 12: Case studies and pathways for deployment

  • Congestion charging as a travel demand and emissions reductions strategy
  • Busways, bike sharing and scooter sharing systems, car-free urban centres,
  • Road freight decarbonisation
  • Transport emissions lifecycle analysis
  • Impacts of transport decarbonisation interventions
  • Policy principles and pathways for deployment
  • Summary of key themes and policy directions
  • Course concluding remarks

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.