As Australia and New Zealand navigate the shift in transport infrastructure delivery shaped by changing investment patterns, evolving client expectations and the urgent need for cost certainty, our Global Chief Executive for Transportation, Mark Southwell and Transport Industry Director in Australia and New Zealand, Ray Rawlings, discuss how we’re addressing these challenges and delivering positive impacts for local communities. 

Ray: Mark, could you share your overall observations from your visit to Australia and New Zealand? 

Mark: I’ve visited some truly world-class projects underway here – the Western Harbour Tunnel in Sydney, Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel and City Rail Link in Auckland, where I was fortunate to learn more about New Zealand’s rich Māori heritage and how this is woven into the very fabric of projects that we are delivering. The energy and commitment of the people behind these projects were really fulfilling to see.

I’ve discussed several challenges with clients and industry leaders while I’ve been over here… the budget constraints, construction productivity, delivery risk and capability gaps are those we see worldwide. This presents an opportunity to share solutions across borders. Programmatic thinking, collaborative delivery and a design-to-cost mindset will help address these challenges, all while navigating the pipeline shift away from the mega-projects of the past 15 years.

Ray: We’ve seen the UK experience a slowdown in its transportation infrastructure investment. What lessons can we learn, or outcomes should we expect in the Australian and New Zealand market?  

Mark: The slowdown in transport infrastructure in the UK offers a timely reflection point. With the UK generally being a few steps ahead of what then tends to happen in the Australia and New Zealand market, you’re starting to experience that recalibration here too. But this isn’t a retreat…it’s a redirection.

The infrastructure sector must broaden its lens. The skills developed in transport, particularly linear infrastructure, are highly transferable. For example, the energy transition presents a compelling opportunity to apply these capabilities in new ways. In the Australia and New Zealand, we’re already exploring how our major project delivery experience can support the green economy.

Equally important is the shift toward local delivery. While mega-projects have dominated headlines, the future lies in a balanced portfolio that includes smaller, high-volume projects delivered in partnership with local councils and government agencies. These projects may be modest in scale, but their impact on communities is profound.

Ray: Let’s touch on the mega stuff quickly. High-speed rail… is Australia ready? What models have been successful globally?  

Mark: High-speed rail is once again a topic of national conversation in Australia. But as we’ve seen globally, success depends on context.

There’s no universal blueprint. What works in Spain or the UK won’t necessarily work in Australia. However, high-speed rail remains a proven and successful form of transportation that can help grow and connect economies of any country where it operates. In countries like Australia and the US, high-speed rail is most effective when it competes directly with air travel, connecting cities over distances where rail can offer a viable, sustainable alternative.

The delivery model must be tailored. Whether through a delivery partner approach or a systems-based structure, the goal is to bring together the right expertise and governance to deliver long-term value. AECOM’s experience in diverse and unique regions, spanning California to Madrid, means we’re well placed to shape the right solution for Australia.

Ray: What role has digital played in transportation innovation? Are you seeing the adoption of digital technology to drive efficiencies and value for money? 

Mark: The levels of maturity and focus of digital technology varies across the globe. There’s a concentrated effort in Australia and New Zealand to bridge the gap between the capital build phase and the operations and maintenance phase; hence, digital requirements are increasing.

With digital models and technical drawings increasingly automated, workflows, effective clash detection, and data delivery are all more efficient, reducing both cost and risk. What stood out here was seeing these models integrated into gaming engines to help close the disconnect between those who build infrastructure and those who must run and maintain it afterwards.

With this technology, stakeholders that range from maintenance engineers to people with disabilities could virtually walk, drive, or fly through designs, gaining firsthand experience of roadways, bridges, and the broader urban landscape. The commitment to digital workflows here goes beyond standard delivery, and we’re now achieving greater efficiency by connecting every part of the process and optimising project delivery from start to finish.

Ray: We’ve seen NEC4 [New Engineering Contract 4] contracts, which are widely adopted in the UK, becoming increasingly prevalent in Australia, and gaining traction in New Zealand. What can we learn about this model?

Mark: The NEC4 contract model shows us how a well-designed structure can support collaboration.

NEC4 simplifies language and focuses on early risk identification and joint problem-solving. It’s not about protecting positions; it’s about delivering outcomes. It encourages all parties to identify risks early, assess impacts and co-create solutions.

This approach aligns naturally with how people in Australia and New Zealand want to work; openly, constructively and with a shared purpose. It’s a model that supports not just better projects, but better partnerships.

Ray: As you know, budget constraints and cost escalations are one of our biggest challenges. How can we implement AECOM’s learnings from around the world?   

Mark: With governments under pressure to do more with less, cost certainty has become a global imperative. The industry must respond with discipline and innovation.

Continuing to design everything from scratch isn’t sustainable. Embracing repeatability, modularity and design for manufacture and assembly offers practical pathways to improved productivity. These are not just buzzwords; they’re levers for change.

Clients are ready for this shift. They want solutions that are affordable, scalable, and deliverable. We can lead these conversations, bringing forward ideas that reduce costs, increase certainty, and deliver better outcomes. Because this is a global challenge, we’re in a position to leverage our global network, connecting people, ideas and capabilities to solve it.

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Involving builders early

The San Diego International (SAN) Airport New Terminal 1 Program is comprised of multiple projects with varying procurement and delivery models, including the major Terminal & Roadways project and several substantial enabling works.

We played a key role in integrating these components by aligning scopes, sequencing work and adapting to changes. Choreographing the complexity of these components was a significant challenge. The Progressive Design Build delivery method (Early Contractor Involvement, as it’s known in Australia) played a crucial role in overcoming this challenge, all the while dealing with the uncertainty of COVID and the post-COVID marketplace.

This approach enables agility, continuous evaluation, and specialist input from designers and builders throughout. With over 15 years of partnership with the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority (SDCRAA), our depth of knowledge about the facility and trusted collaboration meant we could help guide decisions and advise client staff through informed recommendations.

Delivery challenges in a constrained live airport site

It was a puzzle that we kept having to solve.

SAN Airport is a highly constrained site, so we needed to get creative with land and construction site logistics. It was like a puzzle we kept solving through moving pieces around until the picture came together.

For example, originally trades were parking off-site and bussing in each day, which was costly and disruptive to site operations. We proposed to the client to park them in the new car park. Although initially apprehensive due to a potential loss of revenue from customers, we supported development of a cost analysis and found it would be more cost-effective and efficient for the client.

Due to a commitment to the state of California that by 2035, no rainwater will leave the airport, we managed the design and construction of a 900,000-gallon underground cistern as part of the airside project. This project was adjacent to the new terminal, so needed to be carefully considered in building and roadway construction sequencing.

The airport site sits right on the ocean, which presented major groundwater challenges. We faced dewatering issues, as we couldn’t lower the water table to the depth needed to construct the cistern. This caused construction delays, which also impacted other project’s sequencing and schedule milestones.

Rather than continuing, we stepped back and decided the best path forward was to redesign the cistern, so it didn’t go as deep. While it may have seemed like a drastic decision, it allowed us to raise the bottom elevation to a point where the dewatering became achievable.

While a change order was involved, the path decided was the most beneficial to the overall program.

The success of such project’s hinges on strong program management and collaboration with all stakeholders. At SAN Airport, we worked closely with our client and partners, building trust and understanding that allowed us to navigate the inevitable challenges and unknowns in a mutually beneficial way. This collaborative spirit is essential to delivering successful airport upgrades while maintaining operational continuity.

Partnerships for success

In a Progressive Design-Build delivery, the most important decision you will make is who you select as your Design-Build partner.

As partners, our approach is to constantly look for ways to improve on plans, reevaluate ideas and provide innovative, informed alternatives for the client to decide upon. We find this allows us to create win-win solutions which leads to the best outcomes.

We value having a whole team that is constantly searching for new ideas to move projects forward as quickly as possible. We value that in our Design Build partners too. They bring ideas on how to do things faster. When partners work well together and collaborate openly and transparently, they help projects succeed.

Must haves in a partner

Mindset and empathy are required on both sides. We must set aside our company names and trust that the decisions we make won’t harm each other. We must also respect each other’s need to be profitable businesses.

The contract is designed to create that alignment. For example, having savings participation opportunities sewn into contracts. This way, our partners are incentivised to find the more cost-efficient way of doing things, because they benefit as well.

Most important elements for success in the SAN Airport live terminal environment

1. Our team and the expertise we bring in collaboration with our partner design builders. Our understanding of the facility and aviation operations. These give us the foundations needed to explore ideas and alternatives.
2. Trust – it’s essential. Trust builds on the foundations and allows us to work through the inevitable challenges and unknowns that all complex projects will encounter, in a healthy and mutually beneficial way.  

 The new SAN Terminal 1 opens September 2025.

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The most effective approach starts long before a shovel hits the ground: engage early, collaborate effectively and build trust. Using early contractor involvement (ECI) is one procurement tool to achieve early design input to identify opportunities and highlight risk. 

Over the past decade, we’ve supported major projects that have embraced ECI, including the Russley Road (SH1) upgrade in Christchurch, the Waitaki Bridges replacement, Dunedin City Council’s Retail Quarter upgrade, and the Lincoln Road Interchange in Auckland. These projects, though diverse in location and scope, share one common outcome — the ECI model in these examples led to better delivery, stronger stakeholder relationships and more resilient, community-centred infrastructure. 

Why Early Contractor Involvement? Six lessons 

1. Start with a shared mindset

True collaboration begins with intent. When contractors, designers and clients commit to transparency, open dialogue and shared outcomes from the outset, projects are more resilient to challenges. 

On Russley Road, buy-in from all parties of how we would engage as a project team was instrumental in delivering the project 10 months ahead of schedule. Similarly, in Waitaki, Dunedin, and Lincoln Road, fostering a collaborative mindset from the beginning helped teams navigate complex local conditions and stakeholder needs with agility.

2. Clarity and structure enable creativity

Bringing contractors in can have benefit if done under the right circumstances and at the right time. The key is creating a clear framework — well-defined roles, responsibilities and decision-making channels. 

In Dunedin’s Retail Quarter, a clearly scoped ECI phase enabled flexible, iterative design informed by contractor feedback, while still aligning to the Council’s broader urban revitalisation objectives. The result? Enhanced pedestrian spaces, more efficient traffic management and community spaces that locals are proud of. Similarly, the Lincoln Road Interchange used a structured ECI approach to enable smart staging and coordination, allowing construction to proceed while maintaining traffic flows on one of Auckland’s busiest corridors.

3. Shared risk unlocks smarter solutions

Too often, risk is something to shift rather than face head on. But ECI works best when risks are identified early and managed collectively.  

Across all four projects, we developed priced risk registers with input from all delivery partners and assigned the risk to the party best positioned to manage it. This not only reduced overall project risk but also empowered innovation and reduced contested ownership of risks when they did eventuate. 

In Waitaki, this meant we used lightweight materials to reduce seismic load and improve crane logistics. On Russley Road, staging workshops with Christchurch Traffic Operations Centre ensured efficient construction sequencing and traffic flow while building the Memorial Avenue Interchange. Both approaches would have been harder to achieve without open, upfront conversations about risk and opportunity. At Lincoln Road, early engagement and shared risk management enabled innovative solutions — like designing around buried services and overhead powerlines — to be integrated without impacting programme.

4. Stakeholder engagement must be continuous and meaningful

Early engagement is not just for delivery partners — it’s also essential for partnership with iwi or Traditional Owners, or involving community, landowners and local businesses. Projects that prioritise ongoing communication and genuine engagement reap the benefits of local support.

At Russley Road, we held open days and community workshops to maintain transparency throughout construction.

On Lincoln Road, continuous engagement with community stakeholders helped minimise disruption and maximise access through careful staging and temporary traffic layouts.

In Waitaki, working closely with local residents helped smooth the bridge transition and build public trust. And in Dunedin, regular engagement with businesses on George Street helped fine-tune design features and mitigate construction impacts — ensuring the upgrade supported local commerce, not disrupted it.

5. Sustainability must be embedded early

Embedding sustainability from day one ensures that environmental outcomes aren’t an afterthought — they’re a driver of design and delivery decisions. 

On all four projects, ECI helped surface practical sustainability measures. At Russley Road, contaminated material removal was minimised, and clean fill was reused onsite reducing both cost and environmental impact. In Dunedin, locally sourced, low-carbon materials were prioritised, while Waitaki’s design innovations supported both seismic resilience and sustainability goals. 

6. Flexibility builds resilience

Perhaps one of the greatest strengths of ECI is the ability to adapt. Whether it’s shifting community needs, budget adjustments or technical challenges, early collaboration builds the trust and structure needed to pivot when necessary. 

This was particularly evident in Dunedin, where the design was continually refined based on feedback from stakeholders and contractors — adding value without compromising delivery timeframes or budget. ECI allowed the team to co-create a solution that was not just functional but loved by the community. 

Improving projects through ECI 

ECI isn’t a silver bullet, but when applied with the right mindset, governance and commitment to collaboration, it transforms how infrastructure is delivered. 

As we look ahead to future programmes, whether they involve complex transport interchanges, heritage bridge replacements or city centre upgrades, our experience tells us this: early alignment delivers lasting impact. 

From Russley Road to Waitaki to Dunedin — and to Lincoln Road — these projects prove that when we build partnerships early, we also build better communities. 

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The Middle East is now well-positioned to benefit from HSR’s opportunities. Our rail and transit lead for the Middle East and Africa, Gordon Lindsay, global transit director, Russell Jackson, and our global transit director for major projects, John Barker, explain what it takes to get a successful HSR project off the ground. 

A strong start for HSR in the Middle East  

HSR has begun to show potential in the Middle East through several recent developments. In Saudi Arabia, the North Railway provides 1,550 kilometers (more than 950 miles) of freight and 1,250 kilometers (approximately 775 miles) of passenger lines, linking the capital city of Riyadh with Al-Haditha, which sits across the border from neighboring Jordan. Elsewhere, the Haramain High-Speed Railway connects the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, reducing travel time for pilgrims to under 2.5 hours.   

Further planned developments include the Saudi Landbridge, linking the coastal city of Jeddah to Riyadh, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Railway, which is proposed to connect all six GCC member states in Eastern Arabia, stretching 2,177 kilometers (1,353 miles). With these current and future projects, the Middle East is on its way to establishing a mature HSR network.  

HSR benefits  

New HSR projects can bring cities and communities together, boost economies and promote sustainability while enriching regions socially and financially. The benefits include: 

Unlocking growth. By increasing the movement of people and goods across regions, HSR drives progress. In a survey published in our 2024 research report, From vision to reality: A new high-speed rail playbook, 89 percent of professional industry respondents identified HSR projects as catalysts for economic stimulation and 77 percent say HSR can drive major positive societal impacts. 

Reducing carbon emissions. HSR has a lower lifetime carbon impact when compared with alternative modes of transportation such as air, road transport and diesel-powered trains. Recent construction methods, for instance, those employed by High Speed Two (HS2) in the U.K., have contributed to this. The project employed new low-carbon materials, such as concrete, that provide a 42 percent reduction in carbon emissions. Further, HSR electric trains lose only 5 percent of energy during combustion, versus 65–70 percent for diesel-powered trains.  

Enhancing integration. Through careful planning and design, HSR can provide interoperability with existing regional networks, offering a point-to-point solution for passengers and freight. In Europe the Lyon-Turin line, which is expected to be operational in 2033, connects with the existing Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Mediterranean Corridor, and will bring a new HSR link for freight and passengers traveling between Italy and France.  

Middle East HSR challenges  

HSR projects in the Middle East face several region-specific challenges that operators must address early to ensure successful delivery. Below are four key considerations: 

1. Prove a strong business case. Establishing a demonstrable business case is essential to secure investment. HSR project leaders must manage capital costs and illustrate how the plans support economic growth and improve connectivity — both within regional networks and across modes of public transportation. This calls for efficient, robust delivery models that help identify the best funding opportunities on a case-by-case basis.

2. Effective planning and phasing. Early planning and phasing — including demand modeling and understanding population distributions — helps manage costs and unlock benefits as a project is underway. In Spain the world’s second largest HSR network, Alta Velocidad Española (AVE), used a phased approach that included constructing a temporary station, Valencia Joaquin Sorolla. Designed for later dismantling and therefore built from recyclable materials, the station helped deliver early and ongoing project benefits.

3. Implementing engineering expertise. Addressing unique engineering challenges, such as terrain and environmental conditions, requires expert insights to meet HSR’s high safety and efficiency standards. Windblown sand, wide temperature ranges and remote locations are key regional factors that need consideration. Interoperability for future connections is also something to consider. While current demand in the region may focus on freight, experience shows that passenger demand often follows. Planning for this from the outset can prove cost-effective long term.

4. Efficient delivery and standards. Standardization and modularization enable repeatability, drive measurable efficiencies and reduce costs. Standardization also gives more certainty around cost estimations. Taiwan’s approximately 350-kilometer (around 217-mile) HSR made extensive use of standardized designs and modular construction. Clear standards build supply chain confidence, encouraging investment in the necessary capabilities, expertise and equipment required for efficient delivery. 

Exceptional opportunities 

The true value of an HSR line becomes apparent once it’s operational. Feedback from past projects highlights a consistent set of priorities for evaluating project success within the first year of operation. Of the various factors identified, respondents believe success is measured primarily on an HSR line’s ability to drive economic growth, employ innovative technology, adapt to future change and result in on-time delivery.  

By preparing to meet the diverse challenges, countries across the Middle East can share in the many economic and societal benefits that HSR offers.  

To learn more, please contact our Middle East high-speed rail team.  

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The need for travel efficiency and environmental sustainability has brought us closer than ever to realizing a concept that seemed futuristic merely a decade ago: flying cars. This breakthrough has been enabled by Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), a safe, automated, electric and accessible system to transport passengers, cargo and other operations, through the air.

Specifically, electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft have started to disrupt conventional travel methods. Leveraging advancements in Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) and battery technology, these aircraft combine the features of drones, helicopters and conventional aircraft to efficiently move people and goods. They are particularly suitable for tackling congestion and providing a more sustainable transportation solution in urban environments such as Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area (GBA).

With the increasing demand for smarter, faster and more cost-effective solutions to manage urban mobility and logistics, now is the time to start considering how to integrate eVTOLs into our transport systems. The GBA, with its dynamic economy and rapid urbanization, is an ideal testing ground for innovations. So how can this vision be turned into reality?

Gathering momentum of eVTOL and Urban Air Mobility

We are currently witnessing a surge of interest in eVTOLs, with over 1,100 different concepts being developed worldwide. Governments and cities around the world are also actively promoting the technology. For instance, the development of the ‘low-altitude economy’ — defined as economic activities conducted in airspace below 1,000 meters — was highlighted in the Hong Kong Chief Executive’s 2024 Policy Address, with eVTOLs set to play a central role.

Elsewhere in the GBA, the Shenzhen government implemented China’s first legal framework for promoting this economy, which aims to create a comprehensive network of approximately 1,200 take-off and landing points for both eVTOLs and drones by the end of 2026. This would include associated communication and sensor infrastructure.

The opportunity for Urban Air Mobility (UAM), a subset of AAM that specifically focuses on urban environments, is also sizeable. Research from Morgan Stanley forecasts that the total addressable market for UAM is set to reach approximately US$1 trillion in 2040, but will then boom to US$9 trillion by 2050 — representing around five to six percent of the projected global GDP.

Transforming travel: Potential benefits in Hong Kong and the GBA

The cruising range of eVTOLs varies by their design, size and intended use. Some eVTOL models are suitable for intra-city transport, while others could be used for serving inter-city transport needs. The following provides an illustration of the range that eVTOLs could provide from Hong Kong, demonstrating their ability to reach cities within the GBA on a single charge:

To highlight the benefits that eVTOLs can bring, an intra-city journey in Hong Kong from Central to the future San Tin Technopole in the Northern Metropolis could take approximately 10 minutes — 80 percent less time than using a taxi during peak hours. Similarly for inter-city travel across the GBA, a trip from Central to the city of Foshan, could take approximately 40 minutes via eVTOL, down from around four hours via conventional means such as a cross-border bus.

These time savings do not only enhance the efficiency of daily travel, but will also improve productivity and quality of life for individuals. By offering faster and more convenient travel options, eVTOLs thus have the potential to revolutionize transportation and improve mobility for residents and visitors in the GBA.

Infrastructure design considerations for the low-altitude economy

In the next five years, limited premium eVTOL services for high-end transportation needs will be offered as a complement to existing modes of transport. However, adoption is expected to become more widespread after 2030 as more people recognize the benefits of UAM. This will require an expanded network of vertiports, as well as associated infrastructure such as air traffic management systems.

In working towards the successful implementation of eVTOL, AECOM is already collaborating closely with eVTOL industry stakeholders around the world, including the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in the US and clients in the Middle East and Asia. Our expertise in integrating various components, such as energy systems, enables us to optimize eVTOL operations and facilitate their effective implementation in urban landscapes.

Based on our involvement in eVTOL infrastructure in projects around the world. including studies in the Northern Metropolis, we have identified 10 key factors that must be considered in the design of vertiports for Hong Kong:

1. Strategic Location: Integration of eVTOLs into existing transport networks for inter-modal connectivity.

2. Vertiport Size and Layout: Compatibility with different models of eVTOLs.

3. Spatial Requirements: Air space separation from other traffic (e.g. conventional aircraft, helicopters, drones) through air traffic management systems.

4. Charging Infrastructure: Provision of power for eVTOLs’ charging needs.

5. Safety Measures: Fire protection systems and other emergency measures.

6. Environmental Considerations: Noise and impact on migratory birds.

7. Passenger Experience: Ensuring simplicity, speed, and convenience.

8. Scalability: Modular and adaptable designs for high-frequency operations.

9. Security: Physical and cybersecurity against unauthorized access and potential threats.

10. Visual Pollution and Privacy: Addressing concerns of operating eVTOLs in urban areas.

Advancing eVTOL integration

Our experience in AAM, vertiport designs, sustainable technologies and transport planning has enabled us to overcome multiple challenges associated with eVTOL technology to deliver safe, efficient and sustainable transport solutions. The technology has the potential to transform the transport landscape of Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area. In this regard, the launch of Hong Kong’s Low-altitude Economy Regulatory Sandbox as well as legislative amendments to support implementation of the low-altitude economy mark a significant step forward, enabling the city to trial eVTOL applications that could redefine urban mobility. Together, these initiatives will not only secure the take-off of the low-altitude economy in Hong Kong, but also foster closer integration and collaborative development across the GBA.

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We believe infrastructure should do more than move people, it should connect them, safely. Rail level crossing removal is one of the most impactful ways to deliver that change. Projects that remove these critical barriers enable safer, more resilient and better-connected communities.

Across Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia, we’ve supported the delivery of level crossing removal projects in dense urban environments, from Auckland’s City Rail Link to the Victoria Level Crossings Removal Programme in Melbourne. Through this work, we’ve seen how thoughtful design and coordinated delivery can reduce risk, improve travel times and reconnect neighbourhoods.

Keep freight and people moving safely 

As Auckland’s City Rail Link (CRL) transforms how people travel, it’s also reshaping freight routes like the North Auckland Line (NAL). As part of the Link Alliance, we support KiwiRail and Auckland Transport to design level crossing upgrades that enable both safe freight operations and more frequent passenger services.

The project removed several high-risk crossings, including at Normanby Road, where the level crossing was replaced with a multi-modal road-over-rail bridge.

The design of this future-ready infrastructure involved electrification readiness, geotechnical upgrades, improved drainage systems, and close collaboration with construction partners to develop smart staging strategies — all under live rail conditions.

The project is using Building Information Modelling (BIM) and advanced traffic modelling tools for sequencing, clash detection and disruption management — enabling safer, more efficient delivery with fewer impacts on commuters and freight.

Bringing lessons across the Tasman

Since 2016, we’ve worked with GHD as Joint Venture (JV) Technical Advisor (TA) to support Victoria’s Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) — a once-in-a-generation transformation of Melbourne’s metropolitan rail network.

Initially established as the Level Crossing Removal Authority in 2015, the aim of the program was to remove 75 of the most dangerous and congested level crossings across Melbourne and deliver new stations to improve safety, reduce congestion and increase train capacity.

As TA, our JV has supported LXRP through all phases of planning, design and construction. This includes project management support, technical advice relating to design optioneering, design development to reference design, data collection, options assessment, engineering design, value engineering, cost estimating, planning and environmental approvals, business case development, precinct development, and stakeholder consultation support.

Our team of over 400 technical professionals has worked across disciplines and geographies to deliver a streamlined, tailored and fully integrated approach. We’ve also provided schedule, cost and risk management services aligned at the work order level, detailed work breakdown structures, and numerous automated dashboards that allow discipline leads and the client to readily access accurate, up-to-date cost and schedule information.

Key learnings from level crossing removals 

• Start with the community: Early engagement with the community and key stakeholders builds trust and leads to solutions that locals take pride in. 

• Design for people, not just vehicles: Prioritise placemaking and connectivity so that infrastructure becomes a community asset. 

• Be flexible: Whether you’re delivering above rail corridors or through busy neighbourhoods — smart staging, sequencing and strong coordination are vital. 

Through projects like CRL and Victoria’s LXRP, we’ve developed a robust playbook for delivering level crossing removals safely and efficiently — and, more importantly, in ways that prioritise people and place. 

Designing for today and tomorrow

Level crossing removal isn’t just about eliminating conflict points between road and rail. It’s about transforming how communities move, connect, and grow.

We bring together transport planners, civil engineers, rail specialists, urban designers, and community engagement experts to reimagine how infrastructure serves people. Our approach draws on years of practical experience delivering projects at pace and scale across the globe.

Because designing safe, connected infrastructure isn’t just a job, it’s a responsibility.

We don’t just remove barriers.

We create bridges — to safer journeys, thriving communities, and a better future. 

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Every year, more and more travelers take to the skies. It is expected that passenger air traffic will almost double by 2042, reaching nearly 18 billion passengers annually. And as travel demand increases, so too will aviation’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). To reach net zero, the sector must act decisively — and soon, as the air sector is one of the fastest-growing transportation-related GHG emitters.

In response, airports around the world are seeking numerous solutions to reach their net zero targets. One in particular has taken off and promises to expand the performance of airports. That solution is the microgrid.

Some of the world’s leading airports have already begun installing microgrids, and their efforts are paying off; microgrids support local and regional zero-emission ambitions and can build resilience for mission-critical operations. Here’s what it takes to get this technology off the ground.

Airports as energy hubs

The world’s airports consume vast quantities of energy — equivalent to more than 10,000,000 tons of CO2e per year in Scope 1 and 2 emissions according to recent estimates. But what if they produced and managed energy of their own?

That’s the promise of microgrids, which entail an independent grid system that supports on-site electricity generation via photovoltaic (PV), and other low-carbon sources. Integrated battery storage also plays a critical role in microgrids, allowing locally generated energy to be conserved, sold back to the broader grid, or even support seamless operations during power outages or emergencies.

It’s for precisely the above reasons — sustainability, resilience and cost — that microgrids have taken off at many airports.

Fearful of expensive disruptions caused by power outages at other U.S. airports, in 2021 Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) became the first airport in the world to fully power its operations through a microgrid supported by natural gas and solar energy.

Built, operated and maintained by the local utility at no cost to the airport, the microgrid — powered by five natural gas-fueled generators and nearly 10,000 PV solar panels — can meet the facility’s peak power needs. In its first year, the microgrid saved PIT $1 million in energy costs and reduced roughly 8.2 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions.

In New York City, nearly $10 billion in upgrades to Terminal One at JFK International Airport will include a microgrid powered by a combination of natural gas, rooftop solar, fuel cells and battery storage.

Rather than meeting the terminal’s total daily electricity needs, the microgrid will instead ensure exceptional resilience: it will provide enough continuous power for the 23-gate hub to keep functioning even if the grid goes down — reducing the risk of canceled flights and sustaining critical operations.

One size does not fit all

To unlock these demonstrated benefits, airports will need to navigate an array of considerations, including multiple tenants and stakeholders, local resources, regulations, competing priorities and myriad safety and security requirements. All of these, though, can be managed and mitigated by developing a custom solution on a site-by-site basis.

Making space

One of the most frequent challenges is space. Airports must find sites for multiple energy resources while also contending with sprawling facilities and diverse tenant requirements. And among the most stringent of those requirements are height limitations and risk of glare.

Air traffic control restrictions can also place constraints on the siting and implementation of certain facilities, including PV panels. Overcoming these constraints means thinking creatively.

Airports can consider multiple microgrids supported by PV located on garages, rooftops and rental car centers. They also might leverage combined heat and power via hydrogen or renewable natural gas cogeneration as part of the central utility plant. Fuel cells and battery storage are also part of the solution and can be integrated across multiple locations for greater flexibility and efficiency.

Safe and secure

Critical safety and security needs also accompany the introduction of microgrids. The significant communications technologies embedded in microgrids present considerable cybersecurity risks. Cybersecurity measures must play a key role in the deployment and operation of microgrids, protecting these systems against cyberattacks and ensuring a resilient power supply.

A balancing act

Electrical loads and energy management pose another complication. As the industry accelerates sustainable operations and the electrification of facilities, fleets and aircrafts, load requirements for airports are increasing. While microgrids can help manage this surge in load growth and limit associated infrastructure costs, it remains a complex task to balance numerous, often intermittent, energy sources.

Advanced energy management systems can help balance complex loads generated by distributed energy resources (DERs), such as solar, or hydrogen, while also optimizing energy storage and consumption. An ideal mix of DERs will also look different for each airport and may have significant regional variation due to local energy resources. In the case of PIT, natural gas was used from onsite extraction thanks to a partnership with Consol Energy.

Costs (and revenue)

With many components to install and integrate, cost can become a concern. Fortunately, when optimized, energy generation and dispatch of onsite sources can create revenue streams and offset the expense of installation and operation.

If the energy rates, operations, and space are all conducive, it’s readily possible to optimize DERs to create a reliable revenue stream. Energy generated on site can be sold back to utilities during peak periods for a premium, while the microgrid can also provide frequency management as a service for the surrounding grid. An added cost benefit of microgrids is that they can minimize the installation of additional, capital-intensive electrical infrastructure to meet greater loads.

Setting a flight plan

Decarbonizing the aviation sector will require industry-wide action. As hubs for millions of travelers, airports have a critical role to play.

Microgrids present a particularly promising decarbonization solution and can enable airports to drive an array of environmental and operational transformations. From decarbonizing travel and energy production to building resilience into grid systems, microgrid adoption can help airports achieve their net zero targets while also safeguarding travelers and airlines.

With so many elements to consider — from DERs, energy storage, operations and design — airports will need to build integrated expertise to realize and operate microgrids. Delivery partners too must have competencies in facilities management, clean energy, and, of course, airport design. Even amidst these complexities, this smart technology is rapidly becoming a standard practice for many airports. The rewards — resiliency, security, sustainability — are proving well worth the effort.

Learn more about our global aviation practice ranked #1 by Engineering News-Record.

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The South-East Queensland region is experiencing a population boom, and Brisbane is the fastest-growing city in Australia[1]. The Games are the stimulus to bring forward planned infrastructure, delivering targeted improvements to regional public transport while accelerating the energy transition. This investment in mass transit connections, zero-emission buses, walking, cycling and micro-mobility facilities will be the Games legacy for a better-connected South East Queensland region for generations.

The International Olympic Committee notes that carbon emissions from the movement of people and goods represent a key environmental impact[2]. Brisbane 2032 will be the first carbon-positive Games, meaning it will remove more emissions than it produces. This aligns with Queensland’s Zero Emission Vehicle Strategy and Queensland Transport Strategy, which aim to realise air quality, health, sustainability, accessibility, resiliency, and productivity goals.

Understanding the transit landscape

To deliver a carbon-positive Games, an innovative and effective Transport and Mobility Strategy is needed to ensure every investment choice, planning decision and design outcome considers carbon impact and ongoing community value far beyond 2032.

“In Brisbane, targeted investment in improvements to active transport facilities will support zero-carbon mobility at a local level,” says Carla Schnitzerling, AECOM’s Technical Director – Transport Planning, Queensland. “This includes access to Games venues with improvements to first and last-mile connections between a transport node and venue to further encourage an uptake of public transport.”

Host cities have long relied on strategic rail connections as a centrepiece of mobility, offering efficient mass transit. Brisbane 2032 will be held across Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast, and the rail network will be critical to intra-regional connections. Significant work is underway to progress the planning and delivery of rail network enhancements and Brisbane City Council has made ambitious first steps to envisioning what a transport and mobility strategy could look like for Brisbane 2032, with the extension of the safe and accessible Brisbane Metro network.

Buses will also continue to play a significant role for key cities in the South East Queensland region. The ambition is to deliver a significant zero-emission bus fleet and associated depot and charging infrastructure, and the development and delivery strategy for zero-emission buses needs particular focus to be Games-ready. This is a necessary and critical step to enable athlete and spectator mobility while reducing the Games’ carbon footprint. It will create a legacy of assets, increasing mobility for communities and reducing environmental impact. However, the pathway to transition to an electrified fleet and infrastructure is complex, and competing demands for resources across jurisdictions with other states’ similar priorities, add to the complexity.

The challenge of improving the transit network is heightened by the critical need to simultaneously address climate change through decarbonisation. This is achievable but relies on accelerated decision-making, delivery, and prioritising investment to create a legacy Queenslanders can be proud of, well beyond any sporting success.

With such ambitious targets and a notable infrastructure program to deliver over the next eight years, what will underpin Brisbane’s success?

The Games Venue and Legacy Delivery Authority will steer the Brisbane 2032 Transport and Mobility Strategy to deliver accessible and sustainable travel choices, accelerating travel options that will serve the region’s communities before, during and following the Games. The development of this strategy needs to be accelerated to move planning into delivery with a focus on:

1. Delivering travel options for all – ensuring viable alternatives to private car travel
2. Increasing travel by public transport and active transport
3. Improving access to opportunity (Jobs, Education, Healthcare, Sport + Leisure)

The current public transport system can only serve 50% of projected trips to Games venues[3], so prioritisation of investment is needed to deliver the target of 90% of journeys by public transport and active transport to venues[4], which will include:

1. Mass transit – Rail (Cross River Rail, Direct Sunshine Coast, Logan to Gold Coast Faster Rail) and BRT/Bus (Brisbane Metro, Zero Emission Buses) and Electric Ferries;
2. Walking, cycling and micromobility – Improvements to dedicated facilities for walking, cycling and micromobility, including for first and last mile connections; and
3. Innovation and technology – Advanced Air Mobility, Demand Responsive Transport / On-Demand Transport; Intelligent Transport Systems; Mobility as a Service; Smart Ticketing; Integrated Information and Wayfinding.

South East Queensland is on the cusp of a transformative era in transportation and mobility. The Brisbane 2032 Transport and Mobility Strategy is the first piece of the puzzle, priming the state to set a new standard of universal, inclusive and accessible design. Government, industry and the public will all be key to move strategy into action, working together to deliver multiple complex multidisciplinary projects simultaneously.

Learn more about how AECOM is shaping Brisbane 2032 into a lasting legacy here.

Footnotes:

[1] Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2023, Data by region, accessed 13 August 2024, abs.gov.au/databyregion

[2] According to https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/IOC/What-We-Do/celebrate-olympic-games/Sustainability/sustainability-essentials/IOC-Sustain-Essentials_v7.pdf

[3] Department of the Premier and Cabinet, 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Value Proposition Assessment, 2019, pp. 9

[4] https://q2032.au/big-picture/sustainability

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Our ‘Sustainable Legacies’ lead for the western United States (U.S.), Kristin Tremain Davis, and our global transportation ESG lead, Diane Cowin, explain how nature-based solutions (NbS) can help to minimize the impact of surface transportation infrastructure.

Effectively incorporating nature into infrastructure

Understanding the impact of an infrastructure project on nature goes well beyond the way a development affects local habitats and biodiversity. Stakeholders also need to consider how that project will affect the local human communities. They will need to look at the financial and insurance risk, and how the environmental aspects of a project affect potential funding sources. Financial institutions, insurers, project owners and developers need to think about all these elements and make informed decisions around nature at the earliest stage, including seeking out opportunities to integrate nature into the design.

Both the public and private sectors are now considering the broader environmental context of designing and implementing infrastructure projects – beyond regulation and employing nature as a more holistic solution. Several newly launched initiatives are aimed at encouraging developers and engineers to use nature-based solutions, integrating natural processes and systems into infrastructure programs to the benefit of all.

In the U.S., initiatives like Engineering with Nature’s International Guidelines on Natural and Nature-Based Features and the U.S. Government’s Earth Day EO14072 have recently come online, leading to the first National Nature Assessment. In the United Kingdom (U.K.), the Environment Act 2021 introduced mandatory biodiversity net gain for many development projects. The release of recommendations from the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) has also encouraged corporations worldwide to integrate nature into their decision-making .

Moving people, protecting nature

The balance between human mobility and environmental protection has long been a delicate one. The challenges in terms of climate change and biodiversity loss are becoming increasingly acute. However, by adopting nature-based solutions the needs of both humanity and the environment can often be aligned.

The best way to make existing surface transportation more resilient to climate change is to factor in the natural systems functions, moving beyond a regulatory compliance lens toward a broader nature opportunity lens. This means designing projects that work together with nature and enhance the inherent community and ecosystem value.

Bringing it all together

To bring nature-based solutions for surface transportation to life, we offer four interconnected considerations:

1. Social value.

Improving human well-being – this can include health and economic benefits, safety, climate resilience and even the simple enjoyment of our natural environment.

In the U.S., Resilient 37 was tasked with addressing congestion on Highway 37 in California, an area prone to occasional flooding. The ultimate design alternative incorporates a 9-mile (14.5 kilometer) causeway allowing space for rising sea levels and habitat transition through this protected landscape. The planning process has also allowed consideration for the addition of bicycle, pedestrian, transit and carpool options.

2. Ecological gain.

Nature-based solutions can reconnect habitats for plants and wildlife, employ nature’s evolved toolkit for adaptation, such as mangroves and wetlands, and provide wildlife corridors and safe passage for wildlife— from salamanders to mountain lions.

Highway 17 Wildlife and Trail Crossings, California, U.S. is a project developing a large wildlife undercrossing and pedestrian overcrossing through the four-lane Highway 17 in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The project creates habitat connectivity for humans and large mammals, including mountain lion and deer, while improving motorist safety by reducing animal-vehicle collisions.

3. Natural resilience.

Nature can be used alongside traditional engineering measures to improve biodiversity and enhance the resilience of transport corridors, with even small design adjustments having a major impact. For instance, building wildlife-friendly retention ponds (bio swales) to collect runoff at transit stations, or coastal protection from storms and wave events through the restoration of coastal habitats such as wetlands, mangroves, and mudflats.

The 13.6-mile (22-kilometer) Mumbai Trans Harbor Link connects Mumbai with its satellite city, Navi Mumbai, and once complete, will be the third longest bridge in the world. It will significantly reduce congestion and enhance connectivity, giving economic opportunity for communities in the region a welcome boost. Its height was designed to be clear of the Siberian flamingos’ annual migration path, and its construction protected mangroves and surrounding mudflats, which provide natural defense.

4. Alternative funding.

Cost can be seen as an issue for nature-based solutions. However, finding common goals can open finance options. Environmental benefits often translate to social benefits, particularly in disadvantaged communities, which can increase value in the area and widen the potential for further funding.

In the Philippines, we’re working with Conservation International to support 11 cities and municipalities in developing nature-based solutions to build resilience among vulnerable communities. One of the proposed projects is a national coastal road in Borongan City that will employ NbS to mitigate damage caused by flooding and storm surges, which will protect local homes and businesses as well. The project would generate jobs associated with mangrove rehabilitation, improve the livelihoods of local small-scale fishermen, enhance marine biodiversity and increase the potential for future investment in the area.

A commitment to the natural world – making it count

To design nature-based solutions that secure buy-in from all interested parties, planners and engineers must work together with ecologists, transportation experts and other stakeholders — from environmental groups to state legislatures.

Numerically assessing biodiversity impact allows us to understand the true effect of infrastructure on nature, enabling more sustainable design and helping projects become biodiversity positive. That’s why as part of our role leading the Sustainable Markets Initiative’s Measurement and Transparency Hub we’ve built a first-of-its-kind digital tool, powered by AI, that will gauge the impact of potential infrastructure projects on nature.

We’ve also collaborated with FIDIC (the International Federation of Consulting Engineers) and the WWF to create the Playbook for Nature Positive Infrastructure Development. The Playbook highlights how nature-based solutions can be integrated into infrastructure projects to make sure nature and biodiversity are kept at the heart of decision-making and design .

To find out more about surface transportation projects using nature-based solutions, please get in touch | Sustainable Legacies | AECOM.

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Enhancing customer experience

Customer experience during project delivery is becoming increasingly important. Today’s customers expect greater transparency, intimacy, and collaboration. They seek a clear understanding of project progress, real-time updates, and a collaborative environment where their input is valued. Meeting these expectations requires an integrated system that provides seamless access to project data and fosters open communication.

Continued focus on sustainable outcomes

Environmental factors are gaining prominence in large, complex design and construction projects. Stakeholders are increasingly aware of the need to address environmental impact, social responsibility, and governance standards. An integrated project delivery system can help organizations incorporate sustainable and social considerations into every phase of the project, ensuring that sustainability and ethical practices are prioritized.

Leveraging artificial intelligence and advanced design tools

Artificial intelligence (AI), computational design, and parametric design tools are transforming the way design projects are executed. These technologies enable more efficient and accurate design processes, allowing for rapid iteration and optimization. A common data environment enables all disciplines to work together within a single federated model. This approach minimizes conflicts and rework, ultimately leading to faster and more reliable project delivery.

Contract models are also evolving, leading to shifts in risk profiles and the integration of design and construction phases. Modern contracts often require blended models that demand access to information and design details in new and innovative ways. An integrated project delivery system supports these evolving contract models by providing a unified platform where all stakeholders can access and share critical data, ensuring alignment and reducing the risk of miscommunication.

Embracing integration for success

To remain competitive, organizations must adopt an integrated project delivery system that connects data from every aspect of a project. This comprehensive solution merges design technologies, project management tools, document and content management, and geographic information systems (GIS) into a unified platform.

Utilizing technologies and program management tools

An integrated project delivery system revolutionizes the design process by enabling collaborative visualization, iteration, and refinement of project concepts. Stakeholders can work together in real-time, using advanced design tools to create and adjust designs collaboratively. This approach ensures that all disciplines are aligned, reducing conflicts and minimizing rework.

Project management tools within the integrated system support scheduling, resource allocation, task management, and cost control. These tools form the backbone of daily project workflows, enabling project managers to monitor progress, allocate resources efficiently, and control costs effectively. Real-time updates and progress tracking provide stakeholders with the information they need to make informed decisions and keep the project on track.

Moreover, centralized access to project documentation is crucial for fostering collaboration and efficiency. The document and content management functionalities of an integrated project delivery system offer intuitive search and retrieval capabilities, ensuring that stakeholders can easily access the latest information. This centralized repository streamlines communication, reduces the risk of errors, and enhances overall project efficiency.

Integrating GIS technology also provides powerful geospatial capabilities, allowing stakeholders to overlay project data onto geographic maps, analyze spatial relationships, and visualize the impact of location-specific factors on project performance. By integrating GIS with other data sources, the system offers a geospatial context that enhances visibility and transparency, enabling stakeholders to make better-informed decisions.

Looking towards the future

To thrive in this new era of project delivery, organizations must move beyond siloed processes and legacy technologies. By adopting an integrated project delivery system, they can unlock the full potential of their data, foster a collaborative environment, and drive successful project outcomes. This forward-thinking approach is not just a competitive advantage— it is a necessity for staying relevant and achieving excellence in the modern project delivery landscape.

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Hundreds of electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) – or flying cars – concepts have evolved to date, creating an ecosystem of investors, infrastructure companies, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), governments and power suppliers now competing in the race to capture market share and become the first partnership to successfully fly and power eVTOLs commercially.

You may be reluctant to use one, or you may be sceptical that they will change urban transportation, but the ingredients to the sector’s nascence have been years in the making and eVTOLs could be coming to a vertiport near you very soon.

The impact of regulation

However, challenges from regulatory to infrastructure are keeping all eVTOLs grounded for now.

While regulation is quickly evolving, what I’m seeing is that physical and grid infrastructure, and capability to manufacture eVTOLs will be more difficult to solve, but key to unlocking their long-term commercial viability.

First, let’s take a look at the biggest infrastructure challenges we see today for air mobility.

Infrastructure challenges facing air mobility Even with the right regulations in place, the sector can only evolve if companies operating vertiports are able to select the right take-off and landing locations in the areas defined by high demand, which tend to be in urban environments and their periphery, with the obvious high traffic destinations being airports.

The second challenge is that the vertiport sites also need to be situated in locations that can minimize the cost of delivering and operating a vertiport while turning around as many eVTOLs as possible.

Another challenge is the coordination of electric power supply with eVTOL demand requirements and integrating electric charging points on brownfield sites. eVTOLs have larger size batteries than electric vehicles (EVs) and the business model for urban air mobility requires rapid turnaround while charging must be done within a 10–12-minute timeframe, requiring rapid charging equipment that is currently being developed. Different OEMs have varying battery configurations some of which consist of multiple batteries which are of a larger and heavier design compared to EVs. These differences in battery configuration allow for each OEM to target extended ranges between charging points. Thinking holistically about supplying power to eVTOLs in vertiport infrastructure that has never been developed before requires expertise in master planning, electrification and technology.

Solutions to air mobility infrastructure hurdles

Which brings me to the only solution to air mobility’s infrastructure hurdles: integrating all this expertise across sectors, from design, construction, planning, grid infrastructure and electrification, regulation and technology.

AECOM is already developing easily accessible site selection models based on anticipated demand. Our eVTOLer app, utilizes publicly available demographic data to calculate the value of time saved by taking an eVTOL compared to other means of transportation in these demand hotspots.

Based on these site selection models, using and retrofitting existing infrastructure for the location of vertiports, such as atop multi-storey car parks or buildings that can or already support helipads, can propel the beginning of the commercially flying eVTOLs.

So, looking beyond regulatory approval which has been quickly evolving, air mobility is in need of integrated solutions in infrastructure that can bring investors, OEMs, power suppliers, and regulators together with a single goal: sustainably-powered vertical take-off flight.

The ability to provide cost sensitive, flexible vertiport infrastructure and overcoming grid capacity concerns in markets such as the UK, will enable the viability of travelling by flying car.

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Building a subway or metro system is no easy feat. It can involve huge distances tunneling beneath intricate infrastructure — often below some of the world’s most expensive real estate. High costs of tunneling and risks of cost over-runs abound.

Yet, surprisingly, it’s often not the most complex or riskiest aspect of metro projects. Instead, systems and their integration have increasingly become some of the most complicated aspects of delivering urban railways.

Delivering a metro is always greater than the sum of its parts. It requires massive coordination across construction, rail systems (signalling, communications), station systems, operations and maintenance systems, all adhering to safety, sustainability, building, and environmental standards.

Moreover, the local community and local authorities demand seamless integration and community advantages spanning multiple decades.  In summary, it’s the effective intersection of all the systems and elements that determine a true project’s cost and timeline.

As the complexity and cost of metros and, indeed, nearly all rail megaprojects continue to increase, a systems approach has become more critical than ever. By considering a whole rail project and its many relationships — rather than just its component parts — systems thinking enables more cost-effective, timely and sustainable delivery. But what does it take to implement?

Starting with relationships

Successful infrastructure projects depend on successful relationships. With dozens of contractors (and even more subcontractors) operating on behalf of the infrastructure owner and operator, it’s essential for these many parties to create a culture of collaboration.

But while effective collaboration arises from a project’s culture, it’s also a consequence of something far more fundamental: contract structures.  Traditional contract models, based on tried and trusted norms for building generic infrastructure, slice and dice scope into manageable construction chunks.  Fixed price Design and Build contracts and their variants can work quite well for most infrastructure, but these contracts tend to create siloed thinking around just the part of the whole being delivered.

To deliver an entire railway, however, a much stronger culture of collaboration and delivering “the whole” is needed.  The intelligent consolidation of contracts among partners is essential to strong collaboration, while keeping contact and communication streamlined for a safe, effective delivery.  And yet, it’s still common to see contracting arrangements that silo responsibilities, incorrectly apportion risk, and overlook the systems nature of a rail project.

Such a siloed approach has become unworkable: contracting structures — and the collaboration they foster — have never been more important.

On Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel Project (MTP), for instance, AECOM’s teams are helping accomplish two objectives at once: delivering a brand-new metro rail tunnel through the city centre while integrating that tunnel into brownfield metropolitan rail routes. While the Metro Tunnel will be state of the art, the railways that feed into it date back to the 19th century.

Despite the MTP’s integration demands, its delivery is proving successful — so successful that it’s a year ahead of schedule. A key enabler for success has been the systems-focused, alliancing contract model, used by our teams with our project partners and client — facilitating integration of the MTP’s many components for rapid delivery.

An alliancing model isn’t the only way to support strong contract structures. Other Progressive Delivery Models, including an Integration Delivery Partner approach and Progressive Design-Build can prove just as effective — chiefly because they embed systems perspectives and cross-team collaboration into the heart of the project.

Digital integration

While the nature and scale of new transit projects have necessitated a systems approach to contracting structures and collaborative mechanisms, technology has only accelerated this trend.

The introduction of automated transit services and digital signaling systems such as communications-based train control (CBTC) has increasingly digitized transit — even as considerable portions of existing signaling and communications infrastructure remain ‘analog.’

This poses a fundamental systems integration problem. While most metros run CBTC and are segregated from the rest of the rail network, it is not always the case, for example London’s Crossrail and Metro Tunnel Melbourne. As transit operators mesh state-of-the-art CBTC with the century-old, fixed block signaling, what once required purely steel and concrete infrastructure now involves software-centric products to be safely integrated and deployed in a robust environment where they must cope with the huge demands of on-time performance, at all times.

During the delivery phase of a railway, measuring progress on software integration can pose challenges — and generate considerable cost risks — as projects are frequently surprised to find themselves spending far longer on systems integration than they thought they’d need to.

As complex inter-operable rail systems undergo technological advances, user experience demands have also increased.

Today, riders expect ever-greater access to transit data for smartphone applications to navigate rail networks and plan trips.  Riders also want to know where to stand on the platform to get an uncrowded carriage. As a result, data management of live feeds during operation as well as software integration during project delivery have now fallen within the domain of transit delivery.

Looking ahead, as project stakeholders embrace new technologies such as AI, we must remember that new technologies and the systems integration challenges they bring mustn’t remain siloed.

Outcome Oriented Systems Thinking

Perhaps the most dramatic — and long overdue — shift in transit delivery relates to environmental, sustainability and social benefits, where systems approaches can prove critical.

With U.S. infrastructure funding like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act increasingly tied to sustainability, resiliency and social value outcomes, transit projects must deliver far more than just transportation. Community and environmental benefits now directly determine a project’s selection — changing the nature of project delivery.

Transit, by its nature, provides community and societal benefits by providing access through enhanced mobility. As such a new array of equity objectives, such the Justice 40 Initiative in the U.S., now factor social outcomes into project selection. The participation of minority- and women-owned enterprises, local employment opportunities, workforce development and social infrastructure today stand alongside technical innovation when weighing project excellence. As a result, whole communities now fall within a project’s scope, presenting project teams with even broader systems thinking aspects to manage.

Another example of systems thinking is Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). For decades, designers and builders have focused on minimizing construction impacts on the local environment. But today, they must also minimize climate impacts by reducing emissions and carbon footprint via innovations in low-carbon materials and deliver net biodiversity gains. This has required teams to investigate supply chains and lifecycle impacts, vastly extending a project’s system.

To understand what such ESG outcomes look like in action, we can again turn to Metro Tunnel Melbourne.

In partnership with the client and alliance partners, we helped reduce carbon across the project thanks to several innovations. We cut the emissions from concrete by around 40% through a reduction in Portland cement; saved 988 tCO2-e of embodied emissions through smart design and sustainable materials; and cut water usage by 27% by optimizing dust suppression, reusing water for construction activities, and installing rainwater tanks and sediment ponds.

Social considerations also played a central role in the project. The team actively engaged the community for input on urban design as well as enhancing local cultural, historical and social heritage. The results of this engagement have led to the prioritization of active travel options and f0r public safety measures to be incorporated.

These achievements speak not just to growing interest in driving positive local outcomes on megaprojects — but to the new array of skills needed to simultaneously innovate across both infrastructural, societal and environmental systems.

From part to whole

Today’s urban rail projects have become increasingly holistic: What was once a collection of component parts has become a complex physical, social and environmental system. Delivery teams therefore must solve more technical integration challenges, incorporate digital advances, and deliver a wide array of equity and sustainability benefits.

As we meet this challenge with our clients and partners, our approach is to integrate a systems thinking, outcome oriented mindset from the outset with the aim of delivering positive impacts from day one. With a focus on foresight, agility and predictability, our teams have the scale and expertise to deliver on each key systems integration challenge — from collaboration and digital transformation to sustainability and social value.

Through our partnerships with clients, we’ve witnessed — and shaped — the rise of this new era in infrastructure delivery. It’s one in which a tunnel is no longer the paramount focus of a subway or metro project. Instead, it’s people, partners, and the planet, that must take equal priority.

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Airports across the world have already begun their journey towards establishing digital twins – many without even realising it. Spatial data development and data management practices are the foundation of fully realised digital twins, and airports have invested in GIS and BIM platforms for decades. Across the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector, digital ways of working are becoming critical in creating and testing designs. AEC professionals regularly create digital replicas to virtually test their designs before initiating on-site construction, a vital practice within the confines of brownfield environments. This approach enhances safety, program efficiency, and budget management, and reduces operator risks, and is increasingly seen as an essential component of the AEC industry.

However, digital practices can taper off as we progress through the design and construction phases, particularly when the AEC teams no longer find immediate benefits. This creates a downfall for airport operators when transitioning into the handover phase. The digital replica, once indispensable for design planning, may not be consistently maintained throughout the construction, commissioning, and handover phases.

Through AECOM’s extensive global airport experience, we have observed many clients face these challenges with producing and maintaining digital twins. Each client presents unique requirements shaped by their existing progress and capital works program. Considering these specific requirements is crucial to enabling high-quality deliverables. We explore five key steps to ensure successful airport digital twin implementation.

1) Commit to the implementation strategy

Choosing a front-loaded, strategic approach to developing clear and consistent information requirements may take more time initially, but it promises superior long-term results. This approach is particularly beneficial for clients with a gradual increase in capital works projects and an engaged internal stakeholder team. Alternatively, an agile project-based approach offers quicker results by evolving information requirements through specific projects, allowing for more rapid adjustments and, crucially, the involvement of all relevant parties in defining requirements.

2) Elevate existing success

Often, we tend to focus on our shortcomings on the path to developing a digital twin. However, it’s equally important to highlight and support the outstanding accomplishments already taking place within our organisation. These successes are frequently driven by teams or individuals who work without a well-defined strategy. Recognising and supporting these contributors is vital for accelerating overall progress.

3) Set realistic goals and objectives

Start by identifying well-defined use cases and prioritise them based on the potential benefits compared to the effort required for implementation. This approach enables clear communication of the strategy to stakeholders, which is essential for effectively managing the necessary change.

4) Allocate resources for new roles

The transition to new deliverables will require additional support for the client team and the parties involved in providing the required data. A well-structured strategy should ensure that any additional resource investment pays off by reducing the duplication of information handling. Proper resourcing is especially critical in the initial stages to set projects up for success and ensure the delivery of required data upon completion.

5) Adapt the strategy

Recognise that the transition won’t happen overnight, and technology is continually evolving. Consequently, information requirements will also evolve over time to keep pace. Regular feedback from the entire stakeholder team and the providing parties is key to unlocking future opportunities. The critical task is continually monitoring and updating the strategy to reflect these changing needs.

Realising the Benefits

As Airport operators return to record levels of passengers, and significant capital works projects are once again in full swing, there has never been a more opportune moment to review your digital twin strategy. It’s the ideal time to ensure that you are harnessing the benefits of digital ways of working and maximising the potential of the data. The data generated today will form the foundation of how we operate and optimise these facilities into the future. It’s crucial for airports to seize the opportunity now to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving landscape and enhance their operational efficiency for years to come.

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Over the last three years, what was once a robust pipeline of large active projects has encountered disruptions, delays, and cancellations. Intensified competition for public funding has seen governments redirect infrastructure investment, diverting resources towards critical areas such as energy transition, affordable housing, and healthcare.

AECOM works with clients around the world to deliver complex transit and intercity rail projects, including light rail, fast rail and metro and underground rail. Cost control is front of mind for all, and in this article, we explore four common challenges and potential ways to address cost escalation on rail mega projects.

1/ Early Government commitment: setting up for success

Early concept and project development work, including the initial budget, requires more than excellent knowledge in estimating the actual cost to deliver the project scope – it also means looking at the broader landscape.

Transit projects can be inherently political and are impacted by many factors. When forecasting, it’s important to understand the funding models at play and which projects are fully and partially funded. In the heat of the Australian and New Zealand marketplace, we need to consider the pipeline of projects and how that will impact resource availability and cost. The industry needs to be able to focus on projects with definitive delivery timelines, such as the 2032 Olympics and Paralympic Games-related transit infrastructure, which helps us map and forecast the pressure on resources and materials that may change project risk and cost profiles. With more definitive timelines and clearer funding models, the Games projects generate more cost certainty because of the greater industry focus and commitment through the procurement phase.

John Barker, Global Major Project and High-Speed Senior Director at AECOM, emphasises that a robust strategic business case is essential to secure political and wider stakeholder support.

“Cost estimates should be based on well-developed solutions to drive certainty into funding estimates. This requires a credible operating model with clear scope definition and a strong funding envelope aligned to both direct revenue and wider economic benefits. Clear definition of service requirements and infrastructure scope enables credible revenue, capital, and operating cost estimates.”

At the concept stage, it’s also important to articulate the project delivery model as clearly as possible. At one end of the spectrum, we have an alliancing framework, which creates more equitable risk sharing, and at the other is a design and construct framework, which can offer lower prices upfront but little flexibility with design variation and a higher risk of cost blowout.

2/ Value for money and price certainty – choosing the right competitive selection process

Competitive tendering is important for creating value for money by having the industry respond to client project documentation. The industry’s ability to respond effectively is a function of the market documentation quality, the amount and quality of stakeholder engagement, and the contractual framework. Industry-led innovation can sometimes inadvertently result in a different or lower quality product than the client expects if it is not prevented by the competitive tendering framework.

Increasingly, some client agencies are developing very high-level reference designs to better define the final product’s outcomes. This approach can leave more targeted elements of innovation for the private sector to explore. A well-defined reference scope typically means clients spend more money on the reference design and less on a tender design. A good reference design should lead to more cost and product certainty. A clear and well-developed reference design, with scope certainty, also opens the possibility to collaborative frameworks, allowing clients to consider competitive alliance and even single alliance selection processes.

Where clients select a single proponent (‘pre-tender’) through an alliance selection process, the project scope, cost, and risk can be developed in a more direct engagement process with the client and any key stakeholder. This process offers the additional client-side benefit of putting much less pressure on the stakeholders in terms of personnel to support the development and delivery of the project. With this model, the smarts are often in constructability and targeted design innovation, leading to project delivery and cost certainty.

Cost escalation is common in rail megaprojects in brownfield environments as the project must manage the impact of construction on the community, integrate with existing infrastructure and utility services, and consider potential environmental or contamination issues.

3/ Increasing flexibility with the right framework

Systems assurance plays a key role in successful delivery, and effective systems assurance should streamline processes to ensure unnecessary design activities to get packages approved don’t impact a project’s design and delivery. The delivery team should focus on activities that support getting the project built and commissioned. In the rail sector, onerous systems assurance processes can take a lot of design effort and divert efforts from mainstream activities that are core to the project.

We’ve seen a shift towards alliancing in Australia, and this framework gives the ability to add or adjust project scope and still achieve value for money. Typically, when the cost of a project increases, it’s very hard to say it’s a value-for-money proposition. With an alliancing framework, you can have an open dialogue on risks and costs and make proactive investment decisions to enhance project outcomes. These decisions are fully client-endorsed progressively throughout the project.

Alliances are the only contract framework that allows contract merging under extenuating delivery circumstances. On rail megaprojects, contract interfaces between various major contract packages are potential sources of risk and program and cost growth. Projects around Australia and New Zealand manage these interfaces through different contract packaging and model strategies. In Melbourne, using an alliance contract to deliver one mega project has allowed two major contracts merging that would not have been possible under any other framework. This is providing more certainty of delivery and out-turn cost.

Systems assurance and early system and project requirements alignment are critical to successful project delivery. Collaborative frameworks can better manage the rationalisation and certainty of all requirements at the front end of the project to maximise the likelihood of successful delivery. The delivery teams can then focus on activities that maximise the ability to get the rail system built and commissioned.

4/ Rationalisation of standards

Addressing complexity early is one of the most valuable lessons to take into projects. As projects adapt to our society, the scope of megaprojects has started to extend beyond traditional standards, creating gaps between traditional standards, new situations, and rapid changes in the technology we’re applying or customer’s expectations.

Derogations to rail authority standards, which are situations where you can’t meet the strict requirement of the standard, add complexity to an already intricate project. Derogations often add cost and require compromise across the project to find a solution. However, addressing derogations earlier in the delivery lifecycle enables the most effective and affordable outcome.

Ultimately, we want to understand the implications of any conflict in requirements as early as possible so that we can find a solution that will work for the maintainer and operator of that system for 100 years.

Rail projects are complex operating systems with many moving parts. Cost certainty is a combination of many things, but government commitment, interactive procurement processes, high-quality documentation and clear assurance processes are critical to ensure success.

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The emergence of federal funding opportunities that prioritize decarbonization and EV adoption, such as The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), has created an unprecedented opportunity for cities to incorporate decarbonization into their master plans. For this to happen effectively, cities should prioritize early coordination with partners, integrate data-driven approaches, ensure approaches account for equity, and leverage available funding mechanisms.

Incorporate decarbonization goals

Master planning has long been used to guide a community’s growth, focusing on ways to ensure that how communities use and benefit from spaces is at the forefront of design and planning. Master planners have often focused on clear goals such as diversity, inclusive design, attracting economic investment, promoting desired change, and enhancing livability. In terms of decarbonization planning, this can mean revisiting how people interact with infrastructure and developing goals accordingly.  

For example, rather than focusing solely on how many vehicles can be transitioned from internal combustion engines (ICE) to electric, a plan should consider how to shift patterns of movement to not only reduce emissions but also to change modes of travel and reduce overall vehicle miles traveled. Resulting planning efforts should include goals around convenient journeys, multi-modal transportation options, making spaces more livable, and encouraging alternative modes of transportation such as public transit or cycling.  

Prioritize coordination

Achieving decarbonization goals requires early coordination between different city departments and broader stakeholders. In an example of broad regional collaboration, AECOM worked with San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and a core team of broader regional stakeholders, including the City of San Diego, the County of San Diego, the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District, and the San Diego Association of Governments on their Accelerate 2 Zero (A2Z) Strategy, a regional collaborative aimed at reducing air pollution and reducing greenhouse gas emissions through zero-emission transportation initiatives. The initiative includes a focus on making charging infrastructure accessible for fleets, schools, workplaces, and community members through a region-wide set of strategies that address areas of equity and increasing adoption.

The resulting Strategy demonstrates how collaboration introduces opportunities to support streamlining processes, such as zoning and permitting, often associated with lengthy implementation timeframes.

Utilize data and optimization modeling

Data and optimization should also shape effective decarbonization master planning to support measurable and trackable impact. In the United Kingdom (UK), the siting of charging hubs is driven by a combination of forecast demand on the strategic road network, proximity to power grid connections with capacity, and locations of truck and service rest stops. This requires coordination between National Highways, National Grid, local authorities, and other key stakeholders, further reinforcing the need for collaborative approaches to decarbonization planning.

The AECOM team in the UK has applied this best practice by conducting extensive survey work around truck stops and facilities to improve understanding of drivers’ behavior, resulting in more predictive planning based on expected demand of where vehicles will be and ultimately linking to the power grid network capacity. Moreover, it is crucial in cities and urban areas to identify the optimum locations requiring the least amount of additional charging infrastructure, but which would also be efficient in terms of the vehicles using that infrastructure.

Incorporate equity into investment approaches

Incorporating equity into decarbonization approaches should include opportunities for creating training and learning programs – representing a meaningful opportunity to support local economic development and empower the next-generation workforce with ‘green jobs.’ Estimates have shown that an investment of US$188.4 billion in green infrastructure spread equally over the next five years could generate US$265.6 billion in economic activity and create close to 1.9 million jobs. It is worth noting that the ‘green economy’ has seen its most significant jump in urban centers, providing communities with diverse, career-level employment options, with particular emphasis on the underemployed and unemployed.

To measure the impacts of transportation decarbonization on equity within communities, AECOM is supporting the City of Sacramento’s Department of Public Works, an award recipient of the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) Blueprint Grant. The work includes developing key metrics with City departments that track equity impacts and align them with e-mobility pilots that the city is launching. The metrics and corresponding data are included in a digital dashboard to track and measure progress toward goals.

Leverage financial opportunities to support implementation

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), signed into law in November 2021, allocated US$7.5 billion as part of the National EV Infrastructure (NEVI) Program to build a nationwide charging network. The funding has initially focused on installing fast chargers along the interstate highway system, which would help mitigate battery range fears and enable long-distance travel, but also has funding for community-based chargers. The legislation also included large investments to upgrade the nation’s power grid and to expand domestic battery production and recycling capacity.

Cities can apply for and leverage these federal funds to improve charging infrastructure within their communities as part of a comprehensive EV Master Plan. Aside from NEVI, IIJA also expanded other decarbonization programs, such as the Low or No-Emission Grant Program for transit agencies, to accelerate the advancement of zero- or low-emission vehicles and associated facilities. AECOM has supported various agencies in the US to apply for and be awarded these grants.

State government policies also offer incentives, such as rebates, to encourage EV ownership by helping offset the high upfront costs of EVs. Several states have also implemented a zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) program, which requires auto manufacturers to sell a set quota of battery-electric or plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles. In the UK, the Government has amended the deadline for phasing out the sale of ICE-only cars and vans to 2035, with only ZEVs on sale from that date onwards. This is being supported by funding for delivering charging points and providing more than £250 million in funding for bus infrastructure via the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme.

There is a considerable focus on funding from the federal government trickling down to the states to local governments, and most of these policies are tied in with supporting disadvantaged communities and other vulnerable populations. Most government agencies prioritize shaping how these funds will be deployed to serve their communities rather than owning or operating fueling stations. These funding sources are created to accelerate private industry participation and deployment.

A brighter future in the making

Through the right master planning lens, decarbonized transportation represents an opportunity for a meaningful transition to healthier communities. Prioritizing transportation decarbonization with equal opportunity for all can act as a catalyst to improve overall master plans, develop clear pathways to decarbonization, and enhance community livability equitably. 

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Just 40 feet below the streets of Chicago lies a long-abandoned tunnel system that could soon become part of the transformation of the modern urban environment.

In the early 20th century, the Chicago Tunnel Company built a narrow-gauge railway initially intended to carry excavated material from the installation of telephone lines. The system then moved mail and freight across the city for several decades until bankruptcy forced its abandonment in 1959.

During its brief life, the tunnel also carried debris from the construction of the subway system that now carries Chicagoans around their city. Underground is an under-used resource for urban areas, however, with Chicago one of just 193 cities worldwide moving people below the surface in 2021. But that number is now growing fast.

As municipalities seek solutions to the challenges of congestion, pollution and building attractive environments, a new era for tunnels is dawning. It carries the promise of a safer, healthier environment allied to new technologies both in infrastructure construction and the vehicles that use them.

Going underground – safer, quicker and finally cheaper

The appeal of tunnels as alternative transit routes in densely populated areas is clear. Road construction is disruptive and difficult in areas where space is at a premium. Taking road traffic away from citizens makes everyone safer, while less surface disruption can smooth arduous planning processes.

Key to all this is the increased uptake of electric and automated vehicles. With their zero to low emissions, they require less space and infrastructure. Lower emissions mean far less need in tunnels for costly ventilation. And a reduction in lane width and following distance for autonomous vehicles, enabled by automated control and communication between vehicles and the infrastructure, leads to smaller tunnels and lower costs while throughput is increased.

There are significant environmental gains to be made. The transportation sector was responsible for 29% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2021, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, with road traffic accounting for 81% of that. While many initial tunnel use cases involve passengers, moving freight underground will also be important. The 3% of road traffic made up by medium and heavy-duty trucks accounts for 28% of road emissions.

High-profile tunneling projects have been subject to delays and cost overruns in the past, such as Boston’s Big Dig, and that has left the industry with a reputation problem to manage. But new use cases are bringing tunnels within easier financial reach and turning that around. The Boring Company, which completed the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop and is currently expanding the system into the Vegas Loop, estimates its projects have reduced typical costs tenfold, from between $100 million and $1 billion per mile to “approximately $10 million per mile.” The Vegas Loop, meanwhile, aims to cut dramatically transit times and emission in the city.

New technologies and new business models

With many technology companies spying new opportunities in transit, it is not surprising that Silicon Valley is one of the areas set to benefit from burgeoning innovation in the sector.

The City of San José launched a tender for the development of “a new approach to transit that can be designed and built faster and at lower cost and offers a better rider experience than traditional transit systems.” The City is looking at partnerships with private operators that can build, own and operate infrastructure. In April, it gave initial authorization for a plan to develop a network of autonomous cars operating between the airport and the Diridon rail terminal downtown.

The plan is being developed by Glydways, a California start-up that intends to use autonomous podcars to carry up to four passengers at a fraction of the time and cost of conventional transportation. The podcars run on paths 5.5 feet wide, occupying less than half the space required for regular vehicles, and can operate on purpose-built routes at street or elevated level, and underground.

Another Californian county implementing a similar project is San Bernadino, where AECOM is providing environmental services for a project seeking to alleviate the pressure brought about by one of the fastest-growing airports in the U.S. The solution is a tunnel linking the airport to the cities in which passengers will be conveyed in autonomous, zero-emission vehicles on an on-demand basis.

On the east coast, the Gateway Program, which aims to revitalize the transit infrastructure between New York and New Jersey, underscores as in Chicago another major benefit in tunnel investment: the long life of infrastructure that outlasts the initial mode of transportation it was designed for. The project will build two new tunnels and rehabilitate existing tunnels opened in 1910 at the end of the age of steam.

Reclaiming the landscape up above

The Big Dig might have been problematic, but it has left Boston as one of a number of global cities benefiting hugely from highways moving underground. Besides cutting journey times through the city, more than 45 parks and public plazas have been created.

As the urban population and land values continue to grow, tunneling creates underground spaces for utilitarian functions and leaves above-ground space for human and green landscapes free of vehicular noise and air pollution. Seattle’s Alaskan highway, now underground, has given way to commercial, residential and open space. “This is not just about replacing a road. This is about building a 21st-century city,” said Christine Gregoire, then governor of Washington state, during the campaign to take Seattle’s Alaska Way underground in 2009.

Seattle dreamed of a better future and used an overhaul of its transportation system to help deliver. At AECOM, we share that dream of better cities that people can visit and live, and where nature and business can thrive together. The next time you take a car journey through your city, look at the sheer amount of space occupied by asphalt, traffic lights and street furniture. And then imagine what could be done with the space if a great deal of that was out of sight, underground.

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Across the world, cities are aiming to build advanced road transportation systems that can achieve a faster, safer and greener mobility experience for all citizens. City planners and developers are ramping up efforts to reduce traffic congestion and road accidents by utilizing data-driven solutions for enhanced traffic and incident management.

Hong Kong is no exception, and AECOM works closely with various government departments to apply technology and data analytics to monitor traffic conditions and help minimize congestion, while also detecting traffic incidents and improving conditions for pedestrians.

At the same time, we are also seeing the huge potential the city has to future proof its road networks and create a safer, more efficient and smoother road transportation experience.
In particular, the development of the Northern Metropolis and other large-scale new town developments provide Hong Kong with an ideal opportunity to build a flexible, smart and sustainable road network, driven by Big Data and working for the benefit of both drivers and pedestrians.

Using data to monitor and manage road incidents

Hong Kong’s road network is among the most dense and heavily used in the world. According to the Highways Department, there are currently over 810,000 registered vehicles making use of just 2,238 kilometers of public roads. Complementing this network are 20 major road tunnels, 1,459 flyovers and bridges, and 1,599 footbridges and subways — all to support the smooth flow of people and goods.

Accommodating this small but densely packed road system is a challenge that cannot be solved simply by building new roads. Alongside new infrastructure, we also need the adoption of state-of-the-art traffic management systems, such as electronic toll collection and real-time traffic monitoring, that will play a key role in alleviating road traffic congestion and reducing traffic incidents in the city.

Great progress has already been made over the past two decades. In 2000, the Emergency Transport Coordination Centre (ETCC) was established by the Transport Department (TD) to monitor and handle traffic and transport incidents on public roads. However, due to the manual operation of incident management procedures, a lack of integration to the existing Traffic Control and Surveillance Systems (TCSSs) and the absence of a data sharing platform, ETCC’s capability in incident management and the dissemination of real-time traffic and transport information was greatly restricted.

In response, AECOM was commissioned by TD in 2011 to plan, design and develop a Traffic Incident and Management System (TIMS). Our response was a multi-functional digital system, capable of fusing all available real-time traffic information to perform automatic incident detection and to assess and recommend contingency plans to provide a better and faster response to incidents.

Data from the system can be shared with relevant stakeholders such as the Hong Kong Police Force, Fire Services Department, Highways Department and public transport operators, as well as with the media and general public.

Enhancing real-time traffic management through video technology

In 2016, AECOM again partnered with TD to further enhance traffic efficiency, this time through the installation of technologically advanced traffic detectors for real-time traffic detection.

Our teams installed video detectors that automatically detect traffic incidents and obtain data such as traffic speed and volume. Automatic License Plate Recognition detectors enable the identification of vehicle license plates which match with TD’s licensing system to collect traffic flow data of various vehicle classes. The resulting data is integrated in a single platform that processes information from many different sources, including TIMS, supplementary traffic data from all Traffic Control and Surveillance Systems, weather data and public transport arrival times.

At the time of the commission, only about 45 percent of strategic routes in Hong Kong were equipped with traffic detectors, which meant a complete picture of traffic conditions was not available. Working closely with TD, AECOM increased the total road coverage on strategic routes and major roads to 90 percent.

The city-wide coverage has enabled Hong Kong to establish a more comprehensive and effective traffic monitoring system, capable of managing the intensive traffic volume across its road network. It has also led to improved accuracy and efficiency of incident detection, whether these are traffic accidents, roadside loading and unloading, illegal parking and more.

Creating smart transport systems for new cities

Looking to the future and the aforementioned opportunity presented by the Northern Metropolis and other developments, we are excited to envisage how the application of similar technology across traffic surveillance, incident detection and transport management can be implemented directly into new city planning.

The Northern Metropolis, with its adjacency to Shenzhen, makes it an ideal place to pioneer these smart, data-driven traffic solutions not just for Hong Kong but also for the fast-emerging Greater Bay Area (GBA). Indeed, the adoption of these and other mobility innovations such as AV-ready roads and roadside infrastructure, on-demand transit services, automated parking systems and more, will go a long way to accelerate the transformation of the GBA by enhancing territory-wide transport efficiency and travel experiences.

As Hong Kong continues to grow, so will its road networks, necessitating the need for more efficient and sustainable traffic systems, powered by technology and data. AECOM’s local area knowledge and our experience in designing and operating integrated smart transport solutions across the globe will benefit the Hong Kong SAR Government’s transport roadmap for the Northern Metropolis and beyond.

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