The University of Sydney has launched an interdisciplinary graduate program in transport jointly between the Faculty of Engineering, the School of Business / Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies (ITLS), and the School of Architecture, Design, and Planning:
The program is the first interdisciplinary Transport program in Australia, and one of only a handful globally. It encourages learning, innovation and application of emerging concepts in the area of transport engineering, planning, and management.
Transport enables us to travel to work, school, the shops, the beach, across the country, or around the world. It facilitates holidays, weekend getaways, and catch-ups with family and friends. It is not only passenger transport that plays a crucial social role. Freight transport is equally vital, enabling convenient market access to goods that have been produced elsewhere. With growing populations, increasingly congested road systems, and concerns about environmental pollution, transport and mobility are becoming important themes for governments everywhere.
Key questions on the design of effective transport options are virtually limitless. For example:
- Where should we build road or rail infrastructure?
- How should urban and transport planning be integrated?
- What bus routes and frequencies are optimal?
- How can we promote bicycles and walking as a healthy and efficient alternative to private vehicles?
- Should we introduce road pricing to alleviate congestion and, if so, how?
- Can high-speed train connections complement air traffic? What are the effects of an aging population on transport needs?
We can provide the knowledge and skills to answer these questions and design liveable cities and regions of the future. As well as gaining a theoretical grounding on the workings of systems for all modes of transport (including cars, trucks, trains, buses, bicycles, and walking), students will also acquire the quantitative and qualitative skills needed to examine travel behaviour, forecast conditions, and evaluate policies. They will learn to use software tools such as geographic information systems (GIS), and transport planning and traffic simulation software. They will be able to ‘drive’ in a realistic virtual environment using a 3D driving simulation in our unique laboratory with five connected simulators to investigate travel choices and traffic management measures.
Transport is a multidisciplinary field. It adopts economic theories to assess transport infrastructure, uses quantitative traffic principles to forecast traffic conditions, applies knowledge of finance for appraisal and investments in infrastructure mega-projects, and requires management skills for transport policy implementation. With population growth and associated transport congestion affecting quality of life, not just in cities but entire countries, transport planning and management is vital. In
Sydney and other Australian cities, as in many cities in Asia and Africa, the population is rapidly growing and the demand for transport designers, engineers, planners, policymakers, and managers who can meet these challenges cannot be overstated.
Graduates of transport engineering, planning and management courses are in high demand and are employed at local, state, or federal government level, developing and implementing transport policies. They are also active in consultancy firms that advise government bodies. Wherever our graduates are employed, their decisions and advice will significantly impact the way people live.
The Master of Transport aims to provide the expanding transport sector with a steady supply of well-trained professionals at the executive level, as well as provide training to young graduates aspiring to pursue careers in the transport field. Our aspiration is for a globally recognised preeminent transport degree.
The goal of the teaching program will be to imbue in students the necessary analytical, technical, and software skills to analyse, design, implement and manage transport systems and to use these skills effectively in industry, government, and academia. The program will provide to students from different disciplines the necessary flexibility to achieve their individual professional goals within this framework. Learning outcomes will be synthesized in a core capstone project unit. The research strength of the University and the Faculty of Engineering, the Business School, and the School of Architecture, Design and Planning will be leveraged to deliver a unique multi-disciplinary program that allows specialisation through electives. This will enable the University of Sydney to develop and enhance its world-leading position as a centre of excellence in transport research and education.
Aims
Overall Aims of the course include:
- Instilling a broad understanding about transport in the real world,
- Providing the necessary skill set, knowledge, and technical expertise to analyse, design and implement such systems,
- Creating a strong multi-disciplinary learning community across the University connected to industry and government,
- Graduating students able to work in multi-disciplinary environments
The Master of Transport will include the following key areas of learning
- Economic Foundations of Transport
- Logistics
- Strategic Modelling
- Traffic Engineering
- Transport Policy, Planning and Deployment
- Transport Data Analysis
- Urban Design
- Land Use and Infrastructure Policy
- Technology Management
- Communication skills
Units
Discover the full range of units.
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