rCITI -Special Lecture -Transport Engineering with Emeritus Prof John Black

To acknowledge the 50th year of teaching at UNSW Sydney, rCITI is pleased to announce a special Lecture on Friday 4 July 2025 from 2 - 4 pm to be held at UNSW’s School of Civil and Environmental Engineering (H20 building), Level 1, room 109, Kensington Campus. The building is right next to the Scientia Lawn (https://maps.app.goo.gl/PsRtASk8pMaaYZ6RA).

Emeritus Professor John Black will deliver a short lecture on “Transport Engineering: Speculations on a New Industry – Mobility Creators and the Mobility Overlords (it is not 1984 but 2048!)”.

The lecture will trace the major developments in transport engineering since 1949 when UNSW was established and will speculate on a new “transport” industry. The scene it set with a description of what a post-graduate class was like in 1975 and contrast that with today’s best practice. It then covers some the technical components of the systems engineering methodology suitable for addressing the future problems and challenges of autonomous urban transport with AI. At this point a question is raised for debate and discussion: who are the players (institutions and organisations) in this new mobility system? One is the government as “mobility overlords”. The others are from private industry and research institutes. In the transport sphere there is a long history of cultural borrowing (referred to as policy tourism) in policy and project formulation and specific examples from metropolitan Sydney and inter-city high-speed rail are given.

Finally, the challenges facing the mobility creators and enablers by 2048 are summarised: awareness (self-driving vehicles operating in high-density precincts); options (a city operating primarily with autonomous transport or private AVs as a direct substitute for the current vehicles operating today); and commitments (discovery, strategies and programs). The aim of the lecture is to promote thoughts and discussions. The lecture will be augmented by a series of distinguished presenters.

The short lecture will be followed by internationally recognised academics and experienced professionals each giving a 5-minute presentation on their views about the future of the transport industry.

The speakers are :-

• Professor David Hensher AM (Sydney University)
• Emeritus Professor Sue McNeil (University of Delaware, USA)
• Emeritus Professor Peter Rimmer AM (ANU)
• Conjoint Professor Howard Dick (Newcastle University)
• Peter Duncan AM (former CEO, NSW Roads and Maritime Services)
• Danny Graham, PSM (former Head, PPP Unit, NSW Treasury)
• Peter Twiney (former Director of Colston Budd Hunt & Twiney Pty Ltd)
• Bruce Masson (Traffic and Transport Engineer)
• Chris Wilson (Transport Modeller)
• Dick van den Dool (Director, Barros van den Dool Pty Ltd)

Brief Bio for John Black

John joined the School of Transport and Traffic in July 1975 from the position of Post-doctoral Fellow at the Australian National University (ANU), Urban Research Unit in the Research School of Social Sciences from where he was recruited as a transport economist consultant working on the Philippine-Australian Development Assistance Program in Zamboanga del Sur.

He became Head of the newly created Department of Transport Engineering in the School of Civil Engineering, UNSW, in 1981 and was then appointed to the Foundation Chair Professor of Transport Engineering in 1984. He was appointed as an Emeritus Professor in April 1999. He has held long-stay appointments at the University of Waterloo, Canada; the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand; University College London; Tongji University, Shanghai; Tohoku University, Japan; Nagoya University, Japan; and Oxford University, England. As a high-level consultant, he has directed, or been a team member, of major projects for international, Australian, State and Local Government agencies, and for community organisations such as the Australian Council of Social Service.