Thredbo 16 Conference

Thredbo’s first foray into Asia was a great success. From August 25th to 30th 2019, the 16th iteration of the International Conference Series on Competition and Ownership in Land Passenger Transport (the Thredbo Series) brought together a broad audience of policy makers, planners, decision makers on infrastructure and service operators, consultants, researchers, academics and students. Over 170 delegates from 30 countries gathered at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore to participate in this important global transport forum.

Valuable insights were provided by a list of eminent speakers including a keynote address by Dr Janil Puthucheary (Senior Minister of State Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Communications and Information Systems, Singapore) alongside presentations by Professor Lam Khin Young (Vice-President of Research, NTU), Professor Kara Kockelman (University of Texas) as well as an engaging Operator and Regulator Roundtable with Andrew Edwards (Go-Ahead Singapore), Ian Wallis (Transport Consultant), and Jeremy Yap (Deputy Director, Land Transport Authority). Talks at the LTA Singapore Bus Academy by the Training Manager and Ong Hui Guan (Deputy Group Director, Policy and Planning) after the conference concluded were especially inspiring, giving insights into their training programs and the Land Transport Master Plan.

Workshops were split across eight themes where fruitful discussions took place over two days with reports being presented on the final morning of the conference. The workshop reports can be accessed below. Plenary presentations will be posted soon.

We warmly thank our hosts Nanyang Technological University and the Land Transport Authority and our generous sponsors (Tower Transit and Go Ahead-Singapore) without whom the conference would not have been possible. A special thank you to the Local Organising Committee, particularly Co-Chairs, Dr Wai Yan Leong and Dr Yiik Diew Wong, for coordinating such a stimulating and memorable event. We are also indebted to the Workshop Chairs and Rapporteurs for their outstanding contribution to the eight workshops.

This conference series, first and foremost, is about our delegates and the contributions they make to the discussions and to the final reports from the conference through their thoughtful insights and the papers they prepare which inform the discussions. The papers presented at the conference will soon be available to download, and a selection of peer reviewed papers will appear in a special issue of Research in Transportation Economics in mid-2020. The special issue will also include a full report from each workshop detailing the outcomes in terms of recommendations for future policy and further research.

Workshop Report Presentations

• Workshop 1: Models of Mainstream Public Transport Provision
• Workshop 2: Practical Considerations in Implementing Different Institutional Regimes
• Workshop 3. Emerging Business Models and Implications for the Transport Ecosystem
• Workshop 4. Realising the Potential Benefits of Demand-Responsive Travel
• Workshop 5. How Much Regulation should Disruptive Transportation Technologies be Subject to?
• Workshop 6. Better Service Delivery through Modal Integration
• Workshop 7. Assessing the Wider Benefits of Public Transport Projects
• Workshop 8. Beyond the Farebox: Sustainable Funding of Public Transport by Better Understanding Service Values

Conference Plenary Presentations

• The regulation of point-to-point transport services - Professor Julian Wright, National University of Singapore
• Regional operations of Shared Autonomous Vehicles (SAVs) - with and without Dynamic Ridesharing (DRS) - Dr Kara Kockelman, University of Texas
• Measuring Public Transport Fare Affordability - Dr Michael Li, Nanyang Technological University

Operator and Regulator Roundtable

• Innovating policies and regulations for an evolving public transport ecosystem – Jeremy Yap, Land Transport Authority
• Negotiated vs tendered bus service procurement – recent NZ experience – Ian Wallis, Public Transport Planning, Policy and Economics

Local Organising Committee (Thredbo 16)

• Dr Leong Wai Yan, Singapore Land Transport Authority (Co-Chair)
• Dr Wong Yiik Diew, Nanyang Technological University (Co-Chair)
• Dr Tan Kang Hai, Nanyang Technological University
• Dr Evan Gwee, Singapore Land Transport Authority
• Dr Walter Theseira, Singapore University of Social Sciences
• Dr Timothy Wong, National University of Singapore
• Dr Michael Li, Nanyang Technological University
• Dr David Wang, Nanyang Technological University

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