University of Sydney Handbooks - 2021 Archive

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Transport

For more information on units of study, refer to the unit outlines.

Unit outlines will be available through Find a unit outline two weeks before the first day of teaching for 1000-level and 5000-level units, or one week before the first day of teaching for all other units.

Transport

Master of Transport

Students must complete 72 credit points, including:
(a) 54 credit points of core units of study;
(b) 18 credit points of elective units of study.

Graduate Diploma in Transport

Students must complete 48 credit points, including:
(a) a minimum of 36 credit points of core units of study;
(b) a maximum of 12 credit points of elective units of study.

Graduate Certificate in Transport

(a) a minimum of 18 credit points of core units of study; and
(b) a maximum of 6 credit points of elective units of study.

Core units

ARCH9100 Urban Design Foundations Studio

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Prof Duanfang Lu Session: Semester 1a,Semester 2a Classes: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Assessment: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: Students may apply for a waiver for this unit based on their academic and/or professional experience.
This unit is to introduce students to key concepts and basic principles in urban design through lectures and studio-based tutorials. By taking full advantage of the neighbourhoods around campus as our laboratory for urban design analysis and intervention, this unit will walk students through deep experiential, historical, and spatial study and engagement with Sydney as a place and urbanity. Through the critical interrogation of selected study areas, this unit will help students understand the urban environment where human beings operate physically, culturally and socially. The studio will engage students with critical thinking, collaborative work and constructive discussion, all of which will serve as the foundation on which the assessments will be based. Emerging out of a process of enquiry about the city, students will develop critical observation, visual documentation, map reading, systematic urban analysis, basic urban intervention, and visual, verbal and written communication skills. These skills will help students to participate with effectiveness in the urban design studios and integrated urbanism studio.
CIVL5702 Traffic Engineering

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Assumed knowledge: (CIVL2700 OR CIVL9700) AND (MATH1001 OR MATH1021) AND (MATH1003 OR MATH1023) AND MATH1005 AND ENGG1801. Basic statistics through regression analysis, differential and integral calculus, computer programming. Assessment: Refer to the assessment table in the unit outline. Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study aims to provide an introduction to the theory and practice of transport models as used for traffic operations. Topics include: travel demand forecasting; choice modelling; agent-based modeling; queuing and traffic flow; intelligent transport systems; the microscopic and macroscopic fundamental diagrams; highway operation; congestion control; static, quasi-dynamic and dynamic network equilibrium; the four-step (generation, distribution, mode choice and assignment) transport model; macroscopic models vs microscopic simulation; transport data sources and survey methodology; introduction to the main transport modelling software packages; coordinated control.
CIVL5703 Transport Policy, Planning and Deployment

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Prohibitions: CIVL3703 OR CIVL9703 Assumed knowledge: CIVL2700 Assessment: Refer to the assessment table in the unit outline. Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This subject aims to provide an environment for students to learn essential facts and develop models and frameworks to understand the development of transport policy, the making of transport plans, and the deployment of transport technologies. The unit uses a mixture of traditional lectures, and interactive learning through case studies and role playing. Both the lectures and the cases allow the students to develop an inductive understanding of transportation. The unit will be successful if at the end, the student has developed a worldview on transportation (not necessarily the same as the instructor's), and has an appreciation for merits and demerits of various perspectives on transport issues. The course seeks an integrative approach for transport, and though the stories in lecture will be told mode by mode, there are a number of opportunities to see the relationships between modes, in their structure in function, and in the learning as one mode adopts successful (and unsuccessful) attributes of others.
CIVL5704 Transport Analytics

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Assumed knowledge: CIVL3704 OR CIVL9704 Assessment: Refer to the assessment table in the unit outline. Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study uses a hands-on, data driven approach to exploring foundational concepts in transport. Students will undertake focussed study of a selection of highly influential texts in the field and develop skills to recreate, evaluate and improve upon these seminal analyses.
The students will use an integrated approach, drawing on perspectives from multiple disciplines and exercising their judgement regarding social, environmental and economic sustainability. Mastery of the concepts will be demonstrated through submitted technical analysis as well as clear written and graphical communication.
ITLS5100 Transport and Infrastructure Foundations

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Prohibitions: TPTM6241 Assessment: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) evening
Note: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
Transport and infrastructure plays an important role both in terms of personal mobility as well as accessibility of businesses and their transportation needs. This unit provides a comprehensive introduction to the role of transportation and infrastructure within the economy. The key concepts and theories needed for management of transport and infrastructure are introduced along with the analysis and problem-solving skills needed for confident decision making. In providing the foundational knowledge for students in transport and infrastructure, the unit also introduces students to the professional communication skills needed. Examples and case studies are drawn from all modes of transport and infrastructure.
ITLS6102 Transport Modelling and Forecasting

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Corequisites: ITLS5200 or ITLS6203 or TPTM6495 Prohibitions: TPTM6350 Assessment: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Note: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
This unit provides a basic understanding of the main principles underlying strategic transport models for forecasting, and the knowledge to critically assess forecasts of transport strategies made by transport planners. Students acquire knowledge of strategic forecasting models used by government and consultants as well as the methods to capture travel behaviour such as mode choice and route choice. Simple mathematical models are discussed in detail, along with numerical examples and applications in the Sydney Metropolitan Area, which are used to illustrate the principles of the methods. This unit equips students to build simple transport models in the computer lab using specialised transport planning software used by governments and consultants.
ITLS6203 Analytic Methods for Logistics

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Prohibitions: ITLS5200 or TPTM6495 Assessment: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) evening
Supply chain management, logistics, transport and infrastructure management relies on the ability to make effective decisions supported by careful and appropriate data analysis. Students undertaking this unit develop a strong understanding of the basic techniques underpinning quantitative analysis and develop highly marketable skills in spreadsheet modelling and the communication and presentation of data to support management decision making. This unit emphasises the practical aspects of quantitative analysis with computer-based workshops. Students are guided through the basic theories used in decision making, focusing on how the theories are applied in practice, drawing on real world experience in quantitative analysis. The unit covers basic statistical and data presentation techniques, spreadsheet modelling, linear optimisation methods for production and transportation applications, demand forecasting, simulation, and linear regression techniques.
PLAN9064 Land Use and Infrastructure Planning

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Assoc Prof Nancy Marshall Session: Semester 2 Classes: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Assumed knowledge: ARCH9100 Assessment: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit is concerned with land use and infrastructure and where that intersection occurs and how it influences the shifting urban form through planning processes. The unit emphasises conceptual knowledge, with examples and case studies to demonstrate the application of land use concepts and infrastructure planning in best practice. Students are encouraged to think independently, creatively and critically in developing an understanding of, and practical knowledge about all different types of infrastructure operating at different scales: national / state / metropolitan / district / local / site.
PLAN9076 Transport Capstone

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Assoc Prof Nancy Marshall Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Prerequisites: 48 credit points with at least 36 credit points from ARCH9100, CIVL5702, CIVL5703, CIVL5704, ITLS5100, ITLS5200, ITLS6102, PLAN9064 Assessment: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
Transport Capstone is the capstone unit for the Master of Transport which allows students from different disciplines to select a real-world project aligning with their professional interests. Students will interrogate and explore an existing transport problem/challenge using the skills and knowledge learned throughout the degree plus their disciplinary expertise. Leveraging of a topical transport theme, students will learn how to formulate a compelling transport based 'proposition' which they will explore throughout the semester in an integrated cross-disciplinary manner and using basic research methods and analytical skils. Building on units completed, students will develop and apply abilities and skills in project identification, research investigation and interpretation, conceptual development and presentation that enables them to prepare possible strategies, concepts plans, policies and recommendations in a professional and creditable manner. This is group and individual work with the main output being a professional practice report.

Elective units

CIVL5701 Transport Networks

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 2 Classes: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Assumed knowledge: CIVL2700 OR CIVL9700 Assessment: Refer to the assessment table in the unit outline. Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
This unit of study aims to provide an introduction to the intersections of theory and applications in Transport Networks, Geography, and Land Use. It describes how to characterize networks, (topology, hierarchy, morphology), and how that affects the use of those networks. The course is a mix between a lecture and a student-led seminar, with students responsible for researching and presenting on a number of the topics, as well as developing a course text in a wikibook format. Students will learn the basics of networks and how transportation systems function on them.
CSYS5010 Introduction to Complex Systems

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1,Semester 2 Classes: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Assessment: Refer to the assessment table in the unit outline. Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) evening
Globalisation, rapid technological advances, the development of integrated and distributed systems, cross-disciplinary technical collaboration, and the emergence of "evolved" (as opposed to designed) systems are some of the reasons why many systems have begun to be described as complex systems in recent times. Complex technological, biological, socio-economic and socio-ecological systems (power grids, communication and transport systems, food webs, megaprojects, and interdependent civil infrastructure) are composed of large numbers of diverse interacting parts and exhibit self-organisation and/or emergent behaviour. This unit will introduce the basic concepts of "complex systems theory", and focus on methods for the quantitative analysis and modelling of collective emergent phenomena, using diverse computational approaches such as agent-based modelling and simulation, cellular automata, bio-inspired algorithms, and game theory. Students will gain theoretical knowledge of complex adaptive systems, coupled with practical skills in computational simulation and forecasting using a range of modern toolkits.
CSYS5020 Interdependent Civil Systems

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Assessment: Refer to the assessment table in the unit outline. Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) evening
Our modern day civil infrastructure includes transport networks, telecommunications, power systems, financial infrastructure and emergency services, all of which are growing more and more interconnected. Moreover, the behaviour of the modern infrastructure is not dependent only upon the behaviour of its parts: complex civil systems (such as modern power grids), communication and transport systems, megaprojects, social and eco-systems, generate rich interactions among the individual components with interdependencies across systems. This interdependent behaviour brings about significant new challenges associated with the design and management of complex systems. Cascading power failures, traffic disruptions, epidemic outbreaks, chronic diseases, financial market crashes, and ecosystem collapses are typical manifestations of these challenges, affecting the stability of modern society and civil infrastructure. This unit will develop an understanding of how interdependent systems perform under stress, how to improve resilience and how best to mitigate the effects of various kinds of component failure or human error, by more accurate analysis of interdependent cascades of failures across system boundaries. The studied topics will include dynamical analysis of complex interdependent networks, local and global measures of network structure and evolution, cascading failures, as well as predictive measures of catastrophic failure in complex adaptive systems, and the tools that enable planning for resilient infrastructure. This unit will equip future professionals with sufficient expertise and technical know-how for the design of efficient prevention and intervention policies, and robust crisis forecasting and management. This unit will equip future professionals with sufficient expertise and technical know-how for the design of efficient prevention and intervention policies, and robust crisis forecasting and management.
ITLS6016 Logistics and Future Cities

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Intensive February Classes: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Prohibitions: ITLS6301 Assessment: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Block mode
This unit conveys the fundamentals of city logistics, which accommodates the pickup, storage, transport and delivery of freight in urban areas. All aspects from planning, management and operation to security, efficiency and mitigation of environmental impact are covered. The relationships between land use, transport and city logistics are described. Traffic engineering concepts like 'link' and 'place' are outlined and their implications for city logistics are explored. The forms of urban freight consolidation centre are addressed along with the role of alternative transport modes, for example public transport (co-modality), cargo bikes, electric vehicles, droids and drones. This unit explores Ecommerce and fulfilment models, including omni-channel retail and analyses the implications for city logistics of new technologies, apps and the sharing economy. This unit also reviews strategies to improve the sustainability of city logistics and examines reverse logistics, the circular economy and urban farming along with the contribution of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) to urban freight mobility. Cyber and physical threats to city logistics are studied along with mitigation strategies. The lectures conclude with a look into the future for city logistics. Seminars by city logistics professionals complement the lectures. Students have an opportunity to develop city logistics solutions for themselves through a group design project.
ITLS6103 Sustainable Transport Strategies

This unit of study is not available in 2021

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: 12 x 3 hr lectures/tutorials Assessment: individual report 1 (20%), individual report 2 (25%), group presentation (20%), final exam (35%) Mode of delivery: Block mode
This unit provides an introduction to the context for policy making, how decisions are made, relationships with short- and long-term strategic planning, and how policy has become intertwined with broader sustainability concerns. The unit develops students' ability to assess contemporary issues in sustainable transport policy such as liveable environments, climate change, the role of the built environment in sustainable cities, social inclusion, parking policy, human health and safety, active travel, the challenges of low density transport, the regulation of public transport, fare policies for public transport and other contemporary issues. Each issue considers the problem and assesses the success of existing policy and/or the need for new policy and what this might look like. The unit is particularly suited to students with broad interest in transport, urban planning, and environmental/sustainability issues.
ITLS6111 Spatial Analytics

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Session: Semester 2 Classes: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Prohibitions: ITLS6107 or TPTM6180 Assumed knowledge: Basic knowledge of Excel is assumed. Assessment: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) evening
Note: This unit will use R programming language to perform statistical analyses and spatial analyses. No prior programming knowledge is required.
Enterprises can access increasing volumes of spatial data (associated with time and space) drawn from a variety of sources including the internet of things, sensors, mobile phone locations and other diverse and unlinked data sets. Managing these data to create useful management insights is a demanding task, and spatial data analysis presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities. Effective management and analysis of spatial data provides strategic value for organisations, across logistics, transport, marketing and other business functions, allowing enterprises to manage strategic challenges in sustainability and resilience. This unit uses real-world data and problem-based learning to develop hands-on experience with managing, processing and modelling spatial data and ultimately drawing insights for business decisions linked to both distribution and supply chain interactions. Students develop highly marketable skills in spatial data analytics that are transferable across a broad range of industries and sectors. These skills include the ability to generate a range of outputs, including decision support systems, maps and visualisations that effectively communicate complex information to support strategic, tactical and operational decision making. This unit utilises a widely-used spatial software package and introduces Geographic Information Systems (GIS), spatial databases and structured query language (SQL).
ITLS6500 Decision Making on Mega Projects

Credit points: 6 Session: Semester 1 Classes: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Corequisites: ITLS5000 or TPTM5001 or ITLS5100 or TPTM6241 or INFS5001 Assessment: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units
Infrastructure is crucial to economic performance; without it, business cannot operate efficiently or competitively. Delivery of large infrastructure projects, however, is complex and despite many more megaprojects being undertaken than any time in history, the majority of these projects are completed significantly over-budget and longer than planned. In this unit, students will be introduced to megaproject decision making. The sources of social and technical complexity are discussed, issues of risk management and governance explored, and human biases in decision making are also highlighted. Strategies to overcome weaknesses in mega project decision making are also outlined.
PLAN9063 Strategic Planning and Design

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Adrienne Keane Session: Semester 1 Classes: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Prohibitions: PLAN9027 Assessment: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The aim of PLAN9063 Strategic Planning and Design is to provide students with grounding in the core knowledge and skills needed to practice as a contemporary planner. A key emphasis in the unit is understanding the skills needed to undertake strategic planning at a range of levels (both process and content). Strategic planning in one form or other is a generic process that underpins much of the work that planners and urban designers are involved in at varying spatial levels. This course will provide students with the basic skills required to function as a planner and it will also act as an introduction to a number of other units in the program by highlighting the connection between the work of a planner and the need to understand a range of different knowledge and skill areas. Basic skills may include basic demographic analysis, graphic presentation, governance audits, consultation strategies and survey tools, economic analysis, and GIS. In addition, this Unit of Study will enable students to develop generic skills such as group discussion, productive group work and organisation, negotiation skills and information literacy skills. This is an introductory core unit for the Urban Planning degree, a specialisation unit for the Master of Urbanism and an elective for the Urban Design degree.
PLAN9075 Urban Data and Science of Cities

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Somwrita Sarkar Session: Semester 1 Classes: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Assumed knowledge: Basic mathematics and statistics; all required programming and mathematics needed for the unit will be taught from the basics. Assessment: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Normal (lecture/lab/tutorial) day
The discipline of Science of Cities examines relationships between the physical form of cities and the social, cultural, economic, technological and spatial processes that give rise to this form. As technology evolves and changes, so do the ways in which we make and think about our cities. In this era of unprecedented and fast-accelerating changes, digital technologies are reshaping the ways in which we measure, sense, conceive of, design and plan for our cities. As a result, we collect and store large amounts of data on every aspect of the urban environment, but it is as yet unclear how this data can be used to inform evidence based planning and urban management. In particular, it is unclear how these quantitative methods and data driven frameworks may be best leveraged for planning and designing just, equitable, sustainable, liveable, and affordable cities. This unit of study will introduce the principles of science of cities and the tools, methods, algorithms and techniques on big urban data that enable transformative ways of thinking about, designing and planning for a fast urbanizing world. Fundamentals of programming with big urban data will be introduced through the Python programming language (Jupyter Notebooks) and open source Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software. Emphasis will be placed on developing understanding of urban structure and fast and slow dynamics shaping this structure, and on the use of data to develop performance indicators for cities, in particular targeting the spatial and temporal measurement accessibility, affordability, segregation, displacement, social exclusion, and disadvantage. This transdisciplinary unit of study will be relevant for designers, planners, engineers, geographers, economists, physicists and data scientists interested in modelling urban systems.
Textbooks
Specific references for books, data and journal articles provided through the unit.
PLAN9073 GIS Based Planning Policy and Analysis

Credit points: 6 Teacher/Coordinator: Dr Laurence Troy Session: Intensive June,Intensive November Classes: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Assessment: Refer to the unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units Mode of delivery: Block mode
Note: Department permission required for enrolment
This unit is concerned with using GIS to analyse planning problems and undertake policy analyses. The unit will include a comprehensive introduction to mapping and the use of GIS: data structures, topology, projections, spatial and non-spatial queries. Australian census products will be described and students will be expected to analyse census statistics using GIS maps. The role of GIS in coordinating various forms of information for policy analyses, preparing master plans, in presenting information for development control, impact analyses and wider management purposes will also be covered. The use of GIS to support visualisation will be covered, using examples about designing development projects and planning instruments. Finally, the various forms of distributing maps to the public and policy-makers will be discussed. The unit integrates the hands-on learning of GIS software with a `research-based` approach. Teaching will involve short lectures, studios and workshops. Assessment will be on a series of smaller assignments and a larger report prepared by each student that integrates GIS-based (and other) graphics into a coherent policy analysis. In addition, each student will make oral presentations on their work in studio sessions.