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Two of Australia's transport researchers have been rewarded for papers that pushed boundaries of conventional thinking about transport as part of last week's Australasian Transport Research Forum (ATRF).
The John H Taplin Prize is awarded by the ATRF to the best paper presented at the Forum. The paper must display an overall standard of excellence and contribute significantly to knowledge or practice in the transport field.
This year the John H Taplin was awarded to Dr Mark Harvey for his paper Measuring the benefits of new transport services. The paper examined some of the technical issues in undertaking cost-benefit analyses of new services. It suggested some short cuts for carrying out preliminary evaluations of the net welfare benefits of transport investments, and discussed how the service quality aspects of new transport services should be valued. Dr Harvey is a Research Leader with the Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics.
The David Willis Memorial Student Prize is awarded as part of the ATRF to students and new professionals who present the best paper. This prize was introduced in 1998 to commemorate the life of David Willis, a well regarded transport professional who died tragically at a young age.
This year the David Willis Memorial Student Prize was awarded to Ms Min Xu for her paper A comparison of two methods for imputing missing income from household travel survey data. The paper introduces a process for improving income data, which will allow for better transport planning. Ms Xu is a PhD student in theTransport Systems Centre at the University of South Australia.
Tony Slatyer, Executive Director of the Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics (BTRE), the host of the 2002 ATRF, said that he was impressed by the calibre of this year's papers, making the awarding of prizes a difficult task.
'Dr Harvey and Ms Xu have made significant contributions to improving transport in Australia , and I congratulate them,' Mr Slatyer said.
'The prizes are the icing on the cake for these two fine researchers, after a very productive week of information exchange and debate with colleagues and industry peers.'
The 2002 ATRF was held between 2 and 4 October in Canberra.
The BTRE operates within the Department of Transport and Regional Services, undertaking applied economic research on current and emerging issues of interest to portfolio responsibilities.
Abstracts of the 2002 ATRF are available for purchase through the Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics (BTRE). Please visit www.btre.gov.au or phone Tahnee Wright on 02 6274 7312 for more information.
Media Contact: Sam Stebbings (02) 6274 8154
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