Skip to content
Inside Story
Current affairs & culture from Australia and beyond
About
Support
Sign up
Search
Search
Menu
About
Support
Sign up
Search
Search
transport
National Affairs
The law of large numbers
James Murphy
2 July 2018
How much does it cost to stop a freeway?
National Affairs
Are Victoria and the feds back on track?
Tim Colebatch
10 May 2018
The prime minister and the Victorian premier are talking infrastructure after a long federal funding drought
National Affairs
Budgeting in boom time
Tim Colebatch
2 May 2018
Cautious in parts, extravagant in others, the Victorian budget is built on a boom
Essays & Reportage
In the belly of the beast
Tim Dunlop
16 January 2018
As Uber picks itself up after another legal blow — this time from the European Court of Justice — an ambivalent observer recalls a visit to the company’s Australian head…
Books & Arts
Getting somewhere or going nowhere? Either prospect is inviting
Jane Goodall
15 January 2018
Television
| Our reviewer is gripped by SBS’s venture into slow TV
National Affairs
Why 2017 was a good year for climate
John Quiggin
30 December 2017
Despite the US and Australian governments, attitudes and technology are driving change
Essays & Reportage
Cities for cars, tollways for investors
Peter Spearritt
30 November 2017
Although Australia’s major capitals are changing fast, cars are still calling many of the shots
National Affairs
Dealing cities in
Peter Mares
3 July 2017
Malcolm Turnbull’s efforts to bring the federal government back into urban policy will be put to the test in Western Sydney
National Affairs
Options for housing affordability: the good, the bad and the cosmetic
Brendan Coates, John Daley & Trent Wiltshire
1 May 2017
Governments are favouring the easy but ineffectual options for reform
National Affairs
Why should we care about housing affordability?
Brendan Coates, John Daley & Trent Wiltshire
27 April 2017
In the first of two articles, the Grattan Institute describes the profound effects of housing costs across the economy.
National Affairs
In infrastructure, you get what you’re willing to pay for
Tim Colebatch
19 February 2016
Infrastructure Australia’s latest report got lost in the tax debate this week, writes
Tim Colebatch
. It deserves a closer look
National Affairs
Less than frank and not quite fearless
James Murphy
14 December 2015
The Victorian auditor-general’s criticism of the quality of bureaucratic advice on the contentious East West Link raises broader concerns about the public service, writes…
International
In Paris with the mayor of Byron
Giles Parkinson
8 December 2015
Cities, regions and states are setting the pace on climate adaptation, reports
Giles Parkinson
from Paris
National Affairs
The new urban divide, and how to deal with it
Jane-Frances Kelly & Paul Donegan
29 September 2015
State and local governments need to break down the emerging division between job-rich and job-poor suburbs in Australia’s major cities, write
Jane-Frances Kelly
and…
National Affairs
How to bridge the infrastructure gap
Tim Colebatch
8 April 2015
With a dramatically rising population and falling infrastructure spending, the pressure for action is growing, writes
Tim Colebatch
Books & Arts
The adaptable country
Jock Given
6 September 2013
What can Australians do? They used to make radios, TV sets and Volkswagens, writes
Jock Given
. After 2016, they won’t even be making Falcons
Essays & Reportage
Can we afford to get back on the rails?
12 December 2012
Australia’s largest cities still rely heavily on massive investments in rail before the second world war. With renewed interest in rail as a way of dealing with congestion,…
National Affairs
Qantas: a ten-point plan
2 November 2011
Former Qantas chief economist
Tony Webber
looks at the real problems behind the Qantas shutdown
National Affairs
Tax reform: a world of opportunity
28 September 2011
The Henry Report spelt out a series of tax reforms that would increase environmental and social sustainability, writes
Josh Dowse
. It’s great ammunition for a…
Correspondents
A shrinking continent
Xan Rice
25 July 2011
It’s becoming much easier to fly within Africa, writes
Xan Rice
as he visits the world’s newest nation
Essays & Reportage
Who should look after the cities?
Margaret Simons
2 June 2011
The federal government is showing signs of getting back into the urban planning business, reports
Margaret Simons
Correspondents
When Chinese migrant workers go home
3 February 2011
It is the world’s largest annual migration of people – tens of millions of Chinese migrant workers reuniting with their families to celebrate the Lunar New Year.…
National Affairs
Paying for Australia’s infrastructure deficit
Nicholas Gruen
23 November 2010
Public–private partnerships have turned out to be an expensive way of plugging infrastructure gaps, writes
Nicholas Gruen
. The evidence shows that governments need…
Books & Arts
Retreat to the backyard
Peter Spearritt
7 October 2010
Peter Spearritt
looks at how traffic engineers and apartment developers are degrading Australian cities
National Affairs
Sydney adrift
Jim Colman
1 July 2010
Forty-one mayors and a state government in crisis means that no one is in charge of Sydney, writes
Jim Colman
Correspondents
London transported
Frank Bongiorno
9 February 2010
The congestion charge has helped make London work better for commuters, writes
Frank Bongiorno
Essays & Reportage
Trouble in the city
Peter Spearritt
22 October 2009
If you want to find out what’s happening in Australia’s cities today, don’t go to the glossy planning documents, writes
Peter Spearritt