Gateway to Gungahlin: Forecasting Canberra’s Active Travel Future

Canberra has long recognised the importance of its principal north-south corridor through the City and Gateway Urban Design Framework (2018) and the Southern Gateway Planning and Design Framework. Together, these frameworks set a vision for more attractive, connected and people-focused gateways to the city.

A substantial body of Australian and international research already demonstrates the benefits of investing in high-quality active travel infrastructure. Rather than revisiting this evidence, this project asks a more strategic policy question: what public benefits could Canberra expect from implementing the Northern and Southern Gateways, and what conditions would enable their successful delivery?

Students would prepare an evidence-based assessment of the likely transport, economic, health, environmental and community benefits of delivering a continuous, high-quality active travel corridor between Gungahlin, Civic and Woden. Drawing on comparable Australian and international examples, the project would also identify the policy, funding and governance conditions that have enabled similar projects elsewhere. The project would culminate in a professionally presented policy report to inform future infrastructure investment and decision-making.

Students could:

• review the strategic vision established in the Northern and Southern Gateway planning frameworks;
• examine Australian and international examples of successful city-shaping active transport corridors;
• forecast the likely transport, economic, health, environmental and community benefits of implementation;
• identify the policy, funding and governance conditions that have enabled comparable projects elsewhere; and
• prepare a Northern and Southern Gateways Benefits and Delivery Report to support future infrastructure investment decisions.

Skills Developed

• Policy Research & Analysis — working with strategic frameworks, distilling a clear policy question from complex planning documents
• Evidence-Based Forecasting — estimating transport, economic, health, environmental and community benefits from comparable case data
• Comparative Case Analysis — drawing lessons from Australian and international precedents (light rail, NYC bike lanes) and translating them to a local context
• Governance & Funding Analysis — identifying what policy, funding and governance conditions actually enable delivery, not just design
• Professional Report Writing — producing a concise, decision-ready document aimed at real infrastructure investment audiences

Students would build on existing work rather than duplicate it, including:

• City and Gateway Urban Design Framework (2018)
• Southern Gateway Planning and Design Framework
• ACT Infrastructure Plan Update
• Pedal Power ACT – Why Separation Matters
• An Evaluation Regarding the Expected Benefits of Light Rail Stage 2B (as an example of forecasting public benefits and presenting evidence in a policy context)
• npj Sustainable Mobility and Transport (2026): New York City protected bike lane study demonstrating the causal relationship between protected cycling infrastructure and increased ridership.

A concise, professionally presented Northern and Southern Gateways Benefits and Delivery Report that:

• forecasts the likely transport, economic, health, environmental and community benefits of implementation;
• draws on lessons from comparable Australian and international projects;
• identifies the policy, funding and governance conditions that support successful delivery; and
• provides an evidence-based resource to inform future infrastructure investment decisions.

This project sits within Canberra's broader infrastructure investment pipeline, connecting directly to decisions the ACT Government will face on prioritising and funding active travel projects. Students working on this brief would engage with real planning frameworks and precedent projects (such as Light Rail Stage 2B) as models for how evidence is forecast and presented in a policy setting.

Who might enjoy this?

• Students drawn to urban planning, transport policy, or public administration — this is a real-world policy brief, not a hypothetical
• Those who like applied research over pure theory — there's a clear analytical task (forecast the benefits) rather than open-ended exploration
• Students interested in sustainability and active travel advocacy, who want to see how evidence translates into government decision-making
• People who enjoy writing for a real audience — the deliverable is pitched at informing actual investment decisions, which suits students who want their work to have visible stakes
• Economics or public policy students keen on cost-benefit style thinking, given the multi-dimensional benefits forecast (transport, economic, health, environmental, community)