Western Australia’s four public universities are collaborating to offer a new post-graduate qualification in planning and transport.
The collaborative Master of Transport Studies will be available from March 2005, and has been formally launched by Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan.
Chairman of the State’s Planning and Transport Research Centre, Stuart Hicks, said there was a growing shortage of transport planners in Australia.
“We need to ensure that the billions of public and private dollars being invested in transport infrastructure deliver benefits to the economy and to all sections of the community,” he said.
“To do this we need imaginative planning by well educated and experienced people.
“We need planners who have a broad training across the key areas of transport and urban planning, and are able to understand the way these interact to mould the emerging urban environment and freight corridors needed for the coming decades.
“This qualification will give tomorrow’s planners that knowledge and training, and thus deliver significant benefits to the broader community.”