Overdrive

Rachel Kohan, is a transport engineer and transport planner in the past. Recently, just before the lock down, she went to a transport conference in New Zealand a great opportunity for her personal development but also for the profession in what they are looking at and how we are addressing an even defining the problem. Rachel spoke to us from her home office.

Issues she covered with timings in the interview included:

1. The nature of the Transport Group Conference in New Zealand (0:55)

2. The Key Note Speech that made “Equality and Equity” a pivotal point in transport planning from the Hon Julie Anne Genter Associate Minister for Transport (1:14)

3. Designing a transport systems, not just for the long commute, or a single trip, but for the multi-purpose trip that happened throughout the day because generally they're done by different demographics and different types of people. (2:14)

4. Building infrastructure or creating a transport system to enable people to thrive, not just to build big projects. (2:40)

5. As a young person what her approach is to car ownership and usage. (3:30)

6. How people respond to an environment – David Sim from Gehl (4:38)

7. You do not necessarily need big expensive projects for people to engage. Examples include: pavement types; raised platforms for pedestrians to cross; gardens; separated cycle lanes; traffic signals that favour pedestrians. (6:33)

8. Tactical urbanism: low cost, temporary changes are made to the built environment, to improve safety and energise the environment space. It’s a way of trialling some ideas without investing large sums of money into it. (6:58)

9. A great aspect of the conference was that it had a session of walking through the streets. (9:03)

10. Transport impacts of the 2011 earthquake. The decline of the city centre (10:01)

11. Cycling around Christchurch (11:35)

Hello and welcome to Overdrive, where we embrace the glories of motoring and transport.

News

1. Warning for hundreds of Australian vehicles (1:28)

2. Covid-19 Casts a Dark Cloud Over the Flying Car Future (2:30)

3. T-Cross VW’s compact SUV (3:30)

4. Audi Q8 50 TDI more muscle and mild hybrid (4:25)

5. Jaguar Designer copes with lockdown (5:27)

Interviews

1. We have a chat to our good friend Rob about the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport (6:26)

2. And we chat to the man most responsible for getting RBT in NSW (13:28)

Quirky News

• And Brian Smith reprises a subject we have looked at - deodorising tyres (22:27)

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Originally broadcast 16 May 2020

Hello and welcome to Overdrive, where we take a sober look at motoring and transport.

News

1. April’s catastrophic car sales figures

2. Holden leaving Australia – now the accusations are flying around

3. Car company incentives: what are they and will they stay?

4. Transportation Isn’t Going to Be the Same After Pandemic

5. “Infotainment Systems” Friend or foe

Interviews

1. We have some feedback from listeners

2. Last week we referred to a great Bridge builder. This week we have new quotes from 93-year-old who build 700 bridges

3. We talk to Wendy Adam about a beautiful bridge in America And we discuss how the market for classic cars is going in this COVD-19 environment

Quirky News

4. And Brian Smith has a quirky look at how uni students beat a new-fangled parking system

You can find more information at Driven Media or previous programs are available as podcasts on

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ah6JZN8LTYURIfNs1IIBs

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/overdrive-cars-transport-and-culture/id1001084679

Go to

Our Facebook page OverdriveCity https://www.facebook.com/OverdriveCityDrivenMedia/?modal=admin_todo_tour

or

Our YouTube site https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKyx5sv6cgF4URRmNq2JiXg/videos

Originally broadcast 9 May 2020

Hello and welcome to Overdrive, a program that roams through the world of motoring and transport

News

1. Ford Patents App That Checks for Bad-Smells in a car (1:32)

2. Mao's favourite ride Hongqi to build electric sports car with investor Silk (2:21)

3. Cars Not Welcome In Europe’s Cities When Lockdowns End (3:20)

4. New Zealand First Country To Fund Pop-Up Bike Lanes, Widen Sidewalks During Lockdown (4:13)

5. Coronavirus pushes Mini to rename its EV's funky wheels (5:12)

Interviews

1. We reminisce about elegant road bridge designs (6:20)

2. And we discuss how the market for classic cars is going in this COVD-19 environment (13:59)

Quirky News

3. And Brian Smith reflects on on-going changes to travel (20:56)

You can find more information at Driven Media or previous programs are available as podcasts on

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ah6JZN8LTYURIfNs1IIBs

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/overdrive-cars-transport-and-culture/id1001084679

Go to

Our Facebook page OverdriveCity https://www.facebook.com/OverdriveCityDrivenMedia/?modal=admin_todo_tour

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Our YouTube site https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKyx5sv6cgF4URRmNq2JiXg/videos

So, let’s start with the news

Originally broadcast 2 May 2020

Description for Ray Wedgwood interview

The post-war boom saw major road construction across the country which included many new bridges. There is much to learn from the life and times of this period. Recently, a well respected bridge engineer who had worked for the New South Wales Road Authority passed away. Ray Wedgwood was technically excellent, but he also had a passion for the aesthetics of a bridge. It helps if it looks good.

During his career, Ray's manager at the time, Brian Pearson, wrote a book, "Aesthetics of Bridges". The Road Authority has subsequently put out a publication "Design guidelines to improve the appearance of bridges in New South Wales".

But his long career also reflected a time when the professional engineer was valued within a more nurturing environment of the government authority. A man who was there at the time is our good friend, Ken Dobinson, who joins us on the line now.

Hello and welcome to Overdrive, a program that looks at the latest trends in motoring and transport for serious and not so serious issues.

News

1. Cooped-Up Children Need Car-Free Play Streets, Say Experts (1:26)

2. UK Car Insurer Admiral Announces Customer Refunds And Support For Key Workers (2:22)

3. Electric Car Sales In Europe Might Suffer Virus Damage After All (3:22)

4. Ventilator from old car parts? Afghan girls pursue prototype (4:22)

5. New drivers in old computer simulated cars (5:19)

Interviews

6. We hear from an artists who does very detailed pictures of cars while holding the brush in his mouth (6:15)

7. Rob Fraser and I discuss Toyota’s anachronistic hero car (16:04)

Quirky News

8. And Brian Smith is back with a quirky story about fast food as a weapon against bus drivers (21:55)

You can find more information at Driven Media or previous programs are available as podcasts on

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0ah6JZN8LTYURIfNs1IIBs

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/overdrive-cars-transport-and-culture/id1001084679

Go to

Our Facebook page OverdriveCity https://www.facebook.com/OverdriveCityDrivenMedia/?modal=admin_todo_tour

or

Our YouTube site https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKyx5sv6cgF4URRmNq2JiXg/videos

Originally broadcast 25 April 2020

As a young lad, in 1961, John took a train to western Sydney to a new racing circuit; Warwick Farm.  He saw Stirling Moss race winning the main event.  Twenty years later John would meet Stirling personally when a difficult situation arose not of their own making.  It was a friendship that would last a lifetime.

Hello and welcome to Overdrive, a program about cars and culture

1. Sterling Moss Dies (1:21)

2. Honda Civic (2:17)

3. Flashing LEDs may cut ‘distracted walking’ risk a little bit (3:15)

4. LA eases parking rules 'to aid social distancing' (4:21)

5. University study debunks EV emissions ‘myth’ (5:12)

6. UK invests in ‘future transport zones’ (6:08)

7. With the passing of the great motor racing driver Sterling Moss we have an extended interview on his life and times, with John Crawford who was a personal friend. (7:11)

8. And Rob Fraser and I discuss traveling to the western NSW town of Canowindra (21:57)

You can find more information at Driven Media or previous programs are available as podcasts on iTunes or Spotify. or our Facebook site OverdriveCity

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKyx5sv6cgF4URRmNq2JiXg/videos

So, let’s start with the news

Originally broadcast 18 April 2020

As a young lad Grant Sharman wanted to be a pilot but through one life changing event, he ended up becoming an artist.

He dabbled with pictures from the farm but his true love is cars so his canvas subjects are now automobiles.

Grant is from Auckland in NZ and some of the things we cover in our chat include:

• The rugby accident that made him a tetraplegic.

• How he got involved in painting

• His passion for cars and the stories behind some of the vehicles he had painted

• His participation as a Paralympian in wheel chair rugby

Periodically, we are reminded of the problem of disposing of old vehicle tyres. There's been a number of suggestions as to what we should do, but there is concern that the cure may be worse than the disease with a lot of side effects: burning tyres, for example, just adds to air pollution. Now, an Australian start up Green Distillation Technologies says it has a solution that is both effective and profitable. Their chief operating officer is Trevor Bailey.

In our discussion Trevor notes:

• They have a demonstration plant up and running

• It works on heating the tyres in a closed environment without air so that there is molecular changes without causing smoke and other pollutants.

• He can run the power for his plant by using just 3% of the oil they produce in the recycling process.

• It is producing quality by products such as oil and steel

• There is a large amount of interest from overseas

• They want to start a larger commercial size factory in Australia but we are slower to jump on board new technology as opposed to the US

• Other recycling systems have disadvantages including taking all or more of the charge that is taxed on each new tyre to cover recycling.