AusRAIL, Market Sectors

Commuting in the digital age: Part 2

<span class="" id="parent-fieldname-description"> In Part 2 of his series on the impact of the National Broadband Network (NBN) on how Australia views and uses travel in the future, Martin Baggott explores what the claimed benefits and rollout of the NBN could mean for the rail industry. </span> <p>In Part 1 of this series we recalled that the benefits associated with the NBN were so obvious that a business case wasn’t necessary. So there hasn’t been a quantifiable statement on what the benefits will be, and how or why the massive expenditure should take precedence over other forms of infrastructure improvement, transport especially. (See:&nbsp<a href="https://www.railexpress.com.au/archive/2012/december/december-12th-2012/top-stories/commuting-in-the-digital-age/?searchterm=commuting%20in%20the%20digital%20age" target="_blank">www.railexpress.com.au/archive/2012/december/december-12th-2012/top-stories/commuting-in-the-digital-age/?searchterm=commuting%20in%20the%20digital%20age</a>)</p><p>Information will be transported by the NBN and we noted that telecommuting and other forms of remote communication could supersede the need for some people movement.</p><div>In this Part we will look at the claimed benefits in more detail and understand if rail’s advantages could be depicted in similar ways to gather community support in the same way the NBN has gained that support.