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After nearly 20 years teaching at The University of Western Australia Business School , Winthrop Professor John Taplin will retire at the end of the year. In part one of our exclusive interview, Taplin reflected on his academic achievements. Now, in part two, he recalls the building of the Mandurah railway line and argues that a CBD congestion charge is inevitable for Perth.

Building the Mandurah railway

It was the late 1980s. The state was still reeling with the fallout from WA Inc, economic conservatism had swept through the world in response to Thatcher's Britain, and in Perth, the possibility of a Mandurah railway line began to be considered seriously. ‘I said to the then premier, Peter Dowding, at his Christmas party, ‘Ask me to look into a railway to Mandurah,' recalls Taplin. ‘So in a sense I proposed the idea, although it was already on the cards.'

It was another decade before state parliament passed the necessary legislation. Even then, a change of government in 2001 saw the route redirected down the Kwinana Freeway, but between 2004 and 2006 the project progressed steadily. Eventually, the line was opened in December 2007.

‘The forerunner of the Mandurah railway was the northern line,' explains Taplin. ‘When I became Director-General, there were only two lines operating, Midland and Armadale. We had the one to Fremantle reopened very quickly and then electrified the Perth railway system. Then we built the northern line to Joondalup, which was easy, because there was space on the freeway. But the Mandurah line was much more difficult, because the freeway wasn't designed with a sufficiently wide median. So it was a costly business, but it was the right decision because it really attracted a lot of passengers.

‘The interesting thing about the Mandurah railway is that it has defied international standards for suburban railways because the population density is so low here. It has been a success partly because of Park and Ride [locating accessible carparks at train stations] and bus access. But what it and the northern line have not achieved is transit-oriented development (TOD). And we haven't really achieved that because TOD is like we have at Subiaco, where the shops and public transport and walking environment are so pleasant and attractive that it draws people to the rail service.

‘There are two things I would change about the railway line. The Mandurah railway station is wrongly located, and is not in the real heart of Mandurah, and the Rockingham station has the same problem. Overall though, it [the Mandurah line] has worked well. It has indeed.'

The more things change

Despite the success of the Mandurah railway line, Taplin doesn't envision a future in which Perth is less reliant on cars. ‘More people all over the world are increasingly living in big cities, and road congestion is almost an overwhelming problem, so many people feel that public policy should get people out of cars,' he says. ‘But the catch is that people love their cars and they won't give them up easily. As an economist I think the system should reflect what people want to do.'

The rising popularity of LPG, electric cars, and hybrid cars will all provide commuters with low-cost ways of continuing to use motor vehicles. Commuter habits will not change completely, says Taplin, and so we should instead focus on improving Park and Ride systems that manage to blend car use with public transport.

‘So the more things change the more they stay the same,' he says.

Is there any other way of improving Perth's transport system? ‘More TOD is possible,' says Taplin. ‘The difficulty is that public transport tends to serve the central city only; it does not even serve UWA and Curtin University very well. In fact, about 80% of all work is carried out in premises outside the city centre, and public transport doesn't serve these areas well. That is a difficulty that can't be overcome and a lot of people will go on using cars. But we should make the public transport system to the CBD more attractive.'

One way of doing this, he suggests, would be to introduce a congestion charge in the CBD. ‘A curious delusion in Australia is that governments are only entitled to put charges on roads when they have been especially built as a toll road,' argues Taplin. ‘There should be proper congestion charges.

‘The catch with Perth is that its transport system is so well designed that we don't have the intense problems of other cities. This is a fair size city and we actually manage quite well, so there's less incentive to introduce charges.'

‘The word "sustainable" is generally code for doing away with cars. The catch is if you go to the electric car, where are you getting the electricity from? In this state we're getting it from burning coal, and even though that's relatively efficient we should be thinking of alternative sources for power. We need more wind power and maybe solar. I think it [our reliance on coal-fired power] is a weakness of this state.'

That's good luck

In retirement, Taplin will continue to supervise his remaining PhD students and work on an existing Australian Research Council (ARC) project examining electric cars. He has also submitted an application for ARC funding for a project investigating Park and Ride access to railway stations. He will, he admits, be slowing down ‘a bit,' but it seems that he simply enjoys his job too much to give it all up.

‘The thing that keeps me alive is that I ride a bike to and from work, which is more than 30km a day, and by coming to work I keep doing that so it keeps me fit,' he says. ‘I must ride about 6,000km per year. That's the same distance on my bike that my wife does with the car annually. We only own one car, which is unusual now because most households have one car for each driver. But I've got alternative transport.'

So, is this an example of Taplin practising what he preaches? ‘You could say that, but it [cycling] is not for public-spirited reasons, but for my own benefit,' he says. ‘It just happens to coincide with public interest and that's good luck. That is economic thought.'

While Taplin may paint himself as a tough economist, his enthusiasm for people, politics and culture give a glimpse of something more. His initial degree was in philosophy and economics, and he is also curious about the design degree that one of his granddaughters is currently studying. (What job, he wonders, could one get with such a qualification?)

‘I have a belief that scholarship in itself is valuable, which belief, of course, is very evident in Arts faculties,' he says. ‘However, latching on to economics did give me a meal ticket, and I became first an agricultural economist, and then a transport economist.'

As a transport economist, Taplin was the creator and co-ordinator of the UWA Business School's Master of Logistic Engineering and Management (MLEM), which is delivered in Shanghai in conjunction with Shanghai Maritime University. Teaching on the course takes Taplin to Shanghai twice a year, and over the years he has developed a strong appreciation for Chinese culture.

‘It [Shanghai] is one of the world's biggest ports and has one of the biggest industrial concentrations,' says Taplin. ‘I discovered my favourite restaurant there 20 years ago, and learnt how to eat duck like the locals do.'

Culinary adventures aside, how does Taplin reflect on the changes at UWA over the past two decades?

‘It [UWA] has changed a lot; there's no doubt about that,' he says. ‘The creation of the Business School is one of the very big changes. I rather like the way the PhD students are in the space outside the senior academics' offices. That leads to good casual interaction, because all worthwhile interaction is casual.'

Taplin would know. From the supervision of leading PhD students to visiting restaurants in Shanghai, from ARC research collaborations to Christmas parties with politicians, he has seen his fair share of worthwhile interactions. As he moves into retirement and takes up the position of emeritus professor at the Business School, we thank him for his contributions to both economics and the university, and wish him well for the future.

Back to part one

Media references

Heather Merritt
Director, External Relations
UWA Business School
T: +618 6488 8171
E: [email protected]

Verity Chia
Communications Officer
UWA Business School
E: [email protected]