Rail Infrastructure Projects in the Nation's Capital: A Tale of Two Chronologies

© Depositphotos.com/@karnizz

Recently, the ACT Government's Minister for Capital Metro, Mr Simon Corbell, announced the shortlist of two consortia to build and operate Canberra's proposed light rail link.

There is a long history of interest groups supporting a light rail service for Canberra and this is fast becoming a reality.

But how can we understand what makes large infrastructure projects happen? What signals the tipping point?

This is an interesting question, and short of using a crystal ball, we may never know the answer other than in hindsight.

But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to find out.

Often, I develop chronologies to help investigate path dependencies and tipping points in policy development. Typically, this requires the bringing together of numerous sources separated by long periods of time.

It is not uncommon to discover trajectories that commenced generations ago. These are frequently overlooked by contemporary commentators and this is the part I find most fascinating.

Here in the Australian Capital Territory, two major rail projects provide interesting cases: Capital Metro and High Speed Rail. Thankfully, chronologies for these projects are readily available.

First, the Canberra Times has produced an interactive chronology of light rail in the nation's capital - well worth a look.

Second, and while there have been recent developments in high speed rail, this 1998 chronology provides some useful information about how the policy has developed - or rather not developed - over time.

I find chronologies useful to frame my answers to an important research question: Why is Australia, one of the richest countries in the world, so slow to deploy important infrastructure?

Stay tuned!

Now they have an "app" for everything, or do they?

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While I am sure that "apps" such as Lumosity can be helpful in exercising one's brain, and MyFitnessPal is a calorie watcher's dream, I am not convinced that there is an app for everything.

But recently, the Australian Department of Defence released High Res, an app to help people manage stress.

Before I critique this approach to managing stress, I must admit that for people who spend much of their time using their mobile phone, such an app may help in the practice of emotional intelligence.

Several years ago, when I first worked on the idea of "lecturing as performance", I found, inevitably, that my emotional intelligence was tested whenever I tried anything even remotely different at the front of a lecture theatre filled with about 600 people.

As a result, I took a course on emotional intelligence to provide me with some tools to manage my emotions while "performing". It worked.

One of the tips mentioned by the instructor appears to be replicated by High Res. For example, some habitual cues such as flicking a bracelet when confronted with stressful situations might signal one to disengage from an argument, to break off in order to process what is happening, and to return at some later time with a more constructive approach to dealing with the other person and the issue at hand. 

Rather than a physical signal, I daresay High Res may provide users with a tool to do the same thing, albeit less intellectually and more perfunctorily. While I have no intention to criticise the app and the important intention behind it, I must admit that this obsession with "an app for everything" is missing the key point.

I stopped using a mobile phone at the end of 2009 after returning from my sabbatical in Jordan. Ever since then, my stress levels have decreased significantly.

When I take my dogs for a walk around my local lake, I am shocked by the number of people who walk their dogs while talking on their mobile phones. I know people who drive long distances for work and they call their friends and family to entertain them while driving. Take the time and look around - it is a rare thing to see a lone individual walking around without talking on their mobile phone.

The whole point of being alone is to rejuvenate one's spirit. To reconnect with God or the Universe or Nature or whatever it is that floats your boat. Reaching for the mobile phone destroys this important downtime, but that's what most people do whenever they are alone.

Mobile phones are an obsession. And I believe they are an unhealthy obsession. If you can't be by yourself without calling or SMSing or chatting with someone on your mobile phone, I doubt any app will help you build resilience. The problem is much deeper than that.

So while the intentions of High Res and the importance of addressing mental health issues are deserving of attention, I am not convinced that an app can help people to reduce their stress. I believe this to be superficial at best and a lost cause for addressing first principles at worst.

So stop using your mobile phone as a substitute for thinking, being punctual, and self-reflecting. Unplug. Have an app-free day. I guarantee you that your mobile phone is a cause, not a cure, for stress.

But don't believe me - try it for yourself and then tell me it didn't work out for you!

Book Notes: "The Faber Book of Exploration" by Benedict Allen

The Faber Book Of Exploration by Benedict Allen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is certainly a tome. The text is very small, with introduction to each piece is written in even smaller font, with the notes in the smallest font I can read without a magnifying glass and my glasses. The book is about 3 inches thick, too, so getting through all 800 pages was no mean feat. This is an anthology of great texts, and for someone who is interested in, but not enthralled by, travel literature, the book is ideal. The "anthologer" is an ardent cultural "immerser" - a technique I enjoy - and an adventurer, so the anthology is put together rather well. Thoroughly enjoyable, and I am considerably more knowledgeable about far-off places and the extremes of geography.



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