Senior Geography

Project - Final
Epping Boys High School

Bistram, Caelan

Geography 11 Swanson

CONTENTS
Topic Theme........................................................................................................... 3
Key Question.......................................................................................................... 3
Project Aims........................................................................................................... 3
Demographics.................................................................................................... 3
Individuals.......................................................................................................... 3
Effects of Business/Residential Density..............................................................3
Evaluation........................................................................................................... 3
Methodology.......................................................................................................... 4
Survey - Primary................................................................................................. 4
Visual Field Notes - Primary................................................................................ 4
Observation Counting Primary.......................................................................5
Land Use - Primary............................................................................................. 5
Website Information Sourcing Secondary........................................................5
Conclusion of mehtodology................................................................................ 6
Research Findings.................................................................................................. 7
Demographics:................................................................................................... 7
Report 1: To find out what percentage and number of people that catch a
train on a regular basis in a community..........................................................7
Report 2: Identify what is the average age group that use the train stations..8
Individuals.......................................................................................................... 9
Report 3: Observe citizens views from different suburbs, to show An overall
positive or negative point of view on the local train stations..........................9
Report 4: Observe how far people are willing to go, to get to the closest
station........................................................................................................... 10
Report 5: Observe the average time for people to use trains and associate
the times with average business hours.........................................................11
Effects of Business/Residential Density............................................................13
Report 6: Identify and explain if a business in the vicinity of a station,
increases train use........................................................................................ 13
Report 7: Identify and explain if a school in the vicinity of a station, increases
train use........................................................................................................ 15
Report 8: Identify and explain if a high residential proportion or low
residential proportion in the vicinity of a station, increases train use...........17
Evaluation......................................................................................................... 19
Report 9: Explain the aspects needed in a community to have successful use
of a train station............................................................................................ 19
Report 10: Evaluate all public views of a train station, and display positive
and negative arguments for the public train system.....................................20
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Report 11: Determine if train transport is a positive or negative impact on

society........................................................................................................... 22
Report 12: Evaluate if it is better or not to have train stations in given
suburbs......................................................................................................... 23
Report 13: Compare communities to each other to identify what aspects
make more use of train system.....................................................................24
Conclusions & General Statements......................................................................25
Topic theme...................................................................................................... 25
Conclusion on demographics & individuals and the train system.....................25
Conclusion on Effect of businesses/residential denisty and the train system...25
Conclusion on Evaluations................................................................................ 25
What are the correlations between demographics, residential density, business
density in a given suburb (Cheltenham, Chatswood and Macquarie University),
and the use of their local public train transport system?..................................25
Reference:........................................................................................................... 26
Appendicies:

27+

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TOPIC THEME
To analyse the relationship between a suburbs demographics as well as residential and
business density with the local public train transport system, to show the types of use.
The suburbs being analysed are Cheltenham, Chatswood and Macquarie University.

KEY QUESTION
What are the correlations between demographics, residential density, business density in
a given suburb (Cheltenham, Chatswood and Macquarie University), and the use of their
local public train transport system?

PROJECT AIMS
DEMOGRAPHICS

To find what percentage and number of people catch a train in a

community.
Identify what is the average age group that use train stations.

INDIVIDUALS

Observe citizens views from different suburbs, to show a positive or

negative point of view on the local train station
Observe how far people are willing to go, to get to the closest station
Observe the average time for people to use trains and associate the times
with average business hours

EFFECTS OF BUSINESS/RESIDENTIAL DENSITY

Identify
use.
Identify
use.
Identify
station,
Identify
station,

and explain if a business in the vicinity of a station, increases train

and explain if a school in the vicinity of a station, increases train
and explain if a high residential proportion in the vicinity of a
increases train use.
and explain if a low residential proportion in the vicinity of a
increases train use.

EVALUATION

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Explain the aspects needed in a community to have successful use of a

train station
Evaluate all public views of a train station, and display positive and
negative arguments for the public train system
Determine if train transport is a positive or negative impact on society.
Evaluate if it is better or not to have train stations in given suburbs.
Compare communities to each other to identify what aspects make more
use of train system.

METHODOLOGY
Methodology is the use of different methods in an area of study. In terms of this SGP, my
methodology will explain how each of my data collection techniques have been
conducted. The follow techniques are explained in the following pages:
Primary:
-

Surveys
Visual Field Notes
Observation Counting
Land Use Surveys

Secondary:
-

Website Information Sourcing

SURVEY - PRIMARY
My surveys were one of the main and most important parts of user research for this
project. The online survey consisted of 10 questions which aimed in collecting as much
information as possible to support my aims. To gather this information from the survey, I
made a google survey, where I had to enter my questions and select a specific answer
type. Once completing the construction of my survey I posted a link onto social media.
(Insert link here) Where the people were able to complete the survey. I posted the
website on social networking sites Facebook and Google Plus page. I left the survey
online for a one week time period before I collected the initial results. The results I
gathered I turned into a variety of graphs to put the data into a vidual aspect to help
analyse them later for when writing reports. To accompany the graphs I have a single
spreadsheet which features all questions and all submitted answers of the surveys. Over
the span of my survey being online, my aim was to collect 30 sets of results, which in my
eyes initial would provide a vast range of data which could be used to make some
assumptions. But now, I believe I should have collected at least double that because 30
answers doesnt provide enough variety and consistent information that I need to answer
a range of my aims. The primary advantage of this technique was that I was able to find
out personal views on public transport, the information collected has been very insightful
when creating outcomes for my aims. The disadvantage is that the responder may have
completed the survey un-honestly, or they could have misinterpreted the question and
answered incorrectly to what the question was supposed to ask. If I was to complete this
again, I would get a larger responder group, add more detailed questions more specific to
my aims and implement my survey at a local station, as these things would allow a more
overall and accurate result for my SGP.

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VISUAL FIELD NOTES - PRIMARY

The visual field notes, are notes taken down by me at the conclusion of my counting
sessions. The notes that I documented primarily featured the direction of people walking,
where they were walking to and other overall observations. To this I have also included
personal knowledge of the areas. The information that I recorded, I typed and sub divided
into sections based on location. The advantages to this was that it plays a strong support
role to my surveys and counting observation data. These notes are also made by the
researcher which means I know they are going to be clear and concise and that I will
understand them. But a disadvantage of this is the limited view it can offer as well no
hard data or backup it is just a view of a person.

OBSERVATION COUNTING PRIMARY

The counting observation was completed by myself on (insert date), on this day I started
at 8:15am where I conducted a 15 minute people observation count at Chatswood
Station, by using a piece of paper and tallying in groups of 5. Each person that went
either way through the gate counted as 1 person. At the end of the 15 minutes time
period, I caught a train to Macquarie University where I rinsed and repeat, and did the
same at Cheltenham with my end session finishing at 9:30am. The data I then collected
was counted and rounded up to the nearest 50. To account for differences in time and
days, and to be considered an estimate. The advantages of this technique is that it can
survey how many people use the station in a 15 minute time period during peak hours
and that it provides a good estimate on the daily use of a train station. These stats also
provide a nice contrast to my train data secondary source which shows the amount of
tickets bought that travel to Chatswood. The disadvantages of this technique is that it is
inconsistent, as the results are recorded at different times of a morning, which means
they data will vary. To fix this method, an hour long survey should be conducted at the
simultaneously across all locations. Also this method should be conducted on a school
day to include students.

L AND USE - PRIMARY

A Land Use survey is an overview map of a location where the land is divided up into
sections. Each section details a different use of the area. To make my land use survey,
first I walked and drove around the areas several times so that I knew roughly what the
land was used for, to add the legitimacy of my visual runs around the three locations I
used google maps to outline business, and residential areas. Once I had a sound
understanding of the land use, I printed out a map of each location Chatswood,
Macquarie University and Cheltenham, following this I made a key and then outline the
sections of the printed maps. The information from this survey was up to date, holds
relevant data of land use which is essential to my main question and it allows quick
analysis of a large area when included data for my aims. The disadvantages of the land
use survey maps, is that is does not include niche businesses, the residential levels have
been estimated based on my knowledge. The maps are cluttered with many symbols
which can make them harder to analyse and doesnt give specific information. This also
is limited to a small area. If I was to re-conduct this technique by trying to find an up to
date online version submitted by the local council as this will be much more accurate

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then data I have personally produced. Also I would make a digital version of the survey
map for safe keeping and online integration.

WEBSITE INFORMATION SOURCING SECONDARY

Website information sourcing was another major component of my SGP it involved the
collection a vast range of secondary sources, from raw census data to interviews and
online opinions. (All data sourced using this method have been referenced in the
reference part of this documentation). Sourcing online websites for data to be used, I
used the search engine google to search websites using the keywords I have used in my
aims or data I needed to collect. An example for this: When searching for the population
of suburbs that are related to my SGP, I searched for census population statistics Sydney
Suburbs. This led me to an abs page containing all the census data relating to
information I needed. The advantages of web sourcing is that I dont have to go out and
collect the data, I can gather online information from home, It is not particularly hard to
find what you need no matter what the specificity of the question and its generally very
convenient. This disadvantages of this method are that, it is hard to correctly source the
website, you dont want to plagiarize any data and most importantly you have to back up
the data you find because the data thats online be false or wrong. If I was to complete
this again, I would gather more online sources that back up each other, as this time I
have used only 1 and sometimes 2 sources which have data that do not go in line with
what I have collected.

CONCLUSION OF MEHTODOLOGY
The methods I have used to collect data have been very successful in collecting all the
data I need to complete my key question and other aims.

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RESEARCH FINDINGS

The research findings that I am about to present are divided into relevant sub sections,
each of these aims will address a different angles of a particular subject. The sub
headings are Demographics, Individuals, Effects on Business/Residential Density and
Evaluating principles. All aims and findings derive from my base question What are the
correlations between demographics, residential density, business density in a given
suburb (Cheltenham, Chatswood and Macquarie University), and the use of their local
public train transport system? The research findings will indirectly provide information
for this question, and my conclusions will be presented in the following sections.

DEMOGRAPHICS:

REPORT 1: TO FIND OUT WHAT PERCENTAGE AND NUMBER OF PEOPLE THAT

CATCH A TRAIN ON A REGUL AR BASIS IN A COMMUNITY

So far through my conducted research, I have found that a less then majority catch
public transport. Before I put numbers behind this I want to mention why these are my
concluded stats and the probably reasoning behind this. To begin this report please
address the figures on the right.

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The results out of my 30 +

surveys has seen a 47.4%
percentage of people
catching the train often.
The second diagram
displays that 44.4% of this
train use is used for going
to work or school.
Therefore assuming
everyone that completed
the survey and said often
in response to how often
do you use the public train
system? Also responded
with work/school for what
is the primary reason you
would use a train? Which means we can draw that the vast majority (93.7%) of people
that use the train 4 or more times a week use it as a way of transport to and from work.
Before I make my final analysis of the amount and percentage of people that would
regular catch a train in a community, I want to point out one issue that the surveys are
not specific to the certain areas, so therefore the percentages can only be taken as a well
backed up educated estimation. Also the percentages from the data provided above will
be assumed as if they were the conclusions of the whole suburb taking them.

In locations such as Chatswood, Macquarie University region and Cheltenham, there is an

approximate 45% overall regular use of the train station by local residents. This figure is
lower in areas such as Cheltenham which have an ageing population, whilst Macquarie
Park and Chatswood are approximately on that amount.

REPORT 2: IDENTIFY WHAT IS THE AVERAGE AGE GROUP THAT USE THE TRAIN
STATIONS.

This research finding is better worded, what is the main age range that use train stations.
I re word this question because I believe finding an average is not as useful to my overall
aim then comparing it to the age range. The areas of research I will use to answer this
question is my primary visual observation of stations and the three land use surveys,
whilst using additional common knowledge. To add insight I will also use the 2014 train
ticket census data.
From my visual observation of the train station, I saw a primary middle aged working
class people. The majority wearing formal attire or business specific clothing, this leads
me to believe that the majority of people that use the station are middle aged working.
The other majority of people I saw were students (observed on a different day from
original field notes), students clearly outlined by their uniform, moved in massive groups
to schools. And at the conclusion of the day flood the local stations (applicable to
Chatswood and Cheltenham).
Since my topic is spilt into three locations I will assess them respectively.
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Chatswood Station has a high amount of people using the station every day, approx. 5
million journeys were made to and from Chatswood in 2014 alone. These journeys
consisted of all ages, but the primary source of these were from working peoples. The
overwhelming amount of business in Chatswood greatly out numbers Macquarie
University area twice over as depicted by my land use surveys. Chatswood also has
multiple close by schools accessible from the station, 3 major shopping centers,
hundreds of businesses, a large 22,000 population base and a major transport hub. This
therefore means a lot of people will be utilizing this station. If we now use common sense
to determine the ages that would pass through this station regularly enough to be
considered in this report. There would be no people from the ages 0-10 as they would be
too young to catch train transport by themselves. The next age bracket 10-18 represents
the senior primary and high schools, which both feature multiple schools around the
station and a transport hub to get to the school. This age group would have a couple
thousand walking through the station a day. The age group 30-55, who work get the most
benefit from this station and are therefore the mostly use it.
Macquarie University Station, the Land Use survey shows that it is half covered by a
University, and a major shopping center, whilst having minimal amount of residential
area in close distance to the station. Using the explanation previously mention, it is clear
that the average group for this station 18-30, this is because it features a university, and
a shopping center providing employment for primarily younger staff.
Cheltenham Station is, primarily used by students. From my visual observations of this
location, there are minimal working age people using this station. For the main reason
that it is and old and aged area. When looking at the land use survey you, can identify
that train is the only decent way from getting to the school situated there from other
suburbs and that all housing in that area is low residential. From these visual ques and
land use survey, I have seen an overall majority in the young 10-18 year old use of this
station.
To now provide an overall average age for all the stations, Macquarie University and
Cheltenhams younger population does not compete with Chatswood primary working
age and therefore I identify the average age range that utilizes train stations as middle
aged 30 50.
INDIVIDUALS
REPORT 3: OBSERVE CITIZENS VIEWS FROM DIFFERENT SUBURBS, TO SHOW AN
OVERALL POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE POINT OF VIEW ON THE LOCAL TRAIN
STATIONS

Whilst observing citizens views from different Sydney suburbs, I have derived an overall
positive view on the local train station. This information can be strongly seen through
three of my survey questions and I will back it up with an additional secondary source.
Why have I found my research to conclude an un-denying positive point of view, is for
sole reason that people use the train system very frequently, they believe that trains are
more efficient then buses and other modes of transport through Sydney suburbs (as seen
in the graphs below).

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If the question graphs do not prove a positive point of view alone, you can see in the bar
graph, for the reasons why people catch trains over cars, and there is an overwhelming
response in favor for not driving a car. Personal responses on the viraltourist website
(linked in references), has a variety of Sydney locals explaining why the train system is
such a great thing and how to effectively use it. Statements such as Sydney's CityRail is
an easy and convenient way of getting around the compact city. Depicts a very positive
point of view on the Sydney train system.

REPORT 4: OBSERVE HOW FAR PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO GO, TO GET TO THE
CLOSEST STATION

To make an accurate estimate on this aim, I will use two sources one from my survey and
one secondary online source. One provides a time measurement whilst the other a
distance measurement.

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From my online survey, the range of answer goes from 2 minutes to 15 minutes. The
other answers of 1 hour and 40 hours will not be considered as these are unreasonable
responses and the question may have been mis-interpreted. Out of all survey responses
the maximum a person will walk to a station is 15 minutes which equates to
approximately 1.5 km for a leisurely pace. So from this survey alone we can conclude the
maximum time someone will walk to get to a station for transit is 15 minutes. Using
statistics from humantransit.org (listed in references) it says that the average person will
only walk 400 meters to get to the closest bus stop, but does say rail advocates would
commonly make a longer route to get to a station as the method of transport is more
efficient. The 400 meter distance coincides with a 5 minute walking time which is the
second most answered answer when answering how far would you walk to the closest
station.

1.5km
Longest
distance
walked to
400 m Most common
distance
Statio
n

The diagram above, is my research findings on the average distance someone would
walk to get to a station. The diagram has been designed so that the green can be
replaced by a map for easy analysis of the zones at which people would walk to a station
from are at.

REPORT 5: OBSERVE THE AVERAGE TIME FOR PEOPLE TO USE TRAINS AND
ASSOCIATE THE TIMES WITH AVERAGE BUSINESS HOURS
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When investigating these findings, it was key that I established a base time of average
business hours for a common business. Since two of the three locations held an EB
games retail shop, I used this to create my base business hours margin. The business
hours for this business are 8am 6pm Monday to Friday. To also address school hours I
will be using the example of Epping Boys High School primary operating hours of 8:45am
to 3:15pm. When now analyzing these, it should be known the average train delay
between Epping and Chatswood is 15 minutes weekdays.
The sources below, are train timetables from the official TripView App as of 6:19pm
27/06/15.

The two sources present 8 minute delays between train services rather the standard 15
minutes. This delay decrease happens consistently in peak hour traffic from roughly
7:30am to 9:30am and then 3pm to 5pm and again 6pm to 7:30pm. These times are
considered peak hours as they involve the most people traveling through the stations as
it is the beginning or end of business hours. Therefore the train system, provides more
trains for the inherent rush before and after hours. To provide personal accounts of using
the train at these pre and post business times that I have collected, there are two
sources below which are my survey results graphed for two questions.

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From the survey results above, I have discredited answer post 12pm for first trip of the
day and also pre 12pm for last trip of the day as personal I believe these answers are unrealistic and fake. As we can see the first trip of the day matches up with the accelerated
train service in the pre morning rush hour. And of an afternoon, similar results line up
with the rush hours of post school and post business times.
Therefore for this report I think it is evident that average time for people to use trains
and business hours go hand in hand. These times being in peak hour traffic from roughly
7:30am to 9:30am and then 3pm to 5pm and again 6pm to 7:30pm.

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EFFECTS OF BUSINESS/RESIDENTIAL DENSITY

REPORT 6: IDENTIFY AND EXPL AIN IF A BUSINESS IN THE VICINITY OF A

STATION, INCREASES TRAIN USE.
My research findings on if a business in a close vicinity to a station increases train use, I
have found that the outcome is yes. To explain how I have reached this conclusion using
land use surveys and census train stats (from Cityrail). Below are two land use surveys.

Cheltenham
Station

Key:

Macquarie University
Station

Outlines the station on the map

Covers a low business density area (1 business)

Covers a high business density area (10 + business)

As you can see there is a clear difference between these two land use surveys,
Cheltenham station only having 1 business in the area whilst Macquarie University
station having hundreds. This therefore showing that Macquarie University area has a
higher density of businesses in the vicinity of the station over Cheltenham.

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Station
Journeys made to
If we now observe
the census data
2014
presented on the
right we can identify
the total journeys
made to each of the
Chatswood
5,066,970
stations over an
entire year. We can
Macquarie
1,821,645
observe that
Macquarie
University
University has
1,821,645 journeys
Cheltenham
296,756
made to and from
it whist Cheltenham
has only 296,756 journeys. This shows that Macquarie University has 8 times more use
then Cheltenham. Therefore representing that stations that have more businesses in the
vicinity of a station receive an increase in use. This is because more people go to the
businesses for work, then retail shops & restaurants also bring in customers which see a
further increase into the number of people that would use a train to get to these
locations. In addition to this areas with high density of peoples often have les parking
availability which also explains why people would take the train over driving as there will
be less restraints.

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REPORT 7: IDENTIFY AND EXPL AIN IF A SCHOOL IN THE VICINITY OF A STATION,

INCREASES TRAIN USE.

Whilst researching if schools in the vicinity of a station, increase the train use. I have
found that my research is insufficient to analyse this correctly due to my three chosen
locations to analyse do not have the same amount of business which means I have no
normal to compare it to. So therefore most of my research for this finding is logic based.

Cheltenham Station

Chatswood Station

Key:
Represents school zones (each school zone is approximately the same size)

The two land use surveys above show, all the schools in vicintity of the closest station,
that would use the station as well. Before I make an anyalyse on this, I will include the
results from one of my survey questions below.
The survey results above show that 45% of people use the train transport system to get
to and from work & school. Now incorporating this data we can see that a school in the
vicinity of a station obviously increases train use because this is a main point of transport
for students to get home but the exact amount it increases is unclear. To put an
estimated number we should assume that any students in a 3km range of the school will
walk home, any student further away from that will either catch a train or bus home. If
we are dealing will a school of 1000 students, we assume 500 students are walking
home. Which leaves 500 more students that live outside of the 3km range. A majority of
those students will catch buses because trains only have specific stop locations whilst
buses go practically anywhere. So for the sake of this, there will be 150 train users and
350 bus users. The 150 train users per school account for 300 journeys per school day on
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the train transport network. If we now use Cheltenham as an example with their 296,756
journeys per year we can see that. There are 200 school days a year for students.
(200*300=60,000) which means the school students generate 60,000 journeys a year.
Which accounts for 20% of total journeys. Therefore we can say that in a suburb such as
Cheltenham with no businesses, school students account for 20% increase to the use of
the station.

REPORT 8: IDENTIFY AND EXPL AIN IF A HIGH RESIDENTIAL PROPORTION OR

LOW RESIDENTIAL PROPORTION IN THE VICINITY OF A STATION, INCREASES
TRAIN USE.
(When reading this one, pay close attention otherwise you will get confused)

During the process of researching the effect of high or low residential housing in the
vicinity of a station would affect the use of a train station. I came up with the idea is that
everyone that catches a train to work/school on a daily basis obviously catches the same

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train home, and then respectively it would make sense that areas of high residential
housing means the station has a higher amount of use. As more people need to catch the
train, and therefore areas of low residential housing has lower increase on the amount of
people that catch the train. So therefore areas that have residential population is going
to have train use, but not an amount that can compare to a place with businesses, or
schools. Meaning that residential proportion in the vicinity of a station does not compare
will the increase of train use that businesses and schools provide.
Therefore I found that, for this aim to be effective to my overall SGP this needs to have
different wording. Identify and explain if high or low residential proportion of land in the
vicinity of a station, leads to a higher or lower train use over a select station. So to
answer this newfound more accurate question, I will use Macquarie University is my base
station and compare it to Cheltenham and Chatswood. Now assume the population of
each of these suburbs individually is 10,000.
The Land Use survey to the left shows
Chatswood Station
Population: 10,000
Business Area Highlighted Green

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Macquarie University Station

Population: 10,000
Business Area Highlighted Green

Cheltenham Station
Population: 10,000

Now assume that each person in these suburbs catches the train everyday (all 10,000).
This shows that all people regardless of where they live will catch the train. Now I want to
identify that the population around the station that catch trains will increase if it is high
residential and be lower if its low residential to address my original aim. But this does
not affect the total use of the station as seen in my example, the stations use will go in
order of Cheltenham, Macquarie University and finally Chatswood. This because there is
a percentage of people that will work locally.
So basically (if you didnt understand), High residential proportions of a suburb will have
an increase on train use compared to low residential. This is because there are more
people closer to the station. But whilst there is higher population density, in suburbs such
as Chatswood the train will not necessarily gain more use as there are high amounts of
businesses nearby. And likewise Cheltenham although has low residential housing could
have more station use because they have no nearby places to work.

EVALUATION

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REPORT 9: EXPL AIN THE ASPECTS NEEDED IN A COMMUNITY TO HAVE

SUCCESSFUL USE OF A TRAIN STATION

Through my research I found what are the core aspects needed for a train station to be
successful in a community. These are in no particular order, an amount of residential
property and or business property. To prove this I will be referring to my land use surveys
a lot, train census data, total suburb population data and one of my survey questions.
As previously mentioned the suitable aspects needed is residential and businesses, so I
will spilt it up into two sections on why each is a needed aspects in a community to have
successful use of a train station.
Residential
Without residential sections there is practically no use for a station, without people living
near the train stations there is going to be no one catching trains there. With exception
to high density business areas which I will talk about later. To prove that residents affect
are needed for the successful use of a train station, please refer to my land use survey of
Cheltenham station and the total journeys made to Cheltenham. Notice that Cheltenham
is nearly 100% residential property, and notice how the stations journey stats rank at
approximately 290,000 journeys. If you know refer to the population statistics you will
notice that Cheltenham has approximated population of 2060. So if we now compare the
stats, we can say the residents of Cheltenham make up for roughly 200,000 train
journeys to and from Cheltenham. If you are wondering how I got that number, you have
to minus 60,000 from local school students, and should minus an additional 30,000 for
random trips to Cheltenham, which gives us 200,000. This means the locals only 2000
people are making 100,000 return trips in total. The average days in a work year is 250
days, if you include holidays. If you times 2000 (people) by 250 (days) of catching the
train you get 500,000. Which means only 1/5 of the locals catch a train this often. A
successful train station needs to have over 150,000 journeys made to be considered
successful (for some stations may vary). Therefore the residential surrounding of the
station makes this a successful station.
Business
Businesses around a station can ensure a stations success, any stations with a hundred
close by stations is definitely a success. Businesses bring a large amount of people to
them employees, and customers and these people will often use trains to get to them
over other forms of transport. This is evident in my survey questions 1,2,3,4 and 10.
People commonly use train over cars and other ways of transport as its cheaper, there is
no parking issues, always on time, there is no traffic. These accounts prove that people
use will primarily use trains to get to businesses. To use a real example; look at
Chatswood land use survey and compare it to the station use, and population data. The
land use survey shows a plentiful amount of business in the hundreds, the station use is
in the 5 million and the population is only 20,000. If every person that lived in Chatswood
caught the train to work 365 days in a year, they would make up the 5 million journeys to
and from Chatswood. This shows that is obviously a large amount of people that come to
Chatswood to work and catch the train. They would accommodate for approximately 4
million of the journeys to and from Chatswood. This therefore proving that businesses are
the most effective way to guarantee a stations success.

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REPORT 10: EVALUATE ALL PUBLIC VIEWS OF A TRAIN STATION, AND DISPL AY
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ARGUMENTS FOR THE PUBLIC TRAIN SYSTEM

The evaluation of public views is going to come from the following survey responses I
have received.
In addition, my field notes are being included.

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Positive Arguments
-

Great method of transport to

get on a daily basis
Trains can be used for a range
of reason, and makes them
really resourceful
Trains are faster than cars for
getting to some places
Trains are more cost efficient
Removes the need to find
parking
I cant drive, so trains help me
get around

Negative Arguments
-

Trains only have specific places

they can go
Wherever I want to go, I may have
to walk multiple blocks after
catching a train
Sometimes the trains are late
Trains are unsanitary

REPORT 11: DETERMINE IF TRAIN TRANSPORT IS A POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE

IMPACT ON SOCIETY.
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Whilst determining if train transport is a positive or negative impact society, I have come
to the conclusion that it is positive. The reasons for this conclusion are scattered
throughout my reports so far.

Initially I would like to draw attention to report 10: Evaluate all public views of a train
station, and display positive and negative arguments for the public train system. In this
report I created a table featuring the positive and negative arguments and points of view.
In this the positive side outweighed the negative side by a strong lead. In this the
positive impacts of train stations greatly out way the negative. Positive impacts such as it
is a Great method of transport to get on a daily basis, allows tens of thousands of
workers every day to get to work and return home. There are many other positive
impacts, whilst the only really valid negative arguments is that trains are limited by
placement, and whilst this does negatively impact the people that utilize this service, it
would not be considered a negative impact on society.

Therefore overall train transport is a highly positive impact on society, as it provides so

many additional services that are not seen by the naked eye. To demonstrate this in a
table, I will compare what would happen with trains and without trains. If the with trains
section out ways the without trains it proves that the train system is a positive impact.

With Trains Positive Impacts

- Removes traffic congestion in high
density residential and business
areas
- A more cost efficient way of going
places on a daily basis
- Allows quick long distance travel
- Takes thousands of cars off the road
- Less road works
- Generates small amount of revenue
for government

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Without Trains Positive Impacts

-

All personal transport

REPORT 12: EVALUATE IF IT IS BETTER OR NOT TO HAVE TRAIN STATIONS IN

GIVEN SUBURBS.

My findings on whether it is better or not to have trains in these suburbs comes from my
idea of the needs of the community. So rather than saying yes just because trains station
have been seen to have positive effects on a community, I am going to explain why it is
better or not to have train stations in the following suburbs.

Chatswood:
Chatswood is a definite contender for having a station, with the train system that is
currently implemented Chatswood is flourishing as a suburb, if we took away this station
you would see a massive rise in traffic congestion, effects of urban sprawl and basically a
massive cluster of stand still traffic. Chatswood has hundreds of businesses across three
major shopping centers, which are 5 minutes walk from one another. The traffic
congestion from these centers is already a problem, and that is with thousands of people
off the road which catch the train instead. In addition Chatswood is a suburb with 21,000
people, over half this population are working or going to school. If Chatswood did not
have the train station, people would be forced to catch buses which hold 1/10 th of the
capacity of a train and are slower. So overall in Chatswood it is better to have a train
station.

Macquarie University:
Macquarie University has been much better off with the addition of a train station. Much
like Chatswood station, Macquarie university station is surrounding by a major shopping
center, many business and a university. For these reasons alone it has obviously been a
very successful investment by CityRail. For the reasons that if Macquarie didnt have a
train station, there would be highly problematic traffic congestion, little access into the
area and be very inefficient.

Cheltenham:
Cheltenham is better off with a train station but it doesnt necessarily need one. The
founding reason why I believe that Cheltenham is better off overall is because it is used
as a medium for many school students every day. But realistically Cheltenham station
isnt essentially, as it is walking distance to the next station Beecroft. Most people will
find that the distance between Cheltenham and Beecroft station is similar except for the
people closer to Epping. The low population in Cheltenham also means that two bus
routes could cover the distance around Cheltenham and provide transport to Beecroft
station, furthermore the school could have private buses that take students to the station
of an afternoon, and before school starts. But despite Cheltenham maybe not needing a
station, I think the suburb has been better off having one.

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REPORT 13: COMPARE COMMUNITIES TO EACH OTHER TO IDENTIFY WHAT

ASPECTS MAKE MORE USE OF TRAIN SYSTEM.

This report is very similar to Report 9: Explain the aspects needed in a community to
have successful use of a train station, so there will be cross over content between the
two. So in report 9 I have already identified that the two main things that made a station
successful was businesses and residents. This relates to this report as the more use of a
train station occurs the more successful it is. I will compare Chatswood and Macquarie
University, Chatswood and Cheltenham, and Macquarie University and Cheltenham. Most
of the information discussed will be to do with the land use surveys.

Chatswood and Macquarie University:

Chatswood and Macquarie University have similar compositions in terms of residents,
schooling and businesses, but Chatswood is double the size. Chatswood sees nearly
double of Macquarie population as well as over double the average journeys to it. The
reasoning that Chatswood Is more successful then Macquarie in terms of ticket sales is
because it is on two separate train lines opposed to Macquaries singular. So between
Macquarie and Chatswood the aspects that make a more used train station, is its location
in terms of the larger scheme and size of businesses and residential zones.

Chatswood and Cheltenham:

Chatswood and Cheltenham cannot really be compared on a size basis, as Chatswood is
10 times bigger then Cheltenham. But in relation to the aspects that make the station
more successful, Chatswood fits more categories then Cheltenham which means
Chatswood would be more popular. The business aspect is not existent in Cheltenham
already meaning that Chatswood would have a far superior use of the station.

Macquarie University and Cheltenham:

Macquarie has more businesses, school facilities then Cheltenham, this showing that
those particular aspects contribute more to the use of a station rather than the
residential aspects.

Out of these three comparisons and quick studies, I can identify the order of aspects that
contribute to more use of the train station.
1. Amount of Businesses
2. Location
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3. Residential Capabilities
4. Schools

CONCLUSIONS & GENERAL STATEMENTS

The following conclusions will be based of my project aims and relate to the topic theme.
The final conclusion will answer my key question, which I driest established at the start of
my SGP.
TOPIC THEME
To analyse the relationship between a suburbs demographics as well as residential and
business density with the local public train transport system, to show the types of use.
The suburbs being analysed are Cheltenham, Chatswood and Macquarie University.
CONCLUSION ON DEMOGRAPHICS & INDIVIDUALS AND THE TRAIN SYSTEM
To conclude the demographics and individuals reports, I have concluded that 40-50% of
the community catch the train, a smaller amount that will catch the train on a more
regular basis. I have further concluded that the average age group that catches trains
are middle aged working class people. Over this SGP I have analysed many point of views
and impacts that stations implicate and overall have found a majority of positive
responses. The average person is willing to walk a maximum 15 minutes to the closest
station, but this does not mean someone who is 16 minutes away will not walk to the
nearest station and catch the train. Overall I have concluded that train timetables have
been adjusted to account for the extra people during peak hours before and after
business hours.
CONCLUSION ON EFFECT OF BUSINESSES/RESIDENTIAL DENISTY AND THE
TRAIN SYSTEM
My final conclusion on businesses and residential density has lead me to conclude that:
-

Multiple businesses in the vicinity of a train station will increase train use
Schools in the vicinity of a train station will see a slight increase in train use
High Residential housing close to a train station will increase train use
Low Residential housing close to a train station will slightly increase train use

CONCLUSION ON EVALUATIONS
The evaluations I have written in my reports are already in depth conclusions. So for this
section I will make general statements about my overall research in this area. The
aspects needed for a successful train station use is a good balance between residential
and business or just all out business. Out of the people that I have surveyed that has
been a majority of positive arguments towards train stations. These arguments can be
observed report 10. Overall the train transport system has a very positive impact on
society, it has removed so many transport issues, but this system can still be improved.
Out of the suburbs I have mentioned in this report, I believe it has been greatly beneficial

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for these to all have stations implemented. In addition to this Chatswood has most use of
the stations and this is because of residential and business placing.
WHAT ARE THE CORREL ATIONS BETWEEN DEMOGRAPHICS, RESIDENTIAL
DENSITY, BUSINESS DENSITY IN A GIVEN SUBURB (CHELTENHAM, CHATSWOOD
AND MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY), AND THE USE OF THEIR LOCAL PUBLIC TRAIN
TRANSPORT SYSTEM?
The correlations between demographics, residential density and business density is that
they all by themselves are individual aspects of a community but when you combine
them together you get a community. The main factor that combines these together is
that they are location and density based as I have presented throughout my reports.
When discussing how these aspects make use of the local train transport system you can
see why these aspects of needed, as the bring people to a point. In reference to 12, I
have proposed reason to why the business and residential density make a successful
train station and realistically this SGP is aimed at what demographics, residential density,
business density are needed to create the ideal community that needs a train station to
function. And in this report I have found the unique aspects that primarily affect the use
of trains. So from this I can conclude that train stations are reliant on the structures
around them, they thrive of communities that are heavily residential or business focused.

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