Transport

Mobility and access to transport infrastructure allows people and goods to move around freely. Mobility plays a key role in making societies more inclusive through enabling access to key services, and educational, economic and social opportunities.

The remoteness of Cape York creates challenges in accessing essential services and makes it difficult for industries to remain competitive and sustainable. General distance between homeland and outstations to discrete communities ranges from 10-200km. The vast majority of the peninsula is only accessible by four-by-four vehicles or light aircraft, and often only outside of monsoon season. There is no public transport into or between homelands and outstations or discrete communities. Barges supply bulk goods to several discrete communities during the wet season when road transport cannot bring in essential supplies. Can you propose any ideas to improve transportation in Cape York?

21. Connecting communities

Dirt and gravel roads form the main road access to Country and developing bitumen roads is slow and expensive. What alternative solutions can you come up with to improve access to homelands and traditional Country?

22. Climate resilient travel

Flooding during the wet seasons can cut off lifeline services to homelands and prevent access to Country for extended periods of time. What innovative solutions can you come up with for climate resilient travel?

23-24. Ecological invasion

Vehicles travelling across Country can spread invasive plant species. Four-by-fours and other tourist traffic can contribute to the distribution of invasive species that can be detrimental to fragile ecosystems and native species.

In many areas washdown stations are used to remove weed seeds from vehicles coming in and out of these areas. However, these are not designed for remote application, are very often expensive and have extensive water and energy requirements that make it very difficult to establish these facilities in the remote areas, where critical control points occur but where there is usually no main grid supply available.

23. Ecological invasion: eliminate transmission

How could you help eliminate the transmission of invasive weed species across Cape York?

24. Ecological invasion: washdown

How might you innovatively design a washdown station, or parts of it, to ensure it is more appropriate for these locations?

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