It was with great sadness that we learned today that prominent Australian transport academic and public transport advocate Paul Mees has died following a 15 month battle with cancer.
Paul was an intelligent and passionate man, an accomplished academic, a remarkable public figure and a bloody good bloke.
Early in his career Dr Mees worked as a lawyer, specialising in industrial relations. Fighting alongside unions for the rights of workers is no doubt where Mees sharpened his wit and learned the craft of captivating and questioning an audience at the same time.
As president of the Victorian Public Transport Users Association for almost a decade he campaigned vigorously for investment in public transport services and greater mobility over inefficient roading programmes focused on congestion. He was also highly critical of the privatisation of public transport operations.
He subsequently entered academia, lecturing and conducting research at the University of Melbourne. His demand for evidence based transport planning and scientific rigour in planning research was consistent with his no bullshit approach to politics. Paul was not afraid to tell it like it is, or reap what he sowed. After being highly critical of the Victorian government of the day (describing the authors of one government report of privatisation as “liars and frauds who should be in jail”), Dr Mees was unceremoniously demoted in 2008 as the result of political pressure.
He chose to resign that post and took a position as Associate Professor at RMIT Melbourne instead. Personally I was very grateful for that once he ended up my new transport planning lecturer. He took the move in his stride, playfully referring to himself as a “political refugee from the other end of Swanson St”. His tenacity in politics was only matched by his wit and his resolve.
In the transport planning world he is probably best remembered by the maxim “density is not destiny”, tirelessly sloughing away old truisms about public transport in young new world cities. In his seminal work Transport for Suburbia Mees argued that the population density of Australasian suburbs is no constraint for a properly integrated public transport network. In fact Mees has even been cited as the creator of the ‘network effect’ in print (a claim he magnanimously denied, rightly pointing out that such a fundamental aspect of geometry has always existed).
He is also notable for his distaste for grandiose schemes and expensive technological solutions, preferring to focus on getting the nuts and bolts of service delivery right first.
Mees has written extensively on the topic of transport in Auckland and New Zealand, regulars here may remember him from the City of Cars video, an NZTA report on best practice for public transport in New Zealand, and his paper The American Heresy: Half a Century of Transport Planning in Auckland.
Dr Paul Mees
1961-2013
Thanks for posting this Nick. I well remember his visit to Auckland as a guest of Stop The Eastern Motorway in 2004, captured in this article. He didn’t hold back. I’m posting the whole thing here because we should never forget that Auckland could so very easily turn into the place that Paul railed against.
This man changed the way we see, how we understand, how we move within our cities: he was radical, unabashedly confrontational, critical, passionate and absolutely right in his analysis. His perceptions make it possible for the sort of Auckland we dream about to emerge; his work will drive the creation of a better place. He should be remembered as a key maker of place.
Well said Nick, really sad news, got into his stuff through this blog and really shaped my views… I find myself still citing him fairly often in my own work! Brilliant man, wish I’d met him.
Very sad news, and well put Nick. I was lucky to a dinner with him when he was last here, and he was warm, funny, sharp, and extremely generous with his insight. His chapter on the sorry history of the destruction of Auckland public transport services in the 50s should be required reading for all students and professionals in the transport sector.
A real shame to hear of the loss of such a passionate campaigner for the common good.
Patrick, which book is the chapter (on Auckland transport in the 50s) you refer to in? Is it in ‘Transport for Suburbia’…?
The American Heresy paper linked above outlines it all, I think the book chapter is more or less the same.
Thanks! Got it now 🙂
Nick sorry to read that Paul passed away. His insights and commentary will be missed. He taught me when I was doing my masters at Melbourne uni. He was always a challenging and engaging tutor or lecturer.
I might add as he was so fond of saying, so long comrade.
Incredibly sad news. He was inspirational and really lit a fire underneath transport planners obsessed with building motorway networks and neglecting all other modes. I still remember him most for his part in the documentary “Auckland: City of Cars” – which I thought was excellent.
Very sorry to hear about that. I only met him once, but enjoyed his banter – in this current transport climate we do need a few more people who can call “bullshit” as required. I still play the “City of Cars” video to my 2nd-years to make them appreciate what has been happening under our noses in NZ – Paul’s comments in that get a good laugh at the ridiculousness of what he found.
A very sad loss to pro-public transport advocates. I liked his ability not to be politically correct around politics and decisions made by town and transport planners.
A massive loss to public transport advocacy. He made an excellent presentation at the Smart Transport Conference in August 2011.
Readers will be pleased to know that about 350 attended Paul’s funeral in Melbourne this week. Six speeches, including one which was a reading of his complete annihilation of the way in which the fools running our transport system should be treated and why. As a former Aucklander, I believe the words Melbourne in that speech could be substituted with Auckland and (as with so many others) I told Paul I was ashamed to be an Aucklander when I think about the destructive attitudes by Auckland City councillors who were bought, one way or the other, by the roading industry.
As I write, Key is about to announce something vague about the CBD tunnel – my first thought was how would Paul regard this.
This is incredibly sad news. I came across Paul Mees while back at University and was really inspired by his work “A very public solution: public transport in the dispersed city.” He outlined concepts like the network effect, the importance of frequency over coverage of services and the plain fact that in any city not all residents have the option of driving (the young, the old, the poor and the disabled). I completed my university thesis based on his work, starting my own bus company and am now really pleased to see his type of thinking being rolled out on the PT network. What a great loss to transport planning.