Description
At its annual meeting in Adelaide in 1955 the Australian Automobile Association passed a resolution calling for active steps to be taken in the training of traffic engineers. The Association also resolved to fund a Chair of Traffic Engineering to a sum of 25,000 pounds through an annual grant of 5,000 pounds for five years at a university to be nominated by the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies. Mr Menzies selected the New South Wales University of Technology as the site for the new program. (SRF - Highway and Traffic, Schools of) On 12 March 1956 Council approved the appointment of W. Ross Blunden, Scientific Adviser to the Australian Military Board, as Foundation Chair of Traffic Engineering. (resolution 687) Professor Blunden commenced his duties on 20 August 1956. He then spent approximately three months at the Institute of Transportation and Traffic Engineering at the University of California - Berkeley and afterwards visited other universities in the United States as well as traffic agencies and research organisations in Washington DC. He also visited a number of city and state traffic departments and various automobile and traffic control equipment manufacturers. (BRF - Blunden; CN956/30 File: 5601071E) The School of Traffic Engineering within the Faculty of Engineering was approved by Council on 13 May 1957 (resolution 57/64). From the time of its inception the School was primarily postgraduate in character. It defined traffic engineering as the science of measuring traffic and travel, the study of the basic laws relating to traffic generation and flow and the application of this knowledge to the professional practice of planning, designing and operating traffic systems to achieve safe and efficient movement of persons and goods. The School's primary objectives were: (1) The evolution of a basic technical discipline for the phenomena of traffic and travel; (2) The application of this in the whole field of transportation, seeking integrated solutions to transport problems of all kinds. (The University of New South Wales, c.1961: 122) Each year the School offered a full-time course of 14 weeks duration in traffic planning and control. The course also included introductory material on statistics, the theory of traffic behaviour, town planning and road traffic law. By the early 1960s over 90 students had undertaken the course from Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia and India. Extension courses were also taught in cities throughout Australia. (The University of New South Wales, c.1961: 122) In 1959 a Master of Technology degree program was introduced for students with undergraduate degrees in engineering or science. It consisted of formal lectures in the theory of statistics, the theory of traffic behaviour, the application and practice of traffic engineering, operational analysis, data reduction, road location and design, town planning, and traffic law. There was also a thesis component which consisted of a specific traffic study. (The University of New South Wales, c.1961: 122) On 13 November 1972 the name of the School was changed to the School of Transportation and Traffic Engineering to broaden the focus of the school. (resolution 72/225; SRF - Highway and Traffic, Schools of) At a meeting on 17 January 1977 Council resolved (resolution 77/4) that the School of Transportation and Traffic Engineering and the School of Highway Engineering would form a new School of Transport and Highways, effective from 25 July 1977. The School as a separate entity thus ceased to exist from this date. Controlling Organisation: UNSW - 13/05/1957-25/07/1977
