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History of the ATRF
ATRF Train Lines Old
Credit: Queensland State Library, Brendan O'Keeffe
The Australasian Transport Research Forum (ATRF) was originally established in 1975 as the Australian Transport Research Forum. ln 1988 the Forum was expanded to include New Zealand and the South Pacific and rebadged accordingly. The ATRF was incorporated as a registered association in June 2O17.
Hosting arrangements of the ATRF have historically been shared by transport-related government agencies and transport-focussed academic departments, on broadly rotating geographic basis.

The table below lists all previous conference locations, host organisations and prize winners. The conference was not held in 1981, 1995, 2000, 2014 and 2020.

A 2022  paper  by Professor Derek Scrafton provides an extended summary of the history of ATRF.

YearNo.PlaceHost OrganisationJohn H Taplin Prize (from 1991)David Willis Memorial Prize (from 1998)David A Hensher Prize (from 2021)
19751stSydneyBureau of Transport Economics   
19762ndAdelaideSA Department of Transport   
19773rdMelbourneVic Ministry of Transport   
19784thPerthWA Office of the Director-General of Transport   
19795thSydneyNSW Ministry of Transport   
19806thBrisbaneMetropolitan Transit Authority, Brisbane   
19827thHobartTransport Tasmania   
19838thCanberraBureau of Transport Economics   
19849thAdelaideSA Department of Transport   
198510thMelbourneAustralian Road Research Board   
198611thDarwinNT Department of Transport and Works   
198712thBrisbaneQld Transport Department   
1988*13thChristchurchNZ Ministry of Transport   
198914thPerthWA Department of Transport   
199015thSydneyNSW Department of Transport   
199116thHobartTas Department of Roads and TransportIan Ker, Lance Chambers  
199217thCanberraBureau of Transport and Communications EconomicsPeter Forsyth  
199318thGold CoastUniversity of QueenslandNeil Gentle, Stephen Wheatstone  
199419thLorne (TAS)Transport Research CentreIan Radbone  
199620thAucklandNZ  Ministry of TransportDamien Yeo  
199721stAdelaideTransport Systems Centre, University of SADavid Bray, Peter Tisato  
199822ndSydneyNSW Department of Transport; Institute of Transport Studies, University of SydneyVivian SalimStuart Clement 
199923rdPerthWA Department of TransportUpali VandebonaCraig McPherson 
200124thHobartTas Department of Infrastructure, Energy and ResourcesMichael YeatesRochelle Bowler, Michelle McCormick 
200225thCanberraBureau of Transport and Regional EconomicsMark HarveyMin Xu 
200326thWellingtonGreater Wellington Regional Council; Transit NZ; Transfund NZ; NZ Ministry of TransportCharles Sullivan, Carolyn OFallonNathan Harper 
200427thAdelaideSA Department of Transport & Urban Planning; Transport Systems Centre, University of SAClare Rees, Anna LythNikolaos Vogiatzis 
200528thSydneyTransport and Population Data Centre; NSW Department of PlanningNeil Douglas, George KarpouzisRita Seethaler 
200629thGold CoastQueensland TransportJago Dodson, Neil Sipe Andrew Collins 
200730thMelbourneDepartment of Infrastructure (Victoria), Institute of Transport Studies (Monash University)Lloyd DavisSumeet Jaiswal 
200831stGold CoastDepartment of Transport (Victoria), Institute of Transport Studies (Monash University)Gavin Alford, Jeremy Whiteman Demi Chung 
200932ndAucklandNZ Ministry of TransportPeter Jones, Natalya BoujenkoSara Moridpour  
201033rdCanberraBureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional EconomicsDavid MitchellDaniel Veryard 
201134thAdelaideSouth Australian Department for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure; University of South AustraliaMarkus Botte and Doina OlaruAhmad Tavassoli Hojati 
201235thPerthWA Department of TransportChinh Ho and Corinne MulleyChi-Hong Tsai, Corinne Mulley & Geoffrey Clifton 
201336thBrisbaneThe University of Queensland; Queensland University of Technology; Griffith University 
201537thSydneyBureau of Statistics and Analytics, Transport for NSW; rCITI, University of NSWChris Loader, Naomi Langdon, Effie RobotisEdward Robson 
201638thMelbourneMonash University/Victorian Government through (DEDJTR & VicRoads) in cooperation with ARRBMarion Terrill, Brendan Coates and Lucille DanksMohadeseh Rahbar, Mahmoud Mesbah, Mark Hickman and Ahmad Tavassoli 
201739thAucklandUniversity of Auckland, Auckland Forecasting Centre, NZ Ministry of Transport & NZ Transport AgencyGraham Currie and Chris De GruyterAlexa Delbosc, Rahman Shafi, Dinith Wanninayake and Joseph Mascaro 
201840thDarwinNT Department of Infrastructure, Planning & LogisticsAkshay Vij, Stacey Ryan, Spring Sampson and Susan HarrisYale Wong, David Hensher & Corinne Mulley 
201941stCanberraBureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics, ACT Government and University of Canberra and Australian National UniversityMark HarveyMatthew Richards and Jan Zill 
202142ndBrisbaneQueensland University of Technology, The University of Queensland, and Griffith UniversityJames Reynolds, David Pham and Graham CurrieShah Kalid KhanThomas Hancock, Stephane Hess, Charisma Choudhury and Panagiotis Tsoleridis
Year No. Place Host Organisation John H Taplin Prize
(from 1991)
David Willis Memorial Prize (from 1998) David A Hensher Prize
(from 2021)
2023 44th Perth Planning and Transport Research Centre (PATREC) Phil Potterton Tingsen (Tim) Xian, Emily Moylan and John NelsonNiousha Bagheri, Khoulenjani, Milad Ghasri & Michael Barlow
2022 43rd Adelaide Flinders University, South Australian Department of Infrastructure and Transport Xiao Zheng, Majid Sarvi & Saeed Asadi Bagloee Zhiwei Yang, Zuduo Zheng, Jiwon Kim & Hesham Rakka Thara Philip, Kai Li Lim, & Jake Whitehead
2021 42nd Brisbane Queensland University of Technology, The University of Queensland, and Griffith University James Reynolds, David Pham and Graham Currie Shah Kalid Khan Thomas Hancock, Stephane Hess, Charisma Choudhury and Panagiotis Tsoleridis
2019 41st Canberra Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics, ACT Government and University of Canberra and Australian National University Mark Harvey Matthew Richards and Jan Zill
2018 40th Darwin NT Department of Infrastructure, Planning & Logistics Akshay Vij, Stacey Ryan, Spring Sampson and Susan Harris Yale Wong, David Hensher & Corinne Mulley
2017 39th Auckland University of Auckland, Auckland Forecasting Centre, NZ Ministry of Transport & NZ Transport Agency Graham Currie and Chris De Gruyter Alexa Delbosc, Rahman Shafi, Dinith Wanninayake and Joseph Mascaro
2016 38th Melbourne Monash University/Victorian Government through (DEDJTR & VicRoads) in cooperation with ARRB Marion Terrill, Brendan Coates and Lucille Danks Mohadeseh Rahbar, Mahmoud Mesbah, Mark Hickman and Ahmad Tavassoli
2015 37th Sydney Bureau of Statistics and Analytics, Transport for NSW; rCITI, University of NSW Chris Loader, Naomi Langdon, Effie Robotis Edward Robson
2013 36th Brisbane The University of Queensland; Queensland University of Technology; Griffith University Chi-Hong Tsai, Corrine Mulley and Geoffrey Clifton Elliot Fishman, Simon Washington, Narelle Haworth and Angela Watson
2012 35th Perth WA Department of Transport Chinh Ho and Corinne Mulley Chi-Hong Tsai, Corinne Mulley & Geoffrey Clifton
2011 34th Adelaide South Australian Department for Transport, Energy and Infrastructure; University of South Australia Markus Botte and Doina Olaru Ahmad Tavassoli Hojati
2010 33rd Canberra Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics David Mitchell Daniel Veryard
2009 32nd Auckland NZ Ministry of Transport Peter Jones, Natalya Boujenko Sara Moridpour
2008 31st Gold Coast Department of Transport (Victoria), Institute of Transport Studies (Monash University) Gavin Alford, Jeremy Whiteman Demi Chung
2007 30th Melbourne Department of Infrastructure (Victoria), Institute of Transport Studies (Monash University) Lloyd Davis Sumeet Jaiswal
2006 29th Gold Coast Queensland Transport Jago Dodson, Neil Sipe Andrew Collins
2005 28th Sydney Transport and Population Data Centre; NSW Department of Planning Neil Douglas, George Karpouzis Rita Seethaler
2004 27th Adelaide SA Department of Transport & Urban Planning; Transport Systems Centre, University of SA Clare Rees, Anna Lyth Nikolaos Vogiatzis
2003 26th Wellington Greater Wellington Regional Council; Transit NZ; Transfund NZ; NZ Ministry of Transport Charles Sullivan, Carolyn OFallon Nathan Harper
2002 25th Canberra Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics Mark Harvey Min Xu
2001 24th Hobart Tas Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources Michael Yeates Rochelle Bowler, Michelle McCormick
1999 23rd Perth WA Department of Transport Upali Vandebona Craig McPherson
1998 22nd Sydney NSW Department of Transport; Institute of Transport Studies, University of Sydney Vivian Salim Stuart Clement
1997 21st Adelaide Transport Systems Centre, University of SA David Bray, Peter Tisato
1996 20th Auckland NZ  Ministry of Transport Damien Yeo
1994 19th Lorne (TAS) Transport Research Centre Ian Radbone
1993 18th Gold Coast University of Queensland Neil Gentle, Stephen Wheatstone
1992 17th Canberra Bureau of Transport and Communications Economics Peter Forsyth
1991 16th Hobart Tas Department of Roads and Transport Ian Ker, Lance Chambers
1990 15th Sydney NSW Department of Transport
1989 14th Perth WA Department of Transport
1988* 13th Christchurch NZ Ministry of Transport
1987 12th Brisbane Qld Transport Department
1986 11th Darwin NT Department of Transport and Works
1985 10th Melbourne Australian Road Research Board
1984 9th Adelaide SA Department of Transport
1983 8th Canberra Bureau of Transport Economics
1982 7th Hobart Transport Tasmania
1980 6th Brisbane Metropolitan Transit Authority, Brisbane
1979 5th Sydney NSW Ministry of Transport
1978 4th Perth WA Office of the Director-General of Transport
1977 3rd Melbourne Vic Ministry of Transport
1976 2nd Adelaide SA Department of Transport
1975 1st Sydney Bureau of Transport Economics
Credit: Brisbane City Council.