Brisbane's Tracey Walker formed the classic car group, Old Girls on the Road, because she loves old cars.
And now she is doing her best to have others appreciate the beauty of her 50-year-old Cortina, "Blanche", or the polished poise of a 1960s pink Datsun convertible, while Australia considers transport options including personal drones.
"I had the idea to celebrate Blanche's birthday, but it grew lot bigger than that," the classic car enthusiast said.
"I became interested in the number of women who owned classic cars and I came to know quite a lot their stories."
While 85 per cent of classic car owners in Queensland were men, it was the 15 per cent of women classic car owners who grabbed Ms Walker's attention.
"Men's attachment's to their cars were - now, don't be offended - quite predictable," she said.
It was all about the size of the motor and showing it off to their mates, Ms Walker said.
"Whereas the women had a lot more emotional connection to their cars and that's what I found so fascinating," she said.
However at the same time, Australian Tourism and Transport Forum's latest research shows how electric vehicles, analysing big data trends, flying drones and car sharing will shape the Australia's transport future.
TTF's data also shows Queenslanders love more cars in their driveway than others states and they wanted to keep them longer than they do in other states.
Ms Walker is not surprised.
"We've got a lot of big open roads, that's one reason," she said.
"And maybe because our public transport networks are quite as good as other states."
The TFF futurists found 39 per cent of Queenslanders wanted more money spent on highways, compared to 30 per cent in other states.
Sixty-one per cent of Queenslanders thought public transport should be the number one priority, compared to 70 per cent on other states.
Just over 31 per cent of Queenslanders believe public transport had improved between 2011 and 2016, the lowest of any state.
The TFF found Queenslanders had the highest car ownership per household than elsewhere in Australia:
- Brisbane: 1.7 cars per household, up from 1.6 in 2011.
- Sydney: 0.8 cars per household, unchanged from 2011.
- Melbourne: 0.7 cars per household, down from 0.8 in 2011.
- Ipswich: 1.9 cars per household, up from 1.8 cars in 2011.
- Gladstone: 2 cars per household, unchanged from 2011;
- Gold Coast: 1.8 cars per household, unchanged from 2011.
- Sunshine Coast: 1.8 cars per household, up from 1.7 in 2011.
- Brimbank in Melbourne's west: 1.9 cars per household, up from 1.8 in 2011.
- Sutherland in Sydney's south - 1.9 cars per household, up from 1.8 in 2011.
TFF's 10 transport futures for Australia
- There will be an additional 2.5 million people over the age of 65 in our largest capital cities. Most will still be driving.
- Mobile phones mean access to 'real-time' transport data leading to a boom in ride sharing schemes, bus and train details and the ability to book travel quickly.
- The reason why fewer people caught public transport was poor connectivity.
- Driverless cars could become a viable "first and last kilometre" trip converter, like short cab rides.
- Cars could be shared, rather than individually privately owned. Car share companies are already beginning to emerge and Uber estimates the number of kilometres driven by cabs and ride sharing schemes will increase from 4 per cent of the global market to 26 per cent.
- Only recently, Queensland announced it would set up a network of charging stations up the east coast, hoping to encourage the electric vehicle market.
- Electric buses are seen as the next big thing for public transport: "As battery technology improves and governments demonstrate a greater commitment to electric bus technology, the take-up of electric buses is likely to accelerate, providing a more environmentally sustainable mode of public transport."
- Collecting and analysing big data: "Through the collation of data from numerous sources, it is possible that information could be channelled into algorithms that predict an individual's behaviour, such as booking or suggesting transport services based on scheduled meetings or past movements."
- In the future you simply hop in and fly your own personal drone. Tourism and Transport Federation research shows 67 per cent of Australians imagine a future where they are transported by on-demand air services.
- Fast train or the hyperloop? The hyperloop is the latest idea from Tesla electric car inventor Elon Musk and allows passengers to travel very, very quickly in a seat inside a closed-in narrow tubelike, sealed track. "Hyperloop One plans to build the first functioning Hyperloop system by 2021 and has recently completed and tested its first 500 metre prototype track in Nevada," TFF noted.
