Roads Australia
Urban congestion has again dominated transport news in the national media over the past fortnight.
Saturday’s Sydney Morning Herald reported on the findings of a new study by the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies at Sydney University calling for a ‘calibrated congestion tax’ for Sydney’s roads in place of car-based taxes such as registration and petrol excise.
The authors were against large-scale road expansion, the Herald said, favouring a London-style congestion charge assessed on length and time of journey.
The Australian newspaper also picked up on the story, quoting NSW Roads Minister Eric Roozendaal as ruling out a congestion tax.
In Melbourne, the Herald Sun reported on the findings of a study by insurer AAMI that found Melbourne commuters led the country in opting to drive to work, with more than three out of five going by car. The report said two thirds of survey respondents would choose public transport if it were more reliable, frequent and safer.
As if to underscore the challenge of shifting commuters to public transport, the Age reported last week that the city’s busiest rail lines would reach their capacity well before planned upgrades were undertaken.
The SMH picked up on a study by the University of NSW's City Futures Research Centre that reported the percentage of Sydney households with two or more cars had climbed by 57,000 to 635,000 between 2001 and 2006, with inner city households accounting for a significant share of the increase.
The Herald also reported on a Griffith University study that found rising fuel costs and a lack of adequate public transport options put large parts of western Sydney at risk of social isolation.
Meantime the cost of fuel is already having an impact on road use patterns, according to the Fin Review. It reported last week that oil imports had slumped to their lowest level in four years, and the increasing cost of fuel had seen business and private mileage drop.
In other news, the Courier Mail reported last week that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had declared his Government would honour its pre-election commitment to upgrade the entire length of the Ipswich Highway, including the 6km Darra to Rocklea section.
The 2008 ARF National Roads Summit held in Sydney last week counts as one of the most significant in recent years, establishing a new identity for the ARF and signalling a renewed focus on policy.
At an EGM held on Day Two of the Summit, members voted overwhelmingly to change ARF’s name to Roads Australia. This new identity will be formally launched in the near future.
The Summit also saw the launch of ARF’s major policy initiative on congestion, capacity and sustainability (see story below).
The Summit was formally opened by NSW Roads Minister, Eric Roozendaal, who outlined his Government’s budget commitments on roads spending.
Keynote international speaker, Nazir Alli, CEO of the South African National Roads Agency, delivered a compelling address that expanded on the Summit theme - running roads as a business.
In advocating the necessity to run roads as business, Mr Alli said the challenge for road authorities was to balance business outcomes with social outcomes and responsibilities, taking into account political parameters and the impact of emerging issues like sustainability.
Some of the issues and ideas raised by Mr Alli were taken up in subsequent Day One sessions that focussed specifically on the challenges of managing urban road congestion and addressing sustainability. Both these sessions provoked much discussion and questions from participants.
The sustainability session included an address by Shell Bitumen’s Global Technology President, Hugo Vits, who underlined the importance of business confronting and adopting to the challenges of climate change and broader sustainability issues.
Other sessions at the two-day Summit looked at project delivery, including market developments in PPPs and insurance, and the agenda for the Federal Government’s new Infrastructure Australia body. State road authority heads and GMs also provided updates on their respective project planning and delivery agendas.
Guest speaker at this year's John Shaw Medal Dinner was the Chairman of John Holland, Mrs Janet Holmes a Court, who spoke of the challenge in addressing the major infrastructure backlog because of the dearth of skilled resources.
“Our challenge is to work creatively as an industry, and with government, to uncover both existing and untapped resources in an increasingly tight labour market,” Mrs Holmes a Court said.
Gold sponsors of the 2008 ARF National Roads Summit were Shell Bitumen, Pitt & Sherry and ARRB Group, supported by silver sponsor Downer EDI Works and bronze sponsor Tenix. The John Shaw Medal Dinner was sponsored by John Holland.
The 2008 Summit presentations will be sent on disk to all registered participants in the coming weeks.
ARF members have an opportunity to play a part in the development of policies on some of the most pressing issues affecting road transport and construction – namely congestion, capacity and sustainability.
At last week’s National Roads Summit in Sydney, the ARF formally launched its major policy initiative, establishing three policy groups – or Chapters – to work with all stakeholders on the development of policy in these key areas.
ARF President, Ray Fisher, says the establishment of the Chapters on congestion, capacity and sustainability represents an opportunity for the ARF to be integrally involved in the policy development process of governments, as opposed to being an industry advocate looking in from the outside.
“The strength and breadth of our membership puts us in the unique position of already being inside ‘the tent’ of government policy-making,” Mr Fisher says.
“Our members not only represent the largest private sector players in the road industry, but state road authorities and their industry research partners.
“This initiative aims to draw together the wide experience and knowledge of all these players, providing objective, practical input to the policy solutions that will shape our nation’s transport future.”
The policy Chapters will focus on:
“Each Chapter will be led by an ARF Board member and supported by our newly appointed Policy Director, David Jarwood,” Mr Fisher said.
“However, for this initiative to be successful it’s crucial that we enlist the active involvement of our membership. We want member representatives in each of these Chapters, bringing with them their broad knowledge and experience of these issues.
“Timing is also a critical factor. We have to hit the ground running right now if we are to be an active and respected participant in the policy debate.”
Any member interested in participating in the new ARF policy chapters can email our Policy Director, David Jarwood.
RACV Managing Director and CEO, Colin Jordan, has been announced as the 2008 John Shaw Medal winner for services to Australian road transport.
Mr Jordan was presented with the prestigious award at a glittering presentation dinner held as part of the Australian Road Forum’s National Roads Summit in Sydney last week.
Announcing the Award, ARF President Ray Fisher described Mr Jordan as someone who had demonstrated exceptional national and international leadership in road transport.
“As Chief Executive of VicRoads from 1992 to 2001, Colin Jordan’s creativity and initiative was instrumental in visionary projects which fundamentally changed Victoria’s road infrastructure,” Mr Fisher said.
“These included the Western Ring Road, the Eastern Freeway Extension, grade separations of the Monash Freeway, and duplication of the Hume Highway to the border to name a few.
“His leadership of the RACV has resulted in a host of initiatives that have reinvigorated motoring services to Victorians. These include the $280m development of major new Club facilities in Melbourne and Healesville, improved road service entitlements to members, and enhancement of member benefits in a wide range of services.”
Mr Fisher also recognised Mr Jordan’s contribution to international road policy as current President of the World Road Association (PIARC), an organisation that comprises 111 member governments together with various regional authorities and individual members. In 2002, Mr Jordan achieved the distinction of being the first Australian ever elected to the Presidency of PIARC.
Accepting his Award, Mr Jordan said it was an honour to be named alongside previous recipients who had made such significant contributions to the road industry and the wider community.
Mr Jordan said that in recent decades, Australia had led the world in terms of institutional change and development, and infrastructure delivery.
But the traditional model of road administrations around the world was changing from one that was focussed on the ‘hard’ engineering of roads to one that embraced the broader challenges of road transport use.
“Today, terms like mobility and access are the key drivers for the businesses we serve,” Mr Jordan said.
The challenge for the Australian road transport industry was to maintain its skills within this new framework. Given the recent history of change and innovation in Australia, Mr Jordan said he was very confident of the Australian roads sector adopting to the challenges of the future.
The Australian transport and infrastructure sectors have seen two significant appointments in recent days, with Michael Deegan chosen to head up the operations of Infrastructure Australia and Dave Stewart appointed Acting Director-General of Transport in Queensland.
Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Anthony Albanese, yesterday announced the appointment of Mr Deegan as the inaugural Infrastructure Coordinator.
The Infrastructure Coordinator is charged with overseeing the day-to-day operations of Infrastructure Australia and working closely with the 12-member Council.
Mr Albanese said Mr Deegan would bring a wealth of experience across infrastructure sectors, having worked in both the public and private domain.
“Mr Deegan is not unaccustomed to challenging tasks, having been a Director General of the NSW Department of Transport; Assistant Secretary of the Commonwealth Deputy of Administrative Services; Secretary of the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet; director of various construction and investment companies; and President of the Property Council of Australia,” the Minister said.
Mr Deegan is the current Chair of the National Transport Commission, a role he has held since April 2006. He will take up his appointment with Infrastructure Australia on 1 July this year.
Meantime Queensland Premier Anna Bligh announced earlier this month the appointment of Dave Stewart as Acting Director-General of Transport, charged with looking at new ‘congestion busting’ initiatives.
Ms Bligh said Mr Stewart would replace Mr Bruce Wilson - the longest serving Director-General in Queensland.
“Bruce has done a terrific job and was recognised on the weekend with an AM in the Queens Birthday honours,” Ms Bligh said.
“However there is now a chance for renewal and the appointment of Dave Stewart will ensure one of my top priorities – tackling urban congestion – remains at the top of the public service agenda.
“Mr Stewart is currently a Deputy Director-General in my Department heading up our Urban Congestion Taskforce.
“He has overseen the development and bidding process for our multi-billion Airport Link and Northern Busway projects and has led the roll-out of infrastructure projects in our South East Queensland Water Grid.”
Ms Bligh said Bruce Wilson would take up a new role as the interim CEO of the new Public Service Commission.
ARF members Queensland Department of Main Roads and the ARRB Group used the occasion of last week’s National Roads Summit in Sydney to recognise the success of an historic agreement between the two organisations on research expertise and knowledge sharing.
The agreement was officially signed one year ago at the 2007 ARF National Roads Summit.
The purpose of the agreement is to improve the specialist capability and capacity of the Queensland Department of Main Roads, Australia’s busiest road authority, and ARRB Group, Australia’s leading national transport research, consulting and technology provider, through a sustained collaborative program of challenging projects that deliver superior technology and road and transport solutions for the people of Queensland.
“The agreement was the first of its kind in Australia and is providing Main Roads access to the wealth of experience that ARRB experts have to offer,” said ARRB Managing Director, Gerard Waldron.
Director-General of Main Roads, Alan Tesch, said he was delighted with the results achieved so far in providing appropriate road and transport solutions for the people of Queensland.
“Many of our projects have benefited from the expertise ARRB has provided in areas such as road safety; concrete, pavement and road surfacing technology; traffic engineering; asset management; and transport economics,” Mr Tesch said.
Leighton Contractors has been appointed as an alliance team member by the NSW RTA to deliver the Ballina bypass project.
The company joins the RTA, Maunsell AECOM, SMEC and Coffey Geotechnics to design and construct the bypass that will provide approximately 12.4km of dual carriageway as part of the Pacific Highway upgrade program.
Michael Metcalfe, GM NSW and ACT of Leighton Contractors, said the alliance team had been working together for the past nine months to develop the scope and design of the Ballina bypass.
Preliminary sitwork on the project is now underway to establish the main site office, construction area and northern compound.
The Ballina bypass project will bypass a 19km section of the Pacific Highway and deliver significant safety improvements and time savings for traffic. The project will be opened in stages:
Abigroup has taken a lead in addressing workplace shortages by providing staff with the chance to further develop and strengthen their skills and experiences.
Earlier this month 32 Abigroup foremen and leading hands working on the Bonville Upgrade on the NSW North Coast graduated from a TAFE NSW computer course. As a result, the graduates’ enhanced computer literacy has given them the ability to not only develop in their existing roles but also to tap into future training with the Tier 1 company.
“By recognising a skills gap in Abigroup’s workforce, we have taken this as an opportunity to train valued employees and arm them with the necessary skills to potentially take on greater responsibility,” said Abigroup NSW Learning and Development Manager, Michael Hall.
Those that completed the certificate will now be able to participate in Abigroup’s professional development program to further extend their skills. Due to the success of the WELL program at Bonville, further courses will also shortly commence on Abigroup’s Coolac, K2B and Hume Highway Southern Alliance sites.
Six indigenous trainees from the Bonville Upgrade also successfully completed the Civil Construction Certificate II course.
“The ability that the trainees displayed to learn and develop into competent construction workers is exemplified by the fact they have become an integral part of their respective work crews. The trainees have cemented themselves a career in the construction industry,” said Abigroup’s Regional OH&S Co-ordinator, Dan Guthrie.
The Australian Logistics Council (ALC) has announced it will undertake a major project to establish the size and composition of the transport and logistics workforce.
“The T&L industry contributes $150 billion to the Australian economy every year, yet because of our diverse nature there has been no clear understanding of the extent of T&L workforce throughout Australia,” says ALC Chairman, Ivan Backman.
“This vital project will ascertain the logistics workforce in Australia. It will provide insight into its structure and develop a framework that allows this work to be replicated on an ongoing basis.
“Importantly it will allow the current structure of the T&L workforce to be measured against projected HR demand to assist in identifying gaps.
“The ALC is proud to be working with Queensland Transport and the Transport and Logistics Industry Skills Centre to deliver the first stage of this vital project.”
Submitted by Mark Bowmer on Monday June 23rd 2008 12:25pm
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