Roads Australia
Reaction to the NSW mini Budget – including the decision to introduce time-of-day tolling on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Tunnel – has dominated media coverage in Sydney this week.
Local media was quick to brand time-of-day tolling as a congestion tax - a suggestion denied by NSW Treasurer Eric Roozendaal, who told the Daily Telegraph it was a ‘price signal to people to look about changing their behaviour’.
The Australian Financial Review said the decision, coupled with the doubling of the CBD parking levy, sent a clear signal to business – ‘don’t bring your car into the city’.
Yesterday’s SMH editorial picked up on a common thread in local media coverage – that the decision would unfairly affect voters in safe Liberal seats north and south of the harbour.
However, the Herald did make the point that congestion charging was, in principle, “…a good idea for Sydney, as it has proved to be for London…”
“We need more of it, not less, but it has to be applied intelligently,” the paper went on to say.
In broader reaction to the mini Budget, the Australian Financial Review reported Canberra was worried the NSW Government’s woes would undermine its own endeavours to bolster the economy, leaving it to bail-out the State economy with major infrastructure funding.
In other news, the Australian newspaper has reported both the Queensland and Victorian governments could be facing their own budget blues, with a likely $500 million in Queensland Government revenue wiped out by the economic downturn, and Victoria’s budget surplus suffering a sharp deterioration.
The Courier Mail this week reported on an RACQ proposal for an urban rail subway as a response to Brisbane’s traffic congestion.
And the Herald Sun reported last week that the Victorian Government’s transport vision would be undermined unless the Federal Government committed at least $5 billion for major infrastructure works.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Harbour Tunnel will become the first motorways in Australia to switch to time-of-day tolling under congestion reforms announced this week in the NSW Government’s mini Budget.
Describing the decision as “…a major initiative to meet the challenge of congestion”, NSW Roads Minister, Michael Daley, announced the tolls on the crossings, which together carry more than 245,000 vehicles per day, would be adjusted to:
The Harbour crossings are due to convert to fully-electronic tolling in January next year and the time-of-day tolling changes are expected to be introduced by February.
Mr Daley said the cost efficiencies contained in the mini Budget ensured that road projects like the $156 million Victoria Road bus priority project and the duplication of the Iron Cove Bridge were secure.
In other mini Budget decisions, the Government announced that $400 million in savings to 2012-13 had been applied to the RTA’s capital programs, with 90 per cent of this to be achieved by setting NSW contributions to Pacific Highway upgrades at $500 million, as part of the overall Auslink II programs.
The mini Budget papers also confirmed the priority road and rail projects nominated by the NSW Government for funding from the Federal Government’s Building Australia Fund.
These were the M4 extension, the M5 expansion, the West Metro, and the Northern Sydney freight rail line.
However, the Budget paper made the point that these projects would only proceed before 2012 if they were substantially funded by the Commonwealth.
“The Government will work with the Commonwealth and Infrastructure Australia to determine relative priorities in this period, including consideration of appropriate funding levels to other priorities submitted by NSW (including the Pacific Highway, Princes Highway, F3 to M2 and F3 to Branxton links).”
The mini Budget papers and statements are available for download at the NSW Government website.
With construction work now officially underway on Australia’s largest road infrastructure project – the $3.4 billion Brisbane Airport Link – the call has gone out for skilled workers and professionals to come on board.
Thiess John Holland Project Director, Gordon Ralph, said with South East Queensland’s rapid pace of development, skilled workers remain in high demand, prompting Thiess John Holland to launch a nation-wide recruitment campaign to expand their new team.
“We are building a world-class team and drawing on local, interstate and overseas talent to design and construct these projects,” Mr Ralph said.
“We currently have a 600-strong team of design and construction professionals on board ready to start construction. Within the next six months alone, Thiess John Holland will create more than 750 new positions.
“Our project team has been growing at a rapid rate – twenty new staff every week since July – however, job opportunities will continue to rise for the next 18 months and throughout the life of the projects,” said Mr Ralph.
He expected the extensive range of work would prove attractive to potential candidates.
“The projects encompass a wide range of civil engineering aspects that include roads, bridges, tunnels, structures and pavements.”
People wanting to work on this project can register their interest with Thiess online
Endorsement of a new road safety action plan and a commitment by transport ministers to take steps to investigate electronic monitoring of heavy vehicles were among the initiatives to emerge from last week’s Australian Transport Council (ATC) meeting in Adelaide.
The National Road Safety Action Plan 2009 and 2010 sets out a comprehensive package of measures addressing all parts of the road transport system, including:
Federal Infrastructure and Transport Minister, Anthony Albanese, says this is the final two-year Action Plan that will be presented under the National Road Safety Strategy 2001-2010 - a strategy which aimed for a reduction in the national death rate by 40 per cent by the end of 2010.
“The reduction to date stands at about 25 per cent, so reaching the 2010 target remains a formidable challenge,” he says.
Transport ministers at the ATC meeting also agreed that, as an initial step, in the first half of 2009 officials would develop a possible regulatory framework, a business case and Australian performance-based specification for electronic devices to monitor heavy vehicle speed and fatigue.
The work would be led by the Commonwealth, NSW and the National Transport Commission (NTC), and include public consultations. A detailed Regulatory Impact Statement would be developed in the second half of 2009.
The Joint Communique from last week’s ATC meeting and the National Road Safety Action Plan can be downloaded at the Australian Transport Council website.
The Victorian Transport Plan should allow for investment in public transport and roads, support growth in freight, combine transport and land-use planning and consider the environment, according to a consultation report released last week.
Roads and Ports Minister Tim Pallas said the report marked the culmination of an extensive consultation process to understand what Victorians wanted from the Victorian Transport Plan.
Common themes raised during the consultation process included:
Mr Pallas said all views were being considered ahead of the release of the plan at the end of the year.
Expressions of Interest from consultants to undertake the planning and feasibility study for Adelaide’s multi-million dollar Darlington Transport Project close next week.
South Australian Minister for Transport, Patrick Conlon, says the Darlington Transport Project is a crucial initiative that will plan for future demands along Adelaide's crucial north-south arterial road network as well as improve public transport facilities and reduce urban congestion in the southern suburbs.
Expressions of Interest are being sought for the Integrated Planning Study, which will identify the concept plans for the project and will include environmental impact assessment, community engagement and detailed economic evaluation.
Expressions of Interest close on 18 November 2008.
The Australian Automobile Association (AAA) has called on the Federal Government to abolish fuel tax and replace it with a universal road user charge.
The call comes in the AAA’s submission to the Henry Review of Taxation.
The road user charge would replace the 38-cents-per-litre excise and a range of other charges such as vehicle registration, with the revenue being used to fund land transport infrastructure.
AAA director of Policy and Research, John Metcalfe, said this week only 10 of the 38cpl excise went to roads, noting ANOP survey results showing motorists are unhappy with the amount of fuel tax revenue being allocated to the road network.
"A tax on fuel is no longer appropriate – the appropriate tax on all fuels for revenue raising should only be the GST," Mr Metcalfe said.
"There needs to be a shift towards charging for use and relying less on fixed charges, such as registration, that have a limited relationship to the costs motorists impose when using the road. These costs include pavement wear and damage, air and noise pollution, and greenhouse gases.
"It is time for road use to be charged in the same way as other essential utilities such as gas, telecommunications, water and electricity where pricing incorporates a modest access charge and a user charge."
The AAA submission also says congestion charging needs to be considered in any reform proposal, but stresses there is a wide range of approaches to tackling congestion that go beyond charging, including public transport expansion.
However, the submission highlights the fact congestion management is properly the responsibility of the states.
The AAA’s submission can be downloaded from the AAA website.
GHD has strengthened its position in the transport, economics and infrastructure markets with the purchase of its alliance partner, Meyrick and Associates.
GHD and Meyrick have worked together for the past two years as the GHD Meyrick Alliance, combining GHD’s technical knowledge with the economic services and strategic policy analysis offered by Meyrick.
GHD Transport Business Leader Tom Pinzone said the Alliance had been very successful and had validated the advantages of bringing the two companies together.
“GHD’s engineering, transport planning and project management experience, combined with the skills in transport demand and economic analysis brought by Meyrick, will expand the range of services we are able to offer clients in the public and private sectors.”
Meyrick and Associates was formed by transport economist Steve Meyrick in 1991 to provide advice on economic and policy issues in the infrastructure sector.
The company is contributing to the work of Infrastructure Australia and has made major contributions to several landmark Australian freight transport studies, including a freight transport review for the National Transport Commission and the National Internodal Terminal study for the AusLink program.
Shell Australia has unveiled a $10 million bitumen import storage facility it says will boost the supply of building materials to Queensland’s growing road network.
The new facility at Pinkenba in Brisbane will store up to 10,000 tonnes of hot bitumen – enough to seal a single lane road from Brisbane to Cairns.
Speaking at the launch, Shell Australia Chairman Russell Caplan said the facility would help meet demand created by the State Government’s South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan.
“Shell has worked closely with contractors and the Queensland Department of Main Roads to understand future bitumen demands in this region,” he said.
“Shell’s $10 million investment will give us the flexibility to make more specialised bitumen available for major road projects in south east Queensland.
“Specialised grades are needed to construct pavements that cope with high road temperatures and the demands of increased traffic volumes.
“This means roads that last longer and need less maintenance – resulting in fewer disruptions to the driving public.”
Submitted by Mark Bowmer on Friday November 14th 2008 1:44pm
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