Advice on legislation or legal policy issues contained in this paper is provided for use in parliamentary debate and for related parliamentary purposes. This paper is not professional legal opinion.
Briefing Paper No. 10/1999 by Stewart Smith
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- This paper is an update of the 1995 Briefing Paper Sydney,
Transport and Ecologically Sustainable Development. This Paper concentrates on
the institutional framework of transport systems, and discusses current
transport developments. In regards to roads, ownership and control of the
system lies with the States and Territories. The National Road Transport
Commission (NRTC) was formed in 1991 to overcome resultant barriers to more
efficient road transport by introducing nationally consistent transport
policies and laws. Together with the National Environment Protection Council,
the two organisations formed a Motor Vehicle Environment Committee, which has
as its objective to minimise the impact of the motor vehicle on the environment
(pages 1-2).
- In 1997 the Prime Minister the Hon John Howard MP made a
commitment to harmonise Australia's vehicle noxious gas emission standards with
international standards by 2006. The Motor Vehicle Environment Committee has
developed a discussion paper on methods to achieve this commitment. The
Committee made eight recommendations, which if implemented may result in
Australia's emission standards not complying with international standards by
2006 (pages 3-8).
- In 1996-97 the total amount of road-related expenditure by the
Commonwealth, State, Territory and local governments was $6.2 billion. Revenue
collected by the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments from a selection
of motor vehicle taxes and charges in the same year was $13.9 billion (page 8).
- In NSW the Roads and Traffic Authority manages the operations,
maintenance and enhancement of 17,620 km of State roads, including National
Highways. It also manages 2,971 km of Regional and Local roads in
unincorporated areas where there is no local council. The RTA also assists
local councils in managing 18,429 km of Regional roads, and to a limited
extent, Local roads, through funding and other support. Total roads program
expenditure by the RTA for 1997-98 was $2,055 million, of which $1,377 million
was spent on the maintenance and development of the State road network.
Expenditure was funded by the State which contributed $1,591 million, the
Commonwealth contributed $244 million for National Highways in NSW, $75 million
for Roads of National Importance, $12 million for accident blackspot treatments
and $8 million under the Interstate Road Transport Act 1985. In NSW, motor
vehicle tax raised $675 million, fuel levies raised $512 million, and RTA
revenue raised $234 million (page 9).
- A brief history or rail and rail reform is presented. An
overriding feature of railways since the introduction and subsequent dominance
of the car and road infrastructure is its lack of investment by government
owners (pages 10-12).
- A 1999 report on railway reform by the Productivity Commission
concluded that increasing the commercial focus of the railways is the key to
improving productivity and facilitating the investment required to consolidate
rail's position in the transport market. It also concluded that alternatives to
government provision have an important role to play in the rail industry.
Alternatives include: contracting out services; franchising; and privatisation
(page 13).
- Other important reforms noted by the Commission include
competitive neutrality, both within the rail industry and between road and
rail. In regard to the latter, government decision making in relation to
investment, taxes and charges, access regimes, safety regulations and operating
standards can all affect competitive neutrality between road and rail
transport. It was noted by the Commission that heavy vehicle charges do not
cover the full cost of road usage, including direct and indirect costs such as
pollution.
- A contemporary history of railway reform in NSW is also
presented. Significant reforms to reduce operating costs have been achieved
since the 1980s. Currently, rail services have been separated into different
government owned corporations. The Rail Access Corporation owns the rail tracks
and provides open access to accredited rail operators. The Railway Services
Authority was corporatised in 1998, is now called Railway Services Australia,
and provides services such as maintenance and construction of track to the
railway industry. FreightCorp hauls a wide range of bulk commodities and other
freight, and the State Rail Authority is comprised of two divisions, CityRail
and Countrylink (pages 14-18).
- The future transport requirements of the State have been a
concern of governments for some time. The prospect of increased air pollution
in the Greater Sydney Metropolitan Area led the Government to develop a series
of action plans to curb this threat. Part of these commitments were to develop
an integrated transport plan, and subsequent plans were released for both the
State and specifically Sydney in November 1998. These plans are discussed and
summarised (pages 18-25).
