Road transport in Australia

Costs and funding

Funding and responsibility for Australia's road network is split between the three levels of government; Federal, State and Local. Because of long distances, low population densities, and widely separated major settlements, the costs of and funding for roads in Australia has been, historically, a major fiscal issue for all levels of government, especially Federal and State. The popular phrase 'the tyranny of distance', also the title of a famous historical work, captures the central role of transport in Australian policy, producing many conflicts. It was not until the Bland enquiry in Victoria that there was an attempt to outline the complex questions in economic theory and practice of determining and measuring road costs and their allocation. In 1978-80 the McDonell Enquiry reviewed road and rail freight transport in New South Wales and its affected cities and regions, (the 'hub' of the Australian freight transport system). It was set up because of the 'truckies' blockades and national disturbances which disrupted access to all mainland capitals. These were largely sparked by the levels of road taxes. This Enquiry developed the first comprehensive theoretical and measurement system for assessing and allocating road costs,. This system was subsequently applied more widely, and then extended, with later studies, for the establishment of current national policy and principles.

The Federal government provides funds under the AusLink programme for several funding programs including:

Other highways and main roads linking regional centres are funded by the respective state governments. Local and minor roads are generally funded by the third tier of government, local councils.

The Business Council of Australia in its Infrastructure Action Plan, estimated that in 2004, road infrastructure was under funded by A$10 billion.

Roads and highways

Different standards of roads are generally called by various names. With wide variations in population across the nation, the name of a road does not always reflect the construction or capacity of a particular road.

Freeways, motorways, expressways and tollways

Freeways are major roads with more than one lane of traffic in each direction designed for higher speed operation. They have barriers or wide median strips separating traffic travelling in opposite directions, and grade-separated intersections without roundabouts or traffic lights in the main route. Some toll roads are called motorways or tollways to avoid perceived difficulties with charging people to use a freeway. Most Australian capital cities have one or more freeways across, past, or leading to them.

When limited-access highways began to be built in Sydney in the 1950s, beginning with the Cahill Expressway, they were provisionally named expressways, but in the 1960s Australian transport ministers agreed that they be called freeways (like in the United States and other countries). The Cahill Expressway has kept its original name. Melbourne's South Eastern Freeway (now called the 'Monash Freeway') was the second freeway to be opened in Australia, in 1961. However, it was originally only a short road.

Victoria has the most extensive major arterial (freeway) network in the country, including tollways.

Highways

There is an Australian national highway network linking the capital cities of each state and other major cities and towns. The national highway network is PART financed by the Australian Federal Government with the bulk of funding coming from the individual states. Many argue that more needs to be spent on maintenance and upgrading the network..

Each Australian state government maintains their own network of roads connecting most of the towns in the state. Highways and major roads include Metroads, National Routes, State Routes and routes numbered according to the Alphanumeric Route Numbering System.

Some highways in remote areas of Australia are not sealed for high traffic volumes and are not suitable for the whole range of weather conditions. Following heavy rains they may be closed to traffic.

Minor roads

Local governments maintain the vast majority of minor roads in rural areas and streets in towns and suburbs.

Urban

Urban minor roads in Australia are generally sealed, have a 50 km/h speed limit and most are illuminated at night by street lighting.

Rural

Many rural roads are not sealed but are built with a gravel base or simply graded clear and maintained from the available earth.

Outback

Driving on minor outback roads off a sealed road can be dangerous, and motorists are generally advised to take precautions such as:

Failure to observe these precautions can result in death.

Ferries

The Spirit of Tasmania is a service operated by TT-Line with two ocean-going ferries providing a "road" link between Tasmania and the mainland. There is also a Searoad ferry service across the opening of Port Phillip connecting Sorrento and Queenscliff. Kangaroo Island is connected to Cape Jervis by the SeaLink service.

Many of the road crossings over the lower Murray River are provided by government-operated cable ferries.

Economic regulation

Although trucks had played important local carriage tasks since their introduction to Australia, it was not until the 1970s that improved highways and larger trucks allowed the rapid development of long haul operations and intense competition with rail transport. This situation led to the industry disturbances (see section Costs and funding above) on the causes of which the Commission of Enquiry into the NSW freight industry reported. The Enquiry made a series of recommendations for reform involving economic principles, legal provisions, financing, economic regulation and safe operating conditions but found that effective action could not be taken at the State level. It would require re-examination of the central issue of freedom of interstate transport as embodied in Section 92 of the Constitution of Australia, and the development of appropriate national responses. With this basis, the National Freight Inquiry, completed a comprehensive survey of the national industry with major proposals. This resulted in long running development of new governance arrangements and policy for economic regulation of both road and rail freight transport. As a result, following the cooperative Federalism initiative of the 1990s, these matters are the responsibility of the National Transport Commission, within the general oversight of the Australian Transport Council of Ministers.

Operating regulation

Vehicles in Australia are right-hand drive, and vehicles travel on the left side of the road. The laws for all levels of government, have been mostly harmonised so that drivers do not need to learn different rules as they cross state borders. The usual speed limits are 100 km/h outside of urban areas (110 km/h on some roads where signposted). Major routes in built up areas are 80 km/h and 60 km/h, with streets generally limited to 50 km/h, often not separately signposted. Until the end of 2006, major highways in the Northern Territory had no speed limit, but now the maximum speed there is 130 km/h where signposted on the Stuart, Barkly, Victoria and Arnhem Highways, with a default of 110 km/h on all other rural roads where not otherwise signposted.

Speed limits are enforced with mobile and fixed cameras as well as mobile radar guns operated by police and State Road Authorities such as VicRoads. Heavy transport operators must record their driving time in a log book and take regular rest periods and are limited in how long they can drive without longer sleeping time.

If two roads with two lanes each way meet at a roundabout, the roundabout is marked with two lanes as well. Traffic turning left must use the left lane, and traffic turning right must approach in and use the right lane, travelling clockwise around the island in the centre. Traffic going straight through may generally use either lane. Vehicles must indicate their intended direction when approaching the roundabout, and indicate left when passing the exit before the one they intend to leave on. Vehicles entering the roundabout must give way to vehicles already on it.

Licensing

Typically, the first stage of licensing is gaining a learners permit. The minimum age to get this in most states is 16, and it requires:

After a set period of time (usually between three and twelve months), and often a certain number of hours practice, the learner driver is eligible to apply for their licence. In most states, there's also an age limit (which ranges from 16 ½ to 18, depending on state). In most states, including NSW, QLD, WA, Tas and ACT, the limit is 17. This process typically involves a practical driving test and a computerised test involving a hazard perception section and possibly some multiple choice questions. The first licence is a restricted licence known as a probationary licence or provisional licence, which typically lasts for up to three years. These drivers must display special plates (design differs across states but may be a white P on a red background, or a red or green P on a white background). This has earned them the name P Platers. Some restrictions placed on these drivers include (dependent on state):

Some states have a two-stage probationary licensing system, where the first year of a licence has extra restrictions (and often a different coloured plate) to the later years.

Special licences exist for:

Heavy vehicle class licences require drivers to have experience at lighter licence classes. In some states, a car licence is acceptable for motorcycles with limited engine capacity.

Cars

Three manufacturers currently build cars in Australia, but these are all scheduled to cease local production by 2017. They are all subsidiaries of foreign companies, but manufacture models designed specifically for the Australian market. They are:

Except for the Holden Cruze, these are all relatively large cars developed specifically for Australians. Smaller cars sold in Australia are all imported, as are four-wheel drives.

The distance travelled by car in Australia is amongst the highest in the world, behind the United States and Canada. In 2003, the average distance travelled per person by car was 12,730 km.

Trucks

Most long-haul road freight is carried on B-double semi-trailers. These trucks typically have a total of 9 axles and two articulation points . Normal semi- trailers usually have a tri-axle trailer towed by a twin-drive prime mover. In the remote areas of the north and west, three- and four-trailer road trains are used for general freight, fuel, livestock and mineral ores. Two-trailer road trains are allowed closer to populated areas, especially for bulk grain and general freight.

From July 2007, the Federal and State governments approved B-triple trucks that are allowed only to operate on a designated network of roads . A B-Triple is said to carry the load of five semi-trailers. B-Triples are set up differently from conventional road trains. The front of their first trailer is supported by the turntable on the prime mover. The second and third trailers are supported by turntables on the trailers in front of them. As a result, B-Triples are much more stable than road trains and handle exceptionally well.

The largest road transport companies are Toll Holdings and Linfox, but there are many others, including owner-drivers with only their own truck.

Buses

Buses in Australia provide a variety of services, generally in one or more of the following categories:

Many aspects of the bus industry are heavily controlled by government. These controls may include age and condition of the bus, driver licensing and working hours, fare structure, routes and frequency of services.

Trams

Trams were used in most Australian cities until the early 1960s. The Melbourne tram system is the largest in the world and remains an integral part of inner city commuting. Their cars intersect with others and large volumes of commuters have ready access to this form of transport. Tram and light rail systems are being reintroduced to some cities, such as the network in Sydney. The only remaining tram route in Adelaide is the Glenelg Tram, which was extended through the CBD in 2007 and again in 2009. A thirteen kilometre light rail system is currently being constructed on the Gold Coast.

Motorcycles

Motorcycles account for around 3% of vehicles in Australia.

Bicycles

In the late-19th and early-20th centuries - the bicycle was used extensively in the outback and countryside of Australia as an economical means of transport. In the urban areas the bicycle found wide usage where workers were living in reasonable proximity to their places of work - this can be seen in the extent of bicycle racks at Midland Railway Workshops for example.

Over a third of the population ride a bike at least once a year and over half of all households have at least one working bicycle. They are used for recreation, exercise and commuting. Most cities have developed bicycle usage strategies, while some, such as Canberra and Perth have extensively promoted bicycle usage and constructed an extensive network of cycleways that can be used by cyclists to travel large distances across the city. The recreational use of bicycles has been supported by local and state governments producing publications and websites that encourage recreational and more lately utility usage. Considerable numbers of tourists and enthusiasts utilise road and off-road routes that have been marked or signed for bicycle tours. Good examples are the Mawson Trail in South Australia and the Munda Biddi Trail in Western Australia.

Safety

Overall, road transport safety in Australia is of a relatively moderate to high standard. Road quality, safety barrier and features is of a moderate level in urban areas and of a high standard on new roads, however in regional areas and some major highways, road quality is sometimes severely affected by lack of funding and maintenance. Speed is generally limited to around 100 km/h.

Vehicles are generally moderately safe. Many vehicle users cannot afford newer vehicles and as a result, the second-hand car market is quite large. There are many older model vehicles and while they require a Road Worthy Certificate (RWC) to ensure basic operation is sound, only newer vehicles have safety features such as crumple zones, air bags, etc. Seat belt usage is generally very high and it is illegal to go without a seatbelt.

Several efforts have been at educating the mass population about road safety, the most prominent and successful being the Victorian state Transport Accident Commission (TAC) road safety advertisements, began in the late 1980s in print and television, which often depicted horrific and graphic road accidents initiated by various causes such as speed, alcohol and drug use, distraction, fatigue and many others. The TAC ads were very effective and reduced the road toll drastically. The method was subsequently adopted elsewhere in Australia and the world.

Speed limits have been progressively reduced in urban streets, from 60 km/h to 50 km/h and more recently, to 40 km/h near schools, built up areas and shopping strips. This is to ensure safer stopping distances to minimise/reduce pedestrian injuries and casualties.

Road naming

Each state has independent systems for the naming of roads. Roads in New South Wales are named in accordance with section 162 of The Roads Act 1993. Australian Standards AS 1742.5 - 1986 and AS 4212 - 1994 provide a list of road suffixes (such as Alley, Circle, Mall, Street) which are routinely accepted by the Geographical Names Board.

Authorities

The Australian commonwealth government has had a number of statutory authorities relative to roads including: -

State governments have been co-ordinated through: -

In Victoria the state road authority is the Roads Corporation better known as VicRoads and in New South Wales it is known as the Roads and Maritime Services (RMS).