The growing cost of road dependency

By Mark Carter

As I was pondering on a theme for this month’s column, the ABC morning radio show was on in the background and the presenter was questioning a “tree expert” following the wild weekend storms that had uprooted numerous trees across Adelaide.

The interview comprised the usual hand-ringing, “who can we blame” game that seems to follow any such event in Australia these days. The presenter fell back on the old clichd question, “Is a tree more valuable than a human life” – in other words why don’t we just get rid of all the trees?

Now while there is the odd distressing fatality associated with tree falling branches, it could hardly be considered to be something reaching epidemic proportions.

How could this possibly tie in with the rail industry?

My own thoughts immediately went to the national road toll which accounts for around 1450 deaths and over 30,000 serious injuries on our roads each year, costing an estimated $35bn annually.

Imagine the reception I would have got had I rung up the ABC and suggesting that we should all immediately stop driving, based on the premise “Is your journey to work more valuable than a human life.”

Of course I wouldn’t dare to suggest such a thing, but it highlights the blithe acceptance of the current epidemic on our roads.

In the lead up to the federal election, the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) issued a number of press releases highlighting this unacceptable cost attributable to the national road toll, partially linking it to a lack of coordinated public transport research and planning in Australia.

The ARA has published a new study The Cost of Road Crashes that highlights the cost of road collisions in Australia. It analyses the cost of road accidents using the most recent methods and statistical values, correcting inconsistent methods used by Australian policy makers.

“This is a very important study as it outlines the true cost of road accidents using internationally recognised methods, something that has not been done in Australia to date,” ARA chief executive Brian Nye said.

“I am concerned that the National Transport Commission (NTC) and other Government agencies are making decisions on Australia’s future transport networks without taking into account the costs it will impose on people’s safety, the liveability of our local communities and the state of our environment.”

Following on from the release of the report a joint letter was issued by the ARA, Bus Industry Confederation (BIC), Cycling Promotion Fund (CPF) and International Association of Public Transport (UITP), urging all political parties committing to a Productivity Commission investigation on the costs of urban congestion, road accidents, environmental degradation, climate change and energy security associated with Australia’s transport use.

Nye said the heavy congestion and lack of public infrastructure in Sydney’s west, is a prime example of the current shortsightedness.

“To date, transport decisions have been shaped by shortterm budgetary concerns and adhoc planning with little regard to putting in place a reliable, safe and sustainable transport system for Australia’s future,” he said.

“Public transport offers the best opportunities to address some of the major issues facing society. Changing peoples’ travel habits to forms other than the private vehicles can significantly improve Australia s quality of life,” UITP transport executive director Peter Moore said.

“Public transport needs expanded capacity and we need incentives to take public transport towards enhanced infrastructure and quality, cost effective, high performance systems.”

Three of the groups, ARA, BIC and UITP have called for the incoming Federal Government to take a national leadership role saying that public transport is a national issue and the attitude that it is a stateonly issue is outdated

“The incoming Government needs to expand their thinking beyond improving road infrastructure and focus on mass transit modes such as rail and buses. Road congestion is costing Australia up to $15 billion per year and by 2020, this cost will double,” Nye said.

To improve Australia’s public transport system, the report Moving People – Solutions for a Growing Australia recommends that the Federal Government set a national policy framework that aligns with the nation’s long term outcomes such as congestion management, environmental improvement and better health and safety.

The report also recommends that the Federal Government provide strategic funding to jurisdictions for projects that would result in transformational change of transport systems.

Given Julia Gilliard has just been announced as Australia's Prime Minister, these ideas will no doubt sit well with the new ‘alliance’ between The Greens and The Labor Party. It will be interesting to see how far these ideas are progressed.

To download The Cost of Road Crashes report, visit
http://www.ara.net.au/UserFiles/file/Publications/TheCostofRoadCrashesReport.pdf

To view the Moving PeopleSolutions for a Growing Australia report, visit:
http://www.ara.net.au/site/urban_mobility.php