Transport Australia launches with "a focus on safety, sustainability and the end user"

Transport Australia, the new peak industry body — formerly Roads Australia — has launched. Citing new research showing Australians spend around five billion hours travelling across the network each year, at an estimated value of $100 billion, the peak industry body used its launch to call for a ‘step-change’ in how Australia plans, funds and manages its transport system.

The organisation had been established to provide a stronger system voice for an integrated transport network spanning roads, rail, freight, active transport, ports and airports, its CEO Ehssan Veiszadeh said. “Transport Australia exists to champion an integrated and sustainable transport system because transport is the connector of communities and a fundamental enabler of national prosperity,” Veiszadeh said.

“Australians are investing five billion hours a year in getting where they need to go. That time matters for productivity, for family life and for the cost of living,” Veiszadeh added. “Our role is to connect government and industry around better system outcomes, with a focus on safety, sustainability and the end user, now and into the future.”

Transport Australia launch. Image: Supplied

‘Valuing Australia’s Transport Network’, Transport Australia’s inaugural research report, shows transport directly contributes around $189 billion to the economy each year. This is equivalent to 9% of GDP and, Transport Australia said, underpins almost every part of Australia’s $2.1 trillion economy.

The report finds the transport network is under growing pressure, with heavier freight demand, electrification, more extreme weather and population growth increasing strain on the system and raising the cost of underinvestment, Transport Australia said. Veiszadeh also said that the opportunity for governments was to shift the debate from isolated projects to whole-of-network performance that improves reliability, productivity and liveability.

“The opportunity is to give Australians time back by making the existing network work better through maintenance, smarter operations, better integration between modes, and targeted upgrades that lift reliability and capacity,” Veiszadeh said.

“The biggest gains will come when we stop thinking in silos. You cannot solve housing, productivity and cost-of-living pressures separately from transport,” Veiszadeh added. “When transport is planned as an integrated system, the benefits flow across the economy and into everyday life.”

Raelee Meyers, Managing Director at consultancy group Scyne, which collaborated on the research, said: “It is time to shift the dialogue from the cost of transport towards the value the network delivers: in our daily lives, in connecting communities, and in supporting national resilience and the economy. With a clearer understanding of true value, we can properly plan for and invest in its future.”

Transport Australia said that over the next 12 months it will lead a national dialogue with governments, industry and experts on how Australia defines, measures and communicates the full value delivered by the transport network.

You can read the Valuing Australia’s Transport Network report at transportaustralia.org.au/news/valuing-australias-transport-network.

Top image: Transport Australia launch. Image: Supplied