Building a Five-Star Future for Australian Roads

Mr Alan EvansPresident

Australian Automobile Association

BTRE Transport Colloquium14 June 2007

Building a Five-Star Future for Australian Roads

• The Role of AAA and Motoring Clubs• The Australian Road Assessment Program (AusRAP)• The North-South Corridor• NRMA Pacific Highway Audit• The Human & Economic Cost of Road Safety• The Solution• What is Needed• The National Road Safety Strategy

The Australian Road Assessment Program(AusRAP)

• Safer Systems – Safer Drivers in Safer Cars on Safer Roads

• AusRAP - Star Rating Australia’s Roads for Safety• Two protocols – Risk Mapping/Star Ratings• 51% of National AusLink Network Rated 3 Stars• 3 Stars is Unacceptable for a National Highway• Corridor is less than 3% of Australia’s Road Network• Carries 15% of Nation’s Road Traffic• Accounts for 14% of Road Deaths in Australia (2000-04)

The North-South Corridor

• North-South Corridor Vital to Australian Economy• 40% of all road freight movements use Hume Highway• Heavily Trafficked Rail Freight Network• Syd-Melb Freight Traffic up 70% over next 20 years• Both Rail and Road Freight growing around 2.6%pa• 5-6,000 truck movements daily along the Hume by 2025• Syd-Melb Rail Transit Times 13hrs – 10hrs for road• 2006 Budget - $800m to Hume Upgrades• Melbourne-Albury Link Rated 4 Stars• Pacific Highway the Focus for Current and Future Efforts

NRMA Audit of Pacific Highway

• Over past 16 years, infrastructure has gone backwards• 680km Hexham to Qld – 442km still to be upgraded• 120 fatalities over past 3 years, 1,722 casualties• B-Doubles up 400% on some sections of Pacific• Trucks switching from New England to Pacific Highway

The Human and Economic Cost

• National Net Road Stock 10% of GDP – 22% in 1960(CEDA Infrastructure Report – 2005)

• Road Investment Provides a 5:1 Benefit Cost Ratio(CEDA Infrastructure Report – 2005)

• Urban Road Congestion to cost $29.7 billion by 2015(AusLink 2004)

• Road Crashes and Trauma Costs $17 billion a year(Australian Centre for Economic Research on Health – 2006)

The SolutionThe Good• Yelgun to Chinderah Freeway Bypass

• Woodend Bypass in Victoria

• Albury-Wodonga Bypass

To Do• McLean to Yelgun

• Nabiac to Taree

• Nagambie to Shepparton Bypass

• Upgraded Hume/Pacific Highways

• Duplication of M2 to F3 link in Sydney

• Upgrade New England Highway

• Western Brisbane Bypass

• Upgrades to Pacific Motorway

The National Road Safety Strategy

• NRSS aim of 40% fatality rate reduction off target

• NRSS target – 1999 9.3 deaths per 100k to 5.6 by 2010

• 2007 road fatality rate 7.8 way off target

• Higher than January 2005 rate of 7.6 deaths per 100k

• Need to bring that figure down

THANK YOU

Building a Five-Star Future for Australian Roads

Mr Alan EvansPresident

Australian Automobile Association

BTRE Transport Colloquium14 June 2007