Australian positions on road pricing are polar between east and west

New South Wales:  "Let's look into it"

On the one hand, in Sydney, New South Wales, on the east coast, Roads Minister Duncan Gay has said, according to the Australian, that one of the options being looked at by the government is the introduction of distance based tolling.

State agency Infrastructure NSW is investigating a range of options to secure revenue sources for future land transport projects. Congestion charging has specifically been ruled out by the Minister.

 However, it remains distinctly unclear about what is meant by all of this. Distance based tolls could simply be a conversion of existing tolling (which is extensive across most of Sydney’s major highways) into a pricing framework that reflect distance between charging points and with more charging points. This is hardly revolutionary. The alternative is to consider distance based charging across the state, this could apply to just heavy vehicles or all vehicles, but this would need to involve some form of certified on board distance measurement. 

At its most basic level it could parallel the electronic Road User Charges system in New Zealand, with variations based on weight.

However, the greatest opportunities for productivity gains would come by having variations based on location (to reflect some differentiations in infrastructure costs) and of course, congestion. If all vehicles in New South Wales had a distance based charging unit on board, which could vary by time and location, why not charge motorists in Sydney at peak times more on the busiest routes? 

Given that economic analysis on the merits of road pricing compared to motor vehicle ownership taxes in New South Wales is light years ahead of that in other countries, I have some modest hope that there might be some progress here.

Western Australia:  "How dare anyone even suggest it"

However, don't suggest anything of the sort to the Lord Mayor of Perth, Lisa Scaffidi.  She was downright rude about economists from outside the city "from the east" suggesting the idea of congestion pricing for Perth.  A report on Yahoo from the West Australian said:

Yesterday, Ms Scaffidi criticised CEDA economists responsible for the paper, arguing they had an "out-of-town" perspective and "little understanding" of Perth's traffic issues. "I am actually quite shocked. This kind of commentary shows no thinking and I feel they have tanked with this one," she said.. "Perth no longer needs wise men from the east suggesting they know what is best for our city.

Yes, because Perth, WA, has a very different economy, different society from other parts of the world.  The laws of economics do not apply.  Applying the price principle to road use "shows no thinking".

Nothing quite playing the parochial almost xenophobic "you don't understand us, we're different" card rather than having a single constructive argument to rebut road pricing.   Particularly ironic when the chief economist of the firm that conducted the study spent five years of his life living in the city.   Of course Perth itself is far closer to the birthplace of modern urban road pricing - Singapore - than Sydney is.

Congestion charging recommended for Perth, rejected by politicians

The West Australian reports that Committee for Economic Development of Australia Chief Economist Nathan Taylor has proposed that Perth introduce congestion charging because the city’s congestion is only at peak times, meaning road improvements to address congestion are underutilised the rest of the day. 

The Committee produced a report indicating that by 2020, congestion will cost the city A$2.1 billion a year. 

 However, the idea has been rejected by the Transport Minister Troy Buswell (Liberal Party), who says the state is widening freeways and expanding bus services, bus and cycle lanes. The Shadow Transport Minister, Ken Travers (Labor Party) also rejected the idea. 

 Clearly in the boom times Western Australia is experiencing, spending money on new infrastructure is far preferred to getting better utilisation out of what is already there. I suspect congestion pricing of some form is far more likely to be seen in Sydney and Melbourne before it is followed in Perth.

A key issue would be what sort of scheme Perth could take that would be effective.  

A central city cordon is easy to conceive of, but would create a very artificial boundary to the north and west of the CBD if it simply followed the freeways that encircle the area.

Perth congestion charge single cordon option

Yet I doubt that would achieve very much, because as a proportion of metropolitan Perth, which has a population of over 1.7 million people, it is small, and much employment and travel is not about trips to and from the centre.   

Perth's commuter catchment area is on a long strip along the coast

There aren't enough freeways to consider tolling them, so the most optimal solution is likely to be a time, place, distance based charge, which would involve vehicles paying by usage on all roads.  In the absence of the state pursuing this as an option to replace other taxes, it is highly unlikely that this idea will get any traction.   However, given the discussions underway in New South Wales of that idea, especially for trucks, could there be some value in Western Australia looking to replace some existing taxes used to pay for roads with a distance based option?

News briefs: Australia and Sweden

Toll evasion in Queensland: Brisbane’s Courier Mail reports that the Queensland Government is owed A$7 million (US$7.3 million) in unpaid tolls from around 58,000 toll evaders using toll roads owned by state owned tollway company – Queensland Motorways. “State Penalties Enforcement Registry has finalised 6368 toll debts totalling $891,000 but it is still trying to recover almost $7.25 million from 52,000 others.” The problem arises from motorists using free flow lanes on the toll roads, which results in them getting four notices to pay before the debt is referred to the State Penalties Enforcement Registry.

Professor pushes first toll road for Western Australia: According to WA Today, Professor Peter Newman, well known in “new urbanism” circles, is pushing for a new expressway planned between Perth and its airport to be the city’s first toll road. He says that Australian capital cities would inevitably have to introduce a sophisticated pricing mechanism such as the system used in Singapore for the past 15 years, which measures the level of congestion on a road and charges accordingly. He’s an advocate for road pricing to subsidise public transport, but it is notable how Perth is currently Australia’s fastest growing city, but the largest city with no toll roads (unlike Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane).

Q-Free wins Gothenburg congestion charging contract: CisionWire notes that Norwegian toll supplier, Q Free has won the contract to supply roadside equipment for the Gothenburg, Sweden, congestion charge scheme, it has been subject to a complaint by a competitor that as of writing, appears to yet to be finalised.