MOTORISTS should be slugged a congestion tax to reduce the costs of traffic jams, consumer watchdog Rod Sims says.
The chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
said charging people to drive on some roads at certain times was
"contentious", but could fund badly needed public transport upgrades."Some combination of appropriate congestion charging on roads, careful use of the revenue raised, and increased efficiency is needed to address Australia's growing urban transport problems," Mr Sims said yesterday.
During a speech at the John Curtin Institute of Public Policy in Western Australia, Mr Sims called for governments to seriously consider the issue.
"The losses incurred on public transport are now so large that some state treasuries are resistant to expanding the public transport network," he said.
"Not only would congestion charging smooth out the peaks of road
use, it could also help us address the issue of how we pay for urban
transport infrastructure in the future."
He said traffic gridlock was a growing problem.
Australian Automobile Association executive director Andrew McKellar said the transport funding model was "broken" but congestion charges were not a silver bullet.
"We are a long way from seeing congestion charges as an acceptable funding mechanism in the short-term, it's not on the agenda," he said.
But he said Australian motorists were not getting bang for their tax bucks and that "in the long term some form of road pricing has to be part of the equation looked at".
Mr Sims's call comes after Australia's largest toll road operator said motorists would pay on more roads if they could see the benefits.
New Transurban chief Scott Charlton last week said that time-of-day pricing and tolled "fast" lanes could ease traffic snarls.
The Baillieu Government has ruled out congestion charges.
heraldsun.com.au 14 Sep 2012
Governments deliberately fail to provide enough resources to cater for population growth.
The official Labour government policy is to rid the herd of private transport, as it is too easy for them to communicate.
The execution of such a policy can be seen in the verbose comments and policies implemented by governments of the day.
He said traffic gridlock was a growing problem.
Australian Automobile Association executive director Andrew McKellar said the transport funding model was "broken" but congestion charges were not a silver bullet.
"We are a long way from seeing congestion charges as an acceptable funding mechanism in the short-term, it's not on the agenda," he said.
But he said Australian motorists were not getting bang for their tax bucks and that "in the long term some form of road pricing has to be part of the equation looked at".
Mr Sims's call comes after Australia's largest toll road operator said motorists would pay on more roads if they could see the benefits.
New Transurban chief Scott Charlton last week said that time-of-day pricing and tolled "fast" lanes could ease traffic snarls.
The Baillieu Government has ruled out congestion charges.
heraldsun.com.au 14 Sep 2012
Governments deliberately fail to provide enough resources to cater for population growth.
The official Labour government policy is to rid the herd of private transport, as it is too easy for them to communicate.
The execution of such a policy can be seen in the verbose comments and policies implemented by governments of the day.
The public are punished for breeding, and consuming, the very essence of a capitalistic society.
A communistic (evil?) regeme.
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