Back in the day, we used to joke that payment of the Harbour Bridge toll only applied on southbound lanes for good reason. I mean, who’d pay to travel north? One of the recommendations from a new report into tolling is to change that, stat. But one small step to fixing traffic flow, cost and transport equity means there is still a long way to go.

An interim independent review, led by former competition regulator Allan Fels, says we need toll reform instead of relief, more likely to be claimed by drivers from middle and high-income households.

Professor Allan Fels has laid out plans for a major shake-up of Sydney’s patchwork of toll roads.Credit: Kate Geraghty

Take risks. Use our imaginations. Recognise tolls are fares for people for whom public transport is not an option. Make all fares fair.

So! Let’s nationalise toll megalith Transurban. Sure, we don’t usually seize private assets in this country, but we could make an exception, couldn’t we? Sure, it would cost us a fortune, but we’re already paying through the nose. No company should profit from citizen hardship. We aren’t using toll roads as some kind of discretionary snack. We use them to get to where we need to go. Tolls should be entirely public for the public good and not for private profit. Public good should be in public hands.

Sydney University political economist Gareth Bryant cautiously embraces my suggestion. As he points out, Transurban owns most of the toll roads around the country. It’s virtually a monopoly.

“But toll roads are a public good which should be managed by governments. There are good reasons for bringing infrastructure under government control,” says Bryant.

State governments love public/private partnerships to access capital. It doesn’t end well for their citizens, though. As Bryant describes it, we end up with irrational and ad hoc decisions impacting road users unequally. The “fiscal magic” of these partnerships ends up harming us all.

Tolls were increased for southbound traffic on the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the late 1980s to pay for the Sydney Harbour Tunnel. Credit: Quentin Jones

NSW government, take the Opal card route! Stop charging after we hit a certain weekly amount. The cost per kilometre should be the same whether you live in the leafy north or the intensely urban west. Maybe we could think about the same cap for everyone, public transport user and road user alike.

QOSHE - This Transurban myth is taking its toll on Sydney, so let’s bust it - Jenna Price
menu_open
Columnists Actual . Favourites . Archive
We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close
Aa Aa Aa
- A +

This Transurban myth is taking its toll on Sydney, so let’s bust it

7 1
12.03.2024

Back in the day, we used to joke that payment of the Harbour Bridge toll only applied on southbound lanes for good reason. I mean, who’d pay to travel north? One of the recommendations from a new report into tolling is to change that, stat. But one small step to fixing traffic flow, cost and transport equity means there is still a long way to go.

An interim independent review, led by former competition regulator Allan Fels, says we need toll reform instead of relief, more likely to be claimed by drivers from middle and high-income households.

Professor Allan Fels has laid out........

© The Sydney Morning Herald


Get it on Google Play