NSW Transport
Infrastructure Summit
August 2013 Sydney’s Congestion Dilemma
Stifling Economic Growth
The Hon. Patricia Forsythe
Executive Director
Slower than a penguin Source: Daily Telegraph, December 2011
Sydney Factors
• Sydney is a top 26 city by economic output
• Congestion is not confined to road network
• 112 trains arrive at Town Hall and Wynyard in the am peak
• More than 1000 buses in the CBD in busiest peak hour, many finish journeys almost empty
• Dispersed economic activity, combined with a CBD focussed radial public transport system
Constraints
• Multiple water crossings
• 20 trains per hour Harbour Bridge limit
• Rail freight time limitations
• Lack of policy on freight and commercial vehicle priority for road space or parking
• Lack of route preservation
Setting the Scene: The Cost of
Congestion • The cost of congestion in Australia in terms of productivity loss is $14 billion, and
will be $21 billion by 2020 (BITRE 2007)
• Cost of traffic congestion in Australia 2.6% of GDP, OECD average 2%. (Professor Graham Currie, Monash University)
• $1100 pp
• The cost of congestion to Sydney alone will be $8 billion by 2020 (Media release Minister Berejiklian, May 2012)
• One in four businesses with car fleets reported that the cost of running a fleet car in Sydney went up by more than $5,000 in 2011. (NRMA BusinessWise Survey 2011)
• 80% of businesses say congestion has worsened in the past 12 months. (City of Sydney)
Breakdown of Costs
Source: Infrastructure Partnerships of Australia
The Task Ahead: The Impact of
Growth
The number of trips made by freight vehicles on an average weekday in the Sydney metropolitan area is expected to grow by 47% from 1.5 million to 2.2 million in 2036, faster than the rate of population growth, with heavy vehicles growing by 2.2%. Source: PwC Research on the F3/M7
Why Action Matters
• Sydney is Australia’s congestion capital, with avoidable social costs of 8 cents per vehicle-kilometre in 2005 and estimated to be 13 cents per kilometre by 2020. Source: City of Sydney Technical Report, Connecting our City
• The Australian Logistics Council estimates that every 1% increase in freight efficiency saves the economy $1.5 billion nationally. (2011)
Why Action Matters
The ‘school holiday’ effect: reductions in traffic volumes of 5-10% result in proportionately much greater reduction in travel times on normally congested routes. The NRMA rule-of-thumb, when traffic congestion is reduced by 5% traffic speeds increase by 50%. Source: Decongestion-10 Ways to Relieve Sydney’s Traffic Headache. NRMA May 2011 p25.
Why Action Matters: A competitive
City • Sydney 7th most liveable city 2012 (Melbourne No 1)
Source: Economist Intelligence Unit
• Sydney 10th Source: Mercer’s Quality of Living 2012, 2013 Survey
• Sydney 9th most liveable city 2013 (Melbourne No 2) Source: Monocle Magazine
• PwC Cities of Opportunity 2011: Sydney finished ahead of Los Angeles, Johannesburg and Sao Paulo in area of transport.
A Case Study: Green Square
• 40,000 residents
• 22,000 jobs
• A ‘business-as-usual approach’ will see 38% increase in am peak vehicle movements and 80,000 vehicles per day
• 121 buses operate through Green Square in am peak on 17 routes (many are full on arrival)
• Much of the residential development will occur outside of walking distance to the train station
Source: cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
Source: cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
The Case for WestConnex
• An additional 40.3 million passengers at Sydney Airport by 2035
• Trade at Port Botany grew at 7%p.a. for last 15 years
• 3.1 million trips (all modes) per day by 2031
• Benefit to cost ratio estimate of 1.5 (INSW)
• Parramatta to Sydney Airport 35 minute saving
International Success Stories
Singapore • Introduction of congestion charging improved peak hour traffic speeds
from 30kmph to 45kmph • 5 years after introduction, drivers being charged approved of the system Sweden • Stockholm’s cordon and congestion charging has been successful in
changing behaviour, reducing urban congestion. Successful implementation of such charges requires a well functioning mass transit system. In Sweden, revenues raised from the charges have gone to improving urban public transport networks.
• The continuation of congestion charging was put to a referendum in 2006 and was overwhelmingly endorsed by the residents of Stockholm
A strategy
It is extremely important to note that congestion pricing is an essential element of an economically efficient anti-congestion package for Sydney, but it is not sufficient. It must be complemented by an increase in road capacity, particularly debottlenecking and by-pass investments - and increase in public transport capacity. Source: Pricing Congestion in Sydney. INSW 2012 SMART Infrastructure University of Wollongong and ACIL Tasman
