Infrastructure and Transport PPPs and Privatisation in Australia
This information sheet provides a list of infrastructure and transport-related Public Private Partnerships and privatisations in Australia since 1980. To the Bureau of Infrastructure Transport and Regional Economics' (BITRE) knowledge, this is the most comprehensive list on the subject to date.
One hundred and ninety seven economic infrastructure assets have been privatised or procured through PPPs since 1980. Several privatisations were undertaken in multiple stages, including, for example, the privatisations of Telstra and Qantas. Including all these stages takes the total list to 207 entries. The list excludes assets sold solely to state-owned enterprises, and non-sewage waste management services.
- Infrastructure and Transport PPPs and Privatisation in Australia
Freight Rates in Australia
This Information Sheet presents an estimate of interstate freight rates for road, rail, sea and air modes back to 1965. Models of the first three modes are also presented, allowing an understanding of the determinants of the level and movement of freight rates in Australia.
The estimates and models presented show that following rapid declines in real freight rates during 1975 to 1985 for road and 1985 to 1995 for rail and sea, the trend has since been basically sideways–higher or lower due to trends in technology, fuel prices and the economy.
- Freight Rates in Australia
Costs and benefits of emerging road transport technologies
Road transport technologies are evolving rapidly. Recent years have seen the expansion of intelligent transport systems (ITS), such as ramp metering and signal coordination, and low-level vehicle automation. In coming years, communication platforms will connect vehicles, thereby enabling Cooperative-ITS (C-ITS) technologies, such as collision avoidance systems. Car manufacturers and technology companies are actively developing fully automated vehicles. This report summarises estimates of the costs and benefits of ITS, C-ITS and automated vehicles from the existing Australian and international literature. It also provides policy makers with guidance on what further research would improve understanding of the implications of these technologies under Australian conditions.
- Costs and benefits of emerging road transport technologies
Urban Passenger fares
This Information Sheet presents estimates of urban passenger fares in major Australian cities from 1952-53 to 2015-16. A taxi fare index is available separately from 1996-97 to 2015-16. The general trend has been for rising real urban passenger fares, except during the period 1973-74 to 1979-80, when real fares fell as nominal fare levels failed to keep up with higher inflation rates. Rises in both real urban passenger fares and real taxi fares slowed after 2000-01.
- Urban Passenger fares
Trainline is a compendium of Australia's railways. The compendium provides insights, analysis, and an understanding of the railway industry. Australia's railways are evolving, with changes both outside and within the industry. These changes include logistics, commodity flows, technology, urban patronage, and regional passenger services. The publication presents an overview and data on railway transport tasks performed; characteristics of the railways and train operators' rolling stock that runs; and aspects of railway performance, including safety, environment and reliability.
- TrainLine 4
Infrastructure benchmarking report
Australian, State and Territory Governments are committed to improving the infrastructure that is critical to efficient, productive and equitable operations of our economy. Achieving this objective requires efficient procurement processes and careful examination of costs to ensure value for money in infrastructure investments. Governments have cooperated to conclude the first national pilot benchmarking of infrastructure procurement processes and construction costs (as recommended by the 2014 Productivity Commission Inquiry into Public Infrastructure and agreed by the Council on 28 August 2014). This report covers the findings of the initial benchmarking and outlines plans for continued and improved future monitoring of infrastructure procurement performance and construction costs.
The analysis was undertaken by the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) for the Infrastructure Working Group of the Transport and Infrastructure Council. The report is also available on the Transport and Infrastructure Council website.
- Infrastructure Benchmarking Report
Trainline 3 is a collaborative compendium between the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) and BITRE, providing insights, analysis, and an understanding of the Australian freight and passenger railway industry.
Australia's railways are evolving due to factors outside and within the industry. These factors include changes in bulk and non-bulk logistics, commodity flows, technology, urban rail patronage, and regional passenger services. The publication presents an overview and data illustrating these changes in terms of rail tasks performed; characteristics of the railways networks; train operators' rolling stock; and aspects of railway performance, including safety, environment and reliability.
- Trainline 3
BITRE road construction and maintenance price index—2015 update
This Information Sheet presents the quarterly road construction and maintenance price index for the year 2014–15. Additionally, it presents sub-indexes by activity type for road construction and road maintenance, and by road type for arterial, sealed local and unsealed local roads.
- BITRE road construction and maintenance price index–2015 update
Transport infrastructure and land value uplift
Users of the transport network are not its only beneficiaries. Land owners can also gain as increased value flows along the network are capitalised into land. Value uplift financing attempts to capture a portion of this by levying the landholders in the catchment areas of new infrastructure. The main problem with this system is that is very difficult to localise benefits in a network. This has led some to propose a broad based land tax instead.
- Transport infrastructure and land value uplift
Developing productivity elasticities for estimating WEBs in Australia—Scoping Study
Estimates of Wider Economic Benefits (WEBs) are increasingly featuring in cost-benefit analyses (CBAs) of major urban transport infrastructure projects. Governments are particularly interested in WEBs because they relate to productivity. The parameters used to estimate WEBs in Australia to date have been estimated using methodologies that are inconsistent and not in line with international best-practice. Thus the reliability and comparability of WEBs estimates in Australian CBAs is questionable. The report proposes a way to develop a robust set of parameters for practitioners to use when estimating WEBs.
The report was commissioned by BITRE on behalf of Steering Committee oversighting the Review of the National Guidelines for Transport System Management. If a robust set of parameters can be developed, it will be published in the Guidelines. BITRE engaged consultants KPMG to undertake the task.
- Developing productivity elasticities for estimating WEBs in Australia–Scoping Study