BTRE's ex-post road investments evaluation project involves systematically reviewing after the fact the projected costs and benefits of major investments. The project complements the recent implementation by jurisdictions of the ATC-endorsed National Guidelines for Transport System Management in Australia. In particular, the project is intended to benefit both future project appraisal and future ex-post evaluation under AusLink and more generally. This analysis was one of the case studies undertaken for the BTRE ex-post road investments evaluation project. The case study provided an example of how to undertake an evaluation of a bypass project involving an improved treatment of delay effects at intersections using the Main Roads Western Australia's WARES evaluation software.

• Ex-post economic evaluation of National Highway projects, Case Study 2: Northam Bypass
  
  wp_070-2.pdf
  (666.92 KB)

Paper given to the 30th Australasian Transport Research Forum, 25–27 September 2007, Langham Hotel, Melbourne. Authors: Tim Risbey, Hema de Silva, Alicia Tong.

• Road Crash Cost Estimation: A Proposal Incorporating a Decade of Conceptual and Empirical Developments
  
  sp_001_Road_Crash_Cost.pdf
  (980.91 KB)

The first in a new series of BITRE publications, this briefing reviews the responses that have been seen in Australian transport to recent fuel price rises (vehicle sales moving to smaller, more fuel efficient cars, more urban public transport, etc). The responsiveness of the various transport sectors is reviewed, as is the responsiveness of Australia relative to the United States.

• How do fuel use and emissions respond to price changes?
  
  other_006_bitre_briefing.pdf
  (300.88 KB)

This report reviews the case for congestion charging and provides a policy framework for assessing charging systems. At this time, congestion charging schemes are still in their infancy and evolving in concert with changing policy priorities and system technologies. While individual circumstances determine when and where congestion charging is in the interest of the wider community, some important general lessons can be drawn.

Update August 2009

Responses to the discussion of personalised promotion of alternatives to solo driving (pages 26–7), as one of the existing strategies to manage congestion, have drawn our attention, firstly, to some larger-scale current initiatives of Australian jurisdictions and, secondly, to more recent literature on the effectiveness of the travel behaviour change approach in relation to its various objectives, particularly reducing motorised trips and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

For information on existing activities in two states, see About Travelsmart and Travelsmart General Information. On the effectiveness and impact of the travel behaviour approach, as implemented in Australia and the United Kingdom, see in particular: Australian Greenhouse Office, Evaluation of TravelSmart Projects in the ACT, South Australia, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia 2001–2005, Department of Environment and Heritage 2006; Brog W. And Ker I., Myths, (Mis)perceptions and reality in measuring voluntary behaviour change, 8th International Conference on Survey Methods in Transport, Annecy, France, May 2008; Department for Transport (United Kingdom), Making Personal Travel Planning Work: Research Report, Integrated Transport Planning Ltd, December 2007; Department for Transport (United Kingdom), Impact assessment of the carbon reduction strategy for transport, July 2009; and Stopher P., Clifford E., Halling B., Evaluating a voluntary travel behaviour change by means of a 3-year GPS panel, Proceedings of the TDM2008 Conference, Vienna, Austria (forthcoming).

• Moving urban Australia: can congestion charging unclog our roads?
  
  wp_074.pdf
  (1.79 MB)

This report was prepared by BITRE and CSIRO, in discussion with Treasury, to provide additional information on the road transport sector modelling carried out jointly by the two agencies in support of Treasury's broader modelling of the introduction of emissions trading in Australia.

• Modelling the Road Transport Sector

• Australia's Low Pollution Future: The Economics of Climate Change Mitigation

In April 2007, COAG considered the Urban Congestion Review it had commissioned in February 2006, and tasked the Australian Transport Council (ATC) with establishing arrangements to improve urban congestion data, modelling and performance information for decision-making. The following document, 'Improving Urban Congestion Information for Decision-Making', is a progress report to COAG of mid-2008. At its 7 November 2008 meeting, ATC noted further progress with implementing agreed approaches, including establishing a National Transport Modelling Working Group, progressing improved consistency between road-based and public transport congestion indicators, a survey of business sector travel, and analyses of specific congestion initiatives.

• Improving urban congestion information for decision making: report to COAG from the Australian Transport Council
  
  other_007_urban_congestion.pdf
  (938.3 KB)

This report provides long-term passenger and freight vehicle traffic projections for intercity corridors of the National Land Transport Network (NLTN) between 2005 and 2030.

• National road network intercity traffic projections to 2030
  
  wp_075.pdf
  (10.2 MB)

This document presents a number of case studies by Australian jurisdictions on interventions they have undertaken to alleviate urban congestion pressures across their transport systems. Good congestion interventions can lead to significant improvements in congestion management and economic, environmental and social savings.

• Urban Congestion Working Group: Australian Capital City Congestion Management Case Studies
  
  other_004_UC_Compilation_of_Case_Studies.pdf
  (380.6 KB)

Up until the early 1960s, railways dominated all but the shortest land-based freight task. Since then, vast improvements in road vehicle productivity and road infrastructure quality, the gradual removal of regulations restricting road freight carriage and the exponential growth in interstate trade has broadened the range of freight tasks for which road is better suited than rail.

• Road and rail freight: competitors or complements?
  
  is_034.pdf
  (1003.02 KB)

BITRE has examined trends in the fuel consumption of new passenger vehicles sold in Australia. Up to 2001, technological advances in engine technology, which improved fuel efficiency, were offset by increases in power, weight and the popularity of 4WD vehicles. Since 2001 the overall trend in fuel consumption has continued to decrease with average new light vehicle fuel consumption down 8.4 per cent to 8.14 litres per 100 kilometres (L/100 km).

• Fuel Consumption by New Passenger Vehicles in Australia 1979-2008
  
  is_030.pdf
  (489.44 KB)