Policy instruments evaluated in this working paper are the accelerated implementation of fuel efficiency technology for new cars, the accelerated scrappage of highly polluting vehicles, tighter emission standards for new cars, and mandatory regular tuning of vehicles. Analysis of such policy options relies on the CARMOD model of the dynamics of the Australian car fleet.

• Costs of Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Australian Cars: an Application of the BTCE CARMOD Model
  
  wp_024.pdf
  (10.87 MB)

This Working Paper forms part of a research project investigating into certain issues concerned with measuring the benefits of investment in transport infrastructure. The focus of the project is on possible benefits from increased employment; and benefits often claimed to be significant but understated by benefit-cost analyses, especially; cost savings from business logistic responses to improvements in infrastructure (for example, substitution of transport for inventory); rural regional development benefits; and the indirect benefits that an item of transport infrastructure provides to non-users of that infrastructure.

• Econometric Evidence on the Benefits of Infrastructure Investment: an Australian Perspective
  
  wp_025.pdf
  (3.03 MB)

This report examines the state of General Aviation (GA) flying in Australia. It is primarily based on a Bureau of Transport and Communications Economics survey of GA undertaken in 1994, which provided a snapshot of the industry for financial year 1992–93. Key areas examined include: the composition of the GA flying industry; flying activity; industry conduct; financial structure and performance; and industry views and perceptions.

• General Aviation Flying in Australia
  
  report_095.pdf
  (16.21 MB)

The value of transport safety is an important input to decisions on policies and investments with safety implications and for measuring the burden of transport accidents to the community. There are a number of approaches which may be used in valuing transport safety. The purpose of this Working Paper is to provide an appraisal of the approaches available and issues involved in valuing transport safety along with a survey of international developments.

• Valuing Transport Safety in Australia
  
  wp_026.pdf
  (5.43 MB)

This paper has been produced to inform debate on an issue of emerging significance to the Australian aviation community. That is, how best to manage congestion at airports.

• Techniques for Managing Airport Runway Congestion
  
  wp_027.pdf
  (3.46 MB)

The Bureau of Transport and Communications Economics (BTCE) is examining a number of issues in measuring the benefits of transport infrastructure investment. The issue examined in this paper is how to estimate the employment effects of road construction activity. Other papers from the same project have examined regional development effects, and certain tools for evaluating benefits.

• Employment Effects of Road Construction
  
  wp_029.pdf
  (4.18 MB)

Previous BTCE work (Report 94) has established that reductions in pavement roughness reduce fuel consumption, greenhouse gas emissions (end-use only) and vehicle operating costs. This Paper evaluates the effects on greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle operating costs of reducing the roughness of the National Highway System and the Pacific Highway over the period 1996–2015. The analysis takes account of the emissions involved in the production, transport and application of road rehabilitation materials. Some results of case studies of recently completed highway rehabilitation projects are included in the Paper.

• Roads, Vehicle Performance and Greenhouse: Costs and Emission Benefits of Smoother Highways
  
  wp_032.pdf
  (13.58 MB)

What role should the private sector play in road provision? Private contractors already perform a fair amount of the design, construction and maintenance of Australia's publicly owned roads. The evidence reviewed in this paper indicates benefits from further contracting out of road work to the private sector. In many cases, contracting out of road maintenance has reduced costs by 15 per cent or more. The evidence is less conclusive on the benefits of private investment in roads. Whether private toll roads are more efficient than other arrangements for road provision needs to be carefully examined case by case. Public ownership could be a better option than private ownership for some toll roads.

• Benefits of Private Sector Involvement In Road Provision: A Look at the Evidence
  
  wp_033.pdf
  (121.59 KB)

Indicators currently published by Australian railways do not measure service standards from the viewpoint of customers, but rather are based on statistics compiled by management for other purposes.

• Quality of Rail Freight Service: The Customer's Perspective
  
  report_096.pdf
  (6.46 MB)

Public debate on whether the road or the rail sector is relatively more disadvantaged in terms of competition tends naturally to be driven by the specific interests of the protagonists. The focus of the debate reflects changing issues as new, alleged discrepancies are discovered. It has therefore ranged from taxes paid, the extent of charges levied, and the degree of direct or indirect financial assistance provided by governments, and the fairness of increasing mass limits for heavy road vehicles. It is thus not surprising that the debate continues, and that it is not particularly fruitful or illuminating. The BTCE has adopted a different approach. Given the intensity of the debate and the fact that it has continued for so long, it was surprising that little or no systematic information exists on taxes and charges in the transport sector. The BTCE's first step was therefore to compile the lists presented in the appendixes (to which many public and private organisations and individuals generously contributed). Recognising that all four modes (it was not possible to include pipelines) are substitutes to some extent, the list is not limited to road and rail. Most importantly, the summary matrix in table 1 (liftout) and the underlying analytical approach reflect marginal cost principles in the hope that this methodology will assist objective comparisons between modes, as well as the formulation of policy options in any consideration of general taxation reform.

• Taxes and Charges in Australian Transport: A Transmodal Overview
  
  wp_034.pdf
  (357.61 KB)