Subsequent growth in Canberra, particularly in the post-war period, and projections suggesting continued rapid growth, prompted the Minister for Shipping and Transport in 1964 to request from the Commonwealth Railways Commissioner a report on the proposed rail link between Canberra and Yass.

That report stated that when the considerable savings are taken into account that would accrue to the various instrumentalities and people located in the Australian Capital Territory as the result of lower freight rates and passenger fares consequent upon the direct linking of Canberra with Yass, construction of the Canberra-Yass railway could be justified on economic grounds.

In April this year, the Minister for Shipping and Transport requested the Bureau of Transport Economics to carry out a detailed economic evaluation of the link.

• Economic Evaluation of a Canberra to Yass Rail Link
  
  report_001.pdf
  (4.95 MB)

The general approach in this Report is to concentrate on the costs directly borne by wool at the various stages of ownership from grower to mill. However, these costs are reflected in income accruing to others and the conflicts of interest this fact creates are not lost sight of in the report.

• Transport and Handling of Australia's Wool Production
  
  report_002.pdf
  (19.05 MB)

This Report was prepared as the basis for the Standing Committee of Advisers report to the Australian Transport Advisory Council on urban public transport needs in this decade.

• Economic Evaluation of Capital Investment in Urban Public Transport
  
  report_003.pdf
  (8.91 MB)

The evaluations presented in this Report have been made to determine the least cost sleeper alternative for each of three railway projects. They are the proposed new railway line from Tarcoola to Alice Springs, the standard gauge connection from Adelaide to Crystal Brook, and the re-sleepering of the Trans-Australian Railway.

• Economic Evaluation of Timber and Concrete Sleepers for Three Railway Lines
  
  report_004.pdf
  (3 MB)

This Report presents the evaluations of alternative public transport improvements in the urban corridor between Perth and Fremantle. The alternatives considered are a continuation of existing services, electrification of the existing rail service, and replacement of the railway with a busway.

• Perth Fremantle Corridor Study
  
  report_005.pdf
  (800.43 KB)

This study attempts a quantitative assessment of Tasmania's transport disabilities relative to the other States and covers interstate shipping to Tasmania, together with closely related topics such as Tasmanian port operations and freight forwarding. Particular note has been taken of the Senate Standing Committee on Primary and Secondary Industry and Trade Committee's views that Tasmania has a 'transport disability' and that any comparisons should take into account its position as a sovereign state.

• An Assessment of Tasmania's Interstate Transport Problems
  
  report_006.pdf
  (6.52 MB)

The rapid development of mining in the Pilbara region of north west Australia has already increased the transport task in the region and is expected to increase it much more. In the past, there has been little land transport to the north west, and the major service has been by sea.

In the fluid situation generated by rapid development, it is important to ask how the freight task should be performed in future, whether the shares carried by the various transport modes should be changed and whether there should be radical changes in the whole transport system to the region. These are the questions that this report sets out to answer.

• Freight Transport to North West Australia, 1975–1990
  
  report_007.pdf
  (11.27 MB)

This is the second Report by the BTE on capital investment in urban public transport, the previous Report having been produced in June 1972.

• Review of Public Transport Investment Proposals for Australian Capital Cities, 1973–74
  
  report_008.pdf
  (6.53 MB)

This Paper describes the design and operation of a fully-automated materials handling system which differs in many respects from conventional systems. The system is intended to fulfil requirements for automated semi-random storage and retrieval of non-fragile uniform containers, and has several major advantages over other systems. Although it is well suited to a particular class of handling problem, the proposed system could also be used in other applications.

• An Automated Semi–Random Storage/Retrieval System
  
  op_001.pdf
  (1.09 MB)

This Report presents the results of a consumer preference survey in urban rail carriage design. The survey was carried out by the BTE in Brisbane in May and June, 1973, with the cooperation of Queensland Railways.

• Consumer Preferences in Urban Rail Carriage Design: Results of a Survey Conducted in Brisbane During May and June, 1973
  
  report_010.pdf
  (4.39 MB)