This Report discusses the objectives of the Australian national highway system, presents statistical information and describes the application of the life cycle costing technique to the pavement evaluation.

• The Cost of Maintaining the Australian National Highway System
  
  report_077.pdf
  (2.56 MB)

Concerns have been expressed that the introduction of a national system of road user charging for heavy vehicles could adversely affect transport operators, consumers and producers in rural and remote areas of Australia.

• Road Transport Reforms–Implications for Rural and Remote Areas
  
  report_078.pdf
  (4.58 MB)

This study has refined the methodology and expanded the scope of a previous Bureau of Transport and Communications Economics study on the cost of road accidents in Australia. The human capital approach has been used in this study to estimate the social cost of road, rail, aviation and maritime accidents in Australia in 1988.

• Social Cost of Transport Accidents in Australia
  
  report_079.pdf
  (5.87 MB)

Data and information on the road freight transport industry is in limited supply. In order to reduce this problem, the Bureau of Transport and Communications Economics undertook this overview of the road freight transport industry. The industry is shown to be carrying an increasing proportion of total freight movements in Australia, with strong competition evident throughout all sectors of the industry.

• The Road Freight Transport Industry
  
  ip_038.pdf
  (4.2 MB)

Road crashes cost Australia $6.1 billion in 1993. Road crash costs account for over 90% of the total cost of transport-related accidents in Australia.

• Cost of Road Crashes in Australia–1993
  
  is_004.pdf
  (753.44 KB)

While a great deal has been written on the theory and application of optimal road price and investment policy, relatively little attention has been given to the subject of roads policy in practice. This monograph's main concern is the latter line of inquiry, focusing attention on the complex of political, legal, economic and institutional factors which have shaped Commonwealth and State government roads policy in Australia since the 1920s through to the 1980s.

• Roads Policy and Australian Federalism
  
  op_106.pdf
  (13.89 MB)

This Paper presents the results of an evaluation of 51 'Black Spot' projects funded by the Australian Government, 26 in Victoria and 25 in New South Wales. The evaluation was based on the record of accidents before and after approved treatments were put in place. In order to isolate actual treatment effects, adjustments were made to take account of the major recent decline in accidents in suitable control areas.

• Cost–Effectiveness of 'Black Spot' Treatments : A Pilot Study
  
  wp_009.pdf
  (3.57 MB)

This study evaluates the economic benefits of the Federal Government's Black Spot Program. The study assesses the crash reduction benefits of a variety of road engineering treatments based on a sample of 254 projects drawn from all States and Territories.

• Evaluation of the Black Spot Program
  
  report_090.pdf
  (1.85 MB)

This Paper provides an account of preliminary work on urban traffic congestion that forms part of the BTCE project on Urban Transport Externalities. The project is concerned with a range of external impacts of urban transport. Congestion is just one of these impacts but, because it is so intimately related to the traffic patterns which give rise to the others, it has been made the focus of the initial work.

• Urban Congestion: Modelling Traffic Patterns, Delays and Optimal Tolls
  
  wp_015.pdf
  (4.98 MB)

Urban travel behaviour is very complex. Analysts have tried to capture its main features in models that provide estimates of the levels and patterns of traffic on the urban road network. While the models are correspondingly complex, they are still radical simplifications of real urban systems. Their treatment of some aspects of travel behaviour can only be described as rudimentary. Nevertheless, they represent the state of the art in quantitative urban transport analysis, and they provide a valuable framework for thinking about urban policy issues.

• Traffic Congestion and Road User Charges in Australian Capital Cities
  
  report_092.pdf
  (801.21 KB)