Urban car travel in Australia is expected to continue to grow appreciably over the next 20 years (by close to 30 per cent) though at a somewhat slower rate of growth than for the last few decades.
During the 1990s, around 2000 people per year died and over 20 000 per year sustained serious injuries on Australian roads.
Local roads are considered by regional communities to be a major contributor to their prosperity and social amenity. This report presents the first detailed picture of local road spending at the regional level.
The Federal Government has, since 1990–91, allocated substantial resources through its Black Spot Program to reduce the number and severity of crashes at black spot locations as part of its overall road safety strategy.
BTRE has examined trends in the fuel consumption of new passenger vehicles. The overall trend in fuel consumption was down during the 1980s.
This report presents the results of a BTRE study to estimate likely future levels of noxious pollutant emissions from motor vehicles in Australian metropolitan areas.
Over the last few years, the Commonwealth has devoted considerable resources to the task of helping local government authorities maintain and upgrade their road systems.
The BTRE projects that the total freight task will continue to grow strongly. Such growth will increase the infrastructure maintenance needs and possibly hasten the need for capacity expansion.
On rural roads, the speed that a driver chooses will affect their travel time, vehicle operating costs and crash costs.
Paper presented by David Gargett, Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics.