Drivers in New South Wales are raking in more than $2 billion in tolls each year, a parliamentary report has revealed.
The Legislative Council’s Transportation Committee today released a report on the state’s highway toll system.
The review found motorists make more than one million toll trips a day, generating more than $2 billion a year in toll revenue for the government.
A report has found Sydney road users are being hit with $2 billion a year in tolls. (Louie Douvis)
It also found that the government “failed” to provide details to the inquiry about the total toll loading on existing links, including new motorways and the concession of already built roads.
Research estimates that this burden exceeds $100 billion.
He also found the NSW Treasury’s decision not to publicly release details of the WestConnex contract until 2060 to be an “abuse of executive power”.
The report made a number of recommendations to change the state’s toll system. (Janie Barrett)
Committee chair Abigail Boyd said road users have a right to know whether government toll contracts are “in the public interest and offer a fair price”.
“The evidence presented to this inquiry made it impossible to ignore the significant impact tolls are having on residents and businesses,” he said.
“They are clearly paying a high price for the government’s continued privatization of our roads, and not just in monetary terms.
“Paying exorbitant tolls just to complete a day’s work, access medical care or attend school is an unreasonable tax on household budgets already stretched by rising cost-of-living pressures.”
NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said toll prices were “all over the place” and a standardized approach should be taken.
“We want people to get home faster, that’s why we’re building highways, but if the roads aren’t set up at a fair and equitable price, people won’t use them and nobody wins,” he said.
The report found that motorists in the city’s west are the most affected in the hip pocket. (Wolter Peeters, The Sydney Morning Herald)
Boyd said the impact of high tolls was particularly evident for residents in western and south-western Sydney due to the lack of public transport options as an alternative to driving.
The review made a number of recommendations, including that the government adopt toll caps and signal drops rather than distance-based tolls across the network.
It also recommended that the toll relief and cash back programs be reviewed to ensure that money is returned to people who need it “based on their ability to pay and the existence of public transport alternatives”.
Other recommendations include a review of the rate at which tolls rise and a reduction in administration costs.
Motorcycle or car: who yields?