By Dr Scott Elaurant - Engineers Australia Transport Australia Society Chair - principal consultant with 34 years’ experience in infrastructure planning, transport planning, road design and economics.
A recent Four Corners episode, Road Gold, highlighted the spiralling costs of toll roads in Australia’s major cities. For many Australians, especially those on low or fixed incomes, these costs are overwhelming. While Four Corners correctly focuses on the financial burden of tolls, it overlooks a deeper systemic issue: our national approach to transport funding is flawed, leading to inefficiencies and inequities in our road networks.
Toll roads place an arbitrary burden on motorists based on geography. Population growth has caused chronic congestion, forcing many city dwellers to use toll roads during peak hours. This effectively splits drivers into two classes. Both groups pay for roads through general taxes like registration, petrol excise, and GST, but only those near tolled routes bear the additional financial load.
The numbers reveal the disparity. According to the Australian Automobile Association’s Affordability Index (June 2023), the average toll-paying household in capital cities spent $66.19 weekly on tolls, while the national average was just $13.24. This stark contrast shows that road users are paying not based on road quality or infrastructure use, but on where they live or work. The principle of public roads being accessible to all erodes when tolls become unavoidable for some and unnecessary for others.
Australia's toll roads were introduced in the 1980s as part of a shift toward public-private partnerships (PPPs). Private operators were awarded concession periods of up to 30 years, far longer than global norms. The idea was for the private sector to fund critical infrastructure while providing motorists with modern roads.
However, as these concessions began expiring, governments chose to extend them or resell the toll collection rights, rather than remove the tolls. The original rationale—that tolls would fund road construction—has vanished. Motorists are now paying for an asset that’s already been funded, effectively a stealth tax being used for unrelated government projects, leaving drivers with no recourse.
Historically, tolls on infrastructure like the Sydney Harbour Bridge were introduced to fund construction. But then, toll increases were politically sensitive, aligning with wage growth and inflation. Today’s private operators have no such limitations, leading to frequent toll hikes and increasing financial strain on drivers.
The pivot to PPPs in the 1980s and 1990s was initially seen as smart: governments could fund infrastructure without overburdening their budgets while private operators shouldered the financial risk. Toll roads were marketed as “congestion busters,” promising motorists time savings.
In reality, we’ve created private monopolies over essential infrastructure. These companies are motivated to maximise revenue, not deliver public value. With rising toll prices and persistent urban congestion, the inefficiency of this model becomes evident.
Research shows that building more roads only temporarily alleviates congestion. The phenomenon of induced demand, where increasing road capacity encourages more drivers, means the time-saving promises of new toll roads often vanish within a few years. This global pattern is one Australia seems slow to learn.
Australia now spends 1.8% of its GDP on road construction, the highest in the OECD. Yet, Australian commuters spend more time in traffic than those in the US and Europe. While toll road operators profit enormously, society bears the costs: longer commutes, traffic accidents, pollution, and urban sprawl.
This focus on roadbuilding has come at the expense of more efficient solutions like public transport and better urban planning. Other OECD countries invest heavily in rail systems, bicycle infrastructure, and pedestrian-friendly cities, but Australian cities remain trapped in a cycle of road expansion. This perpetuates a reliance on cars, contributing to rising crash rates and declining public health.
The good news is that solutions to our toll road problems are not only possible, but also cheaper than the status quo. Many OECD nations manage their urban transport systems more effectively by balancing public and private investments while prioritising public benefit. They rely on demand management (like congestion pricing) and make larger investments in public and active transport.
Australia should rethink its reliance on PPPs, which tie project selection to private financing rather than public need. By shifting away from a model that rewards toll franchises, governments can regain control of transport priorities and ensure infrastructure projects are chosen based on their societal benefits, not their appeal to investors.
The toll road dilemma has festered for decades, deemed politically difficult to tackle. But with rising populations, stagnant productivity, and declining petrol tax revenues, change is not just necessary, it’s inevitable. Governments must act now to reform transport funding, prioritise public benefit, and break the private monopoly over our roads.
Ultimately, the road less travelled—public transport, active infrastructure, and smarter urban planning—offers a way out of our toll road trap. The question is whether political leaders have the will to take it.