The release of a government report showing the cost of congestion in Australia will balloon by billions of dollars over the coming years serves as a timely reminder to governments to give equal consideration to the movement of freight as is given to the movement of people.
“Transport congestion in our cities, which the government predicts could reach a cost of $37.3 billion by 2030, affects both passenger vehicles and heavy vehicles, which ultimately stifles efficiency and adds to costs,” said Michael Kilgariff, managing director of the Australian Logistics Council (ALC).
“With the logistics industry estimated to add around $131.6 billion a year or 8.6 per cent to GDP, it is vital that all levels of government give equal consideration to the movement of freight as they do to the movement of people.
“This particularly relates to infrastructure projects which improve the efficiency of our export supply chains, including those to and from our major city ports.
“Addressing congestion in our cities requires a multi-faceted approach from all levels of government, and the fact that the Commonwealth has strongly committed to investing in our cities is a welcome development, particularly in light of these new congestion cost figures.
“However, any new federal approach to moving people should not be at the expense of supporting supply chain projects to move freight more efficiently.
“Failure to appropriately fund key logistics projects would not make economic sense, particularly when you consider that a 1% improvement in supply chain efficiency will yield a $2 billion-a-year benefit to the national economy.
“With Australia’s freight task predicted to double between 2010 and 2030 and triple by 2050, it is crucial that policy makers give equal priority to freight in their investment and policy decision,” he said.
Mr Kilgariff was commenting on figures released this week by the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics’ in its report on traffic and congestion cost trends for Australian capital cities.
