• Summary
• Downloads
• Explanatory Notes
• Related Information
• Past Releases

TRANSPORT


ROADS AND LICENCES

Roads

Management of the planning, creation, operation, maintenance, rehabilitation and replacement of roads and road related infrastructure within the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is the responsibility of Roads ACT, a section of the Department of Urban Services. From 1 July 2006, the Department of Urban Services became the Department of Territory and Municipal Services.

In March 2004, there were 2,645 km of roads in the ACT, 15 km more than in May 2003. The majority of roads are classed as municipal roads, with 71% (1880 km) in this category.

14.1 CATEGORIES OF ROAD, ACT - March 2004(a)
	Aggregate road length	Aggregate lane length	Aggregate road surface area
Road types	km	km	m2
National highways	20	75	276 875
Territorial roads	745	2 000	7 331 200
Municipal roads	1 880	3 800	13 292 500
Total	2 645	5 875	20 900 575
(a) Data after March 2004 will be available when the new Integrated Asset Management System (IAMS) has been implemented by Roads ACT.
Source: Roads ACT, Department of Urban Services, 2006.

Roundabouts and traffic signals

In March 2006, there were 232 roundabouts in the ACT, and 226 traffic signals. The majority of these signals were at road intersections (199 or 88%) and the remainder were at mid-block pedestrian crossings (26 or 12%). There was also one part-time traffic signal installed at the Drakeford Drive/Athllon Drive roundabout during 2005-06 to relieve peak afternoon congestion.

Gungahlin Drive Extension

Construction is currently underway on the first section (Package A) of the Gungahlin Drive Extension from the Barton Highway to Aranda. Valued at $59 million, it is the largest road works contract yet awarded in the ACT and is expected to be completed mid-2007.

When all construction packages are complete, the Gungahlin Drive Extension will be a nine kilometre arterial road linking the Barton Highway to the Tuggeranong Parkway at Glenloch Interchange. It will include five bridges and five underpass structures.

Licences

As at 2 January 2006, there were 282,363 current and active licences in the ACT, and 5,868 suspended licences. The majority of active licences (237,301 or 84%) were classified as ‘full’ licences. A further 18,155 (6%) were ‘provisional’ licences, 14,220 (5%) were ‘national heavy vehicle’ licences and 11,499 (4%) were classified as ‘learner’ licences. ‘Probationary’ and ‘restricted’ licences accounted for 1,188 (less than 1%) of total current licences.

Of the 11,499 Learner licences, the majority (9,165 or 80%) were for cars and the remainder were for motorcycle licences (2,334 or 20%).

14.2 ACT LICENCE DISTRIBUTION
	2005	2006
	no.	no.
Learner licences	11 856	11 499
Provisional licences	17 686	18 155
Full licences	232 927	237 301
National heavy vehicle licences	14 364	14 220
Probationary licences	1 158	1 041
Restricted licences	192	147
Total	278 183	282 363
Source: Rego.act computer report, dated 2 January 2005 and 2 January 2006, Road Transport, ACT Department of Urban Services.

TRANSPORT FINANCE

Motor vehicle tax

Motor vehicle taxes cover the taxes levied on the operation of motor vehicles whether paid for by households or corporations. Taxes on third party insurance are excluded.

ACT Government taxation revenue from motor vehicle taxes increased by 2% between 2003-04 and 2004-05 to $85m. In comparison, total motor vehicle taxation revenue across all levels of government in Australia increased by 6% over the same period to $5,415m.

In the ACT, stamp duty on vehicle registration represented 28% of total motor vehicle taxation revenue in 2004-05, down from 29% in 2003-04. Nationally, 35% of total motor vehicle taxation revenue was from stamp duty on vehicle registration in 2004-05.

14.3 MOTOR VEHICLE TAXES
	ACT			Australia
	Stamp duty on vehicle registration	Other	Total	Stamp duty on vehicle registration	Other	Total
	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
2002-03	24	54	78	1 695	2 990	4 685
2003-04	24	59	83	1 886	3 240	5 126
2004-05	24	61	85	1 918	3 497	5 415
Source: Data available on request, Taxation Revenue; and Taxation Revenue, 2004-05 (cat. no. 5506.0).

Government transport expenses

ACT Government operating expenses on Transport and communications totalled $161m in 2004-05, $149m of which was spent on road transport.

Nationally, across all levels of government (Commonwealth, State/Territory, Local and Multi-jurisdictional), operating expenses on road transport totalled $9,976m in 2004-05 out of a total operating expenditure on Transport and communications of $16,572m.

14.4 GENERAL GOVERNMENT OPERATING EXPENSES ON TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION
	ACT			Australia(a)
	2002-02	2003-04	2004-05	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
Road transport	146	155	149	9 423	9 352	9 976
Water transport	-	-	-	407	359	413
Rail transport	-	-	-	3 154	4 318	3 532
Air transport	-	-	-	124	186	150
Communications and other transport	7	5	12	1 893	2 104	2 502
Total	153	161	161	15 001	16 319	16 572
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Across all levels of government (i.e. Commonwealth, State/Territory, Local and Multi-jurisdictional).
Source: Government Finance Statistics, Australia, 2004-05 (cat. no. 5512.0), Time Series Spreadsheets.

Estimated road construction expenditure

Road authorities of each state and territory are required to provide the National Road Transport Commission with road construction estimates each year. This data helps to identify the share of bridge and road costs that are attributed to heavy vehicles. It is also used in the application of the annual adjustment procedure for heavy vehicle registration charges.

The total estimated expenditure on road construction and maintenance in the ACT decreased between 2003-04 and 2004-05 by almost one third (down 32% or $28m). Of the ACT total expenditure for 2004-05 ($60m), 42% was on pavement improvements ($25m). Expenditure on pavement improvements in 2004-05 was around half (51%) that in 2003-04 ($49m).

A further $10m was expended on servicing and operating costs in 2004-05. This was a similar amount to that expended in 2003-04, however the proportion of total expenditure for this category increased from 11% to 17% between the periods.

Nationally, the total estimated expenditure on road construction and maintenance for 2004-05 was $5,809m. This was a 6% increase ($325m) from the 2003-04 estimated expenditure of $5,484m.

14.5 ESTIMATED ROAD CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE EXPENDITURE
		2002-03		2003-04		2004-05
		ACT	Australia	ACT	Australia	ACT	Australia
Expenditure category		$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
Servicing and operating		19	528	10	601	10	670
Road pavement and shoulder construction
	Routine maintenance	3	353	1	375	1	372
	Periodic surface maintenance	3	242	3	281	3	268
Bridge maintenance/rehabilitation		2	148	2	139	1	156
Road rehabilitation		7	414	3	447	3	436
Low-cost safety/traffic		8	294	5	253	7	329
Asset extension/improvements
	Pavement improvements	54	964	49	741	25	799
	Bridge improvements	3	232	9	266	2	365
	Land acquisition, earthworks, other extensions/improvements	-	1 181	-	1 451	-	1 460
Other miscellaneous activities
	Corporate services	5	213	4	216	4	237
	Enforcement of heavy vehicle regulations	-	82	-	95	1	102
	Vehicle registration(a)	1	274	3	301	3	307
	Driver licensing	1	189	-	176	-	177
	Loan servicing	-	160	-	144	-	130
Total		106	5 273	88	5 484	60	5 809
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Figure includes combined total of expenditure on vehicle registration & driver licensing.
Source: National Transport Commission, Annual Reports, 2003, 2004 and 2005.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Buses

The Australian Capital Territory Internal Omnibus Network (ACTION) is the main provider of passenger transport in the ACT. The ACTION Authority was established as a statutory authority on 1 January 2002, and provides:

• passenger bus network and school services, with a range of express and route services to and from all suburbs
• a special needs transport service - a door-to-door service for disadvantaged people in the community
• charter bus services.

• a bus fleet of 391 buses (373 passenger buses and 18 special needs buses), including 82 disability accessible buses
• depots and workshops (located in Tuggeranong and Belconnen)
• four bus interchanges (located at Belconnen, Tuggeranong, Civic and Woden)
• ACTION Authority's head office at Tuggeranong.

14.6 ACTION BUS SERVICE, Selected statistics - ACT
Operating statistics		2003-04	2004-05	Change 2003-04 to 2004-05
Passenger boardings	'000	16 305	16 240	-65
Bus kilometres	'000	22 988	23 339	351
Buses in fleet	no.	388	391	3
Employees	no.	677	700	23
Source: ACT Department of Urban Services, ACTION Authority Annual Report 2004-05.

Total passenger boardings for ACTION buses decreased by 65,000 between 2003-04 and 2004-05. Bus kilometres travelled increased by 2% in 2004-05 to 23.3 million km, from 23.0 million km in 2003-04.

Taxis

Taxi dispatch services in the ACT are provided by Canberra Cabs (with a fleet of 191 taxis) and Elite Taxis (Canberra) (with a fleet of 44 taxis). Almost all of these taxis are independently owned and operated, and compete for hirings throughout the ACT. Canberra Cabs also provides 18 wheelchair accessible taxies.

A cross border arrangement for the provision of taxi services exists between the ACT and NSW Governments. This arrangement enables Canberra and Queanbeyan taxis to operate freely within the region. Queanbeyan has a fleet of 16 taxis.

Coach and rail services

The numbers of rail and coach passengers into and out of Canberra increased between 2004 and 2005.

For rail passengers in 2005, a total of 50,334 passengers boarded trains leaving Canberra, which was an increase of 6% from 2004 (47,642). A total of 52,438 passengers arrived by rail into Canberra during 2005, which was also a 6% increase on the figure for 2004 (49,679).

For coach passengers in 2005, there were 21,725 passengers who travelled out of Canberra and 21,719 passengers who arrived in Canberra. These numbers represented respective increases of 5% and 6% compared with arrivals and departures for 2004.

14.7 COACH AND RAIL PASSENGERS
		2003	2004	2005	Change 2004-05
		no.	no.	no.	% change
Origin Canberra
	Rail passengers	62 127	47 642	50 334	6
	Coach passengers	22 986	20 699	21 725	5
Destination Canberra
	Rail passengers	64 032	49 679	52 438	6
	Coach passengers	22 904	20 401	21 719	6
Source: CountryLink, State Rail NSW, Data available on request.

Domestic and regional aircraft travel

Airline services into and out of the ACT are classified as either 'domestic' or 'regional' services. The domestic airlines are those performing Regular Public Transport (RPT) services primarily between capital cities and major tourist centres within Australia. The regional airlines are those performing RPT services primarily to regional centres within Australia.

The number of fare-paying (revenue) passengers for both domestic and regional travel (i.e. total traffic) increased by 8% from 2003-04 to 2004-05. The number of domestic revenue passengers through Canberra International Airport increased by 9% (161,836 passengers). There was a 2% increase in the number of regional revenue passengers (11,451).

14.8 REGULAR PASSENGER TRANSPORT SERVICES, Revenue passengers - ACT
	Domestic			Regional			Total traffic
	In	Out	Total	In	Out	Total	In	Out	Total
1999-2000(a)	729 694	732 796	1 462 490	254 649	252 082	506 731	984 343	984 878	1 969 221
2000-01	640 915	648 030	1 288 945	410 396	407 878	818 274	1 051 311	1 055 908	2 107 219
2001-02	478 545	483 775	962 320	441 134	437 848	878 982	919 679	921 623	1 841 302
2002-03	659 527	653 615	1 313 142	301 034	302 175	603 209	960 561	955 790	1 916 351
2003-04	900 367	892 305	1 792 672	251 648	259 102	510 750	1 152 015	1 151 407	2 303 422
2004-05	981 742	972 766	1 954 508	255 671	266 530	522 201	1 237 413	1 239 296	2 476 709
(a) Regional airline data include estimates.
Source: Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics, Aviation Statistics, Airport Traffic Data, 1994-95 to 2004-05.

Total passenger aircraft movements in and out of Canberra International Airport decreased by 4% between 2003-04 and 2004-05. Regional aircraft movements also decreased by 7% over the same period. Domestic aircraft movements decreased by 2%.

14.9 REGULAR PASSENGER TRANSPORT SERVICES, Aircraft movements - ACT
	Domestic			Regional			Total traffic
	In	Out	Total	In	Out	Total	In	Out	Total
	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.
1999-2000(a)	9 822	9 829	19 651	10 692	10 682	21 374	20 514	20 511	41 025
2000-01	8 378	8 376	16 754	17 484	17 629	35 113	25 862	26 005	51 867
2001-02	5 455	5 446	10 901	14 403	14 412	28 815	19 858	19 858	39 716
2002-03	7 668	7 665	15 333	10 344	10 309	20 653	18 012	17 974	35 986
2003-04	9 522	9 516	19 038	9 676	9 651	19 327	19 198	19 167	38 365
2004-05	9 491	9 477	18 698	8 940	8 938	17 878	18 431	18 415	36 846
(a) Regional airline data include estimates.
Source: Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics, Aviation Statistics, Airport Traffic Data, 1994-95 to 2004-05.

MOTOR VEHICLES

Registered motor vehicles

According to the 2005 ABS Motor Vehicle Census, there were 219,552 motor vehicles registered in the ACT as at 31 March 2005, representing 2% of the 13.9 million registered motor vehicles Australia wide. Passenger vehicles made up 86% (188,641) of all registered motor vehicles in the ACT in 2005. Light commercial vehicles made up 9% (19,472) and motorcycles made up 3% (7,385). These proportions have remained stable over recent years.

14.10 REGISTERED MOTOR VEHICLES - ACT
		2003	2004	2005
		no.	no.	no.
Passenger vehicles		183 719	185 603	188 641
Light commercial vehicles		18 498	18 876	19 472
Campervans		529	507	505
Truck
	Rigid (with GVM 4.5 tonnes or less)	607	629	609
	Rigid (with greater than GVM 4.5 tonnes)	1 738	1 729	1 687
	Articulated	250	236	238
	Non-freight carrying	84	101	92
Buses		957	916	923
Motorcycles		7 014	7 092	7 385
Total		213 396	215 689	219 552
Source: Motor Vehicle Census, Australia, March 2004 and March 2005 (cat. no. 9309.0).

The estimated average age of motor vehicles in the ACT at 31 March 2005 was 9.6 years, younger than the average of 10.2 years for motor vehicles in Australia as a whole. When compared with the other states and territories, the estimated average age of ACT motor vehicles was the third youngest, after New South Wales and the Northern Territory (both 9.3 years).

New motor vehicle sales

A total of 14,739 new vehicles were sold in the ACT in 2004-05. This represented a decrease (down 115 vehicles) on the number of new vehicles sold in 2003-04 (14,854). Nationally, new motor vehicle sales increased by 4% over the same period. The majority (70%) of new vehicles sold in the ACT in 2004-05 were passenger vehicles. Total new vehicle sales in the ACT accounted for 2% of new vehicle sales nationally.

14.11 NEW MOTOR VEHICLE SALES
	ACT			Aust.
	Passenger vehicles	Other vehicles	Total vehicles	Passenger vehicles	Other vehicles	Total vehicles
Financial years	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.
1999-2000	11 781	3 053	14 834	509 448	233 146	742 594
2000-01	11 503	3 108	14 611	571 045	237 640	808 685
2001-02	10 260	3 453	13 713	537 610	266 961	804 571
2002-03	10 420	4 040	14 460	560 203	300 343	860 546
2003-04	10 490	4 364	14 854	594 414	345 710	940 124
2004-05	10 340	4 399	14 739	604 027	377 764	981 791
Source: New Motor Vehicles Sales, April 2006 (cat. no. 9314.0.55.001).

Motor vehicle use

In the 12 months ended 31 October 2004, vehicles registered in the ACT for road use travelled a total of 3.2 billion km. Passenger vehicles accounted for 85% of the total kilometres travelled and light commercial vehicles accounted for 10%.

For the same period in the ACT, the total distance travelled for business purposes (680 million km) was just over one fifth (21%) of the total distance travelled by ACT registered vehicles. Passenger vehicles and motor cycles travelled an estimated 353 million km for business purposes, which was 13% of the total distance travelled by those vehicle types (2,787 million km). By comparison, the total distance travelled by trucks, buses and light commercial vehicles for business purposes (327 million km) was 73% of the total distance travelled by those types of vehicles in 2004 (448 million km).

The average distance travelled for business purposes in the 12 months ended 31 October 2004 was 9,700 km, which was 63% of the average distance travelled by ACT registered motor vehicles that year (15,400 km)

14.12 MOTOR VEHICLE USE, Type of vehicle - ACT - 2004
	Total business km travelled	Total km travelled	Average business km travelled(a)	Average km travelled(a)
Vehicle type	million	million	'000	'000
Passenger vehicles	^350	2 762	^6.6	15.2
Motorcycles	**3	^25	**3.7	^4.0
Light commercial vehicles	^205	323	15.9	18.2
Rigid trucks	62	64	29.3	29.2
Articulated trucks	27	27	115.4	112.5
Non-freight carrying trucks	^2	^2	^22.2	^22.4
Buses	31	32	39.8	38.9
Total	680	3 234	9.7	15.4
^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
** estimate has a relative standard error greater than 50% and is considered too unreliable for general use
(a) Average distance travelled for registered vehicles which were used. Excludes registered vehicles that did not travel during the reference period.
Source: Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, 12 months ended 31 Oct 2004 (cat. no. 9208.0).

ROAD TRAFFIC INCIDENTS

Traffic infringement notices

In 2004-05, the Australian Federal Police issued a total of 20,840 notices to drivers in the ACT. This included 16,433 traffic infringement notices, 3,471 official cautions and 936 parking notices. Compared with 2003-04, this represented a decline of 16% for traffic infringement notices and a decline of 10% in official cautions.

Speed and red light cameras

According to the ACT Policing, Annual Report, 2004-05, the ACT had four mobile speed cameras, and nine fixed red-light/speed cameras in operation. A total of 36,882 infringement notices were issued from these cameras (12,176 from mobile speed cameras and 24,706 from fixed cameras). Of the 24,706 infringements issued from fixed cameras, 23,136 (94%) were for speeding infringements, 1,351 (5%) were for red light infringements and 163 (1%) were proceeding through red arrow infringements.

Random breath tests

The ACT Police use both random breath testing and targeted breath testing, whereby police target specific locations and times of day. The number of random breath tests conducted in the ACT in decreased by 3% between 2003-04 and 2004-05 (from 48,332 to 46,898). Of the tests conducted in 2004-05, 1,117 (2%) resulted in positive readings. This represented an 16% decrease in the number of positive readings compared with 2003-04 (1,326).

14.13 RANDOM BREATH TESTS, ACT
			2001-02	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05
Tests conducted		no.	75 176	76 675	48 332	46 898
Positive tests
	Number	no.	473	1 141	1 326	1 117
	Proportion of all tests conducted	%	0.6	1.5	2.7	2.4
Source: ACT Policing Annual Report 2004-05.

Traffic accidents

In the ACT during 2004-05, there were 10,881 motor vehicle collisions reported to the police, a 6% reduction from 2003-04. However, the number of persons injured in traffic collisions increased by 52% from 753 in 2003-04 to 1143 in 2004-05. There were 16 fatalities in the ACT caused by motor vehicle collisions in 2004-05, compared with nine fatalities in 2003-04.

14.14 TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS, ACT
	2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	Change from 2003-04 to 2004-05
	no.	no.	no.	%
Collisions	11 723	11 530	10 881	-6
Injuries	852	753	1 143	52
Fatalities	13	9	16	78
Source: ACT Policing, Annual Report, 2004-05.

Types of collisions

According to the 2004 Road Traffic Crashes in the ACT report by the ACT Department of Urban Services, there were 7,275 on-road motor vehicle crashes in the ACT during 2004, a 12% decrease from the number reported in 2003 (8,288 crashes). The most frequent accident type in 2004 was 'rear end collision', accounting for 46% (3,376) of all crashes. The second most frequent accident type was 'right angle collision', accounting for 15% (1,120) of all crashes.

In terms of severity, there were 390 casualty crashes (381 injury crashes and nine fatal crashes) in the ACT in 2004. The majority of casualty crashes (224) occurred at intersections, with 121 of these at 'T intersections' and 76 at 'cross intersections'. Of the 381 injury crashes, 'right angle collisions' had the highest proportion (28%, or 105 injury crashes).

In the ACT in 2004, more motor vehicle crashes occurred on week days than on weekends. The highest proportion of crashes occurred on a Friday (18% or 1,309 crashes), which was followed by Thursday (17%, or 1,234). The lowest proportion of crashes occurred on a Sunday (8%, or 616).

BIBLIOGRAPHY


ABS

Taxation Revenue Australia, 2004-05, cat. no. 5506.0.

Government Finance Statistics, 2004-05, cat. no. 5512.0.

Australian System of Government Finance Statistics, Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2005, cat. no. 5514.0.

Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, Australia, 12 Months Ended 31 October 2004, cat. no. 9208.0.

Motor Vehicle Census, Australia, March 2005, cat no. 9309.0.

Sales of New Motor Vehicles, Electronic Delivery, January 2006, cat. no. 9314.0.55.001.

NON-ABS

ACTION Authority, Annual Report 2004-05, last viewed 11 August 2006, <http://www.action.act.gov.au/>.

Australian Federal Police, ACT Policing, Annual Report, 2004-05, last viewed 11 August 2006, <http://www.afp.gov.au/>.

Department of Transport and Regional Services, Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics, Airport Traffic Data, 1994-95 to 2004-05, last viewed 11 August 2006, <http://www.btre.gov.au/statistics/aviation/>.

National Transport Commission, Annual Report 2005, last viewed 11 August 2006, <http://www.ntc.gov.au/>.

Roads ACT, Department of Urban Services, Data available on request.

Roads Transport, Department of Urban Services, Data available on request.

State Rail NSW (CountryLink), Data available on request.