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TRANSPORT

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ROADS

At 30 June 2009, Tasmania had 18,480 km of government-owned roads. These included roads owned by national, state and local governments. They excluded private roads, unformed roads and tracks.

The AUSLINK National Network included 797km of roads, all of which were sealed. Of these, 232 km were in the Greater Hobart and Southern Statistical Divisions; 325 km were in Northern Statistical Division; and 240 km were in Mersey-Lyell Statistical Division.

The Tasmanian government maintains 3,359 km of roads in Tasmania, 93.6% of which were sealed. Of these, 1,368 km were within the Greater Hobart and Southern Statistical Divisions - 93.1% of which were sealed. The Northern Statistical Division included 932 km (99.3% sealed); and Mersey-Lyell Statistical Division had 1,059 km (89.2% sealed).

Tasmanian local government authorities maintain 14,324 km of roadways, 50.7% of which were sealed. The Greater Hobart and Southern Statistical Divisions had 5,451 km (42.7% sealed); the Northern Statistical Division had 4,958 km ( 53.6% sealed); and Mersey-Lyell Statistical Division had 3,916 km (58.0% sealed).

GOVERNMENT-OWNED ROADS, Percentage Sealed, at 30 June 2009

MOTOR VEHICLES

On 31 March 2009, there were 400,516 vehicles registered in Tasmania. Of these, 40.8% were manufactured between 2001-2009, 37.7% between 1991-2000, 16.7% between 1981-1990, 3.5% between 1971-1980, and 1.3% before 1971. On 31 March 2009, passenger vehicles accounted for 71.4% of all registered vehicles in Tasmania, followed by light commercial vehicles (20.4%), motor cycles (3.4%), heavy rigid trucks (2.0%) and camper vans (1.0%).

Motor vehicles registered in Tasmania travelled an average of 14,000 kilometres per vehicle in the 12 months ended 31 October 2007. Of all vehicle types, articulated trucks had the highest average kilometres travelled at 92,200 km each.

The 2006 Census of Population and Housing found that 37.4% of occupied private dwellings in Tasmania had one motor vehicle, 36.6% had two motor vehicles, 11.7% had three motor vehicles and 5.4% had four or more motor vehicles. Almost one in 10 occupied private dwellings (9.0%) did not have a motor vehicle.The Southern Midlands local government area had the highest proportion of occupied private dwellings with four or more cars (11.1%), followed by Central Highlands and Kentish (both with 9.2%), Meander Valley (8.2%) and Dorset (8.0%). Glenorchy (14.1%) had the highest proportion of occupied private dwellings with no motor vehicles, followed by Hobart (13.0%), Flinders (12.4%), Launceston (11.8%) and West Coast (11.3%).


DRIVERS' LICENCES

The number of drivers' licences increased steadily, from 335,745 in 2004 to 361,253 in 2008. The number of full basic drivers' licences increased 4.7%, from 303,328 in 2004 to 317,487 in 2008. There was a significant increase in the number of current learner drivers' licences, from 16,384 in 2004 to 25,201 in 2008 - up 53.8%. During the same period, the number of provisional drivers' licences increased 17.7%, from 15,779 in 2004 to 18,565 in 2008.


PERSONS KILLED OR INJURED IN ROAD CRASHES

Fatalities on Tasmanian roads for the period 2005-2009 ranged from a low of 39 in 2008 to a high of 64 in 2009. Though the number of minor injuries increased from 1,453 in 2005 to 1,560 in 2009, the number of serious injuries decreased, from 371 in 2005 to 289 in 2009.

In 2009, 46.9% of road crash fatalities were drivers, followed by passengers (32.8%), motorcyclists (12.5%) and pedestrians/bicyclists 7.8%.




For local government areas, Clarence had the highest number of serious casualties (30), followed by Circular Head (26) and West Tamar (21).

SERIOUS CASUALTIES, by Top 10 LGAs, 2009

In 2009, 244 (69.1%) of serious casualties were male, compared to 109 female serious casualties. Males in the 17-29 age range made up 26.9% of the overall total of 353.

Over one third (37.1%) of serious casualties were aged 17-29 years, 24.4% were aged 30-49 years, 16.4% were aged 50-64 years, 13.0% were aged 65 and over, and 9.1% were aged under 17.


SOURCES

2006 Census of Population and Housing (ABS Basic Community Profile, Tables B29 and B45)

Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA)

Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE)

Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources (DIER), Tasmania

Department of Treasury and Finance (DOTAF), Tasmania

Metro Tasmania Pty Ltd

Motor Accidents Insurance Board (MAIB)

Motor Vehicle Census, Australia (ABS cat. no. 9309.0)

Spirit of Tasmania (TT-Line)

Survey of Motor Vehicle Use (ABS cat. no. 9208.0)

Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, Data Cubes (ABS cat. no. 9210.0.55.001)

(Further information can also be found on the Transport Statistics Theme Page of the ABS website.)