The ARA has criticized the Federal Opposition for overlooking measures ‘to get trucks off our roads’ for safety
March 19, 2013
The Australasian Railway Association (ARA) has criticised the Federal Opposition for not including measures ‘to get trucks off our roads’ as part of its road safety plans.
The ARA CEO Bryan Nye says it can’t support the Opposition’s pledge to relieve traffic congestion and make roads safer, unless there is commitment to get freight off roads and on rail.
“The Coalition’s road safety pledge contains no measures to get trucks off our roads, overlooking a significant cause of trauma on our highways and in our towns and cities,” Nye says.
Nye says heavy vehicles account for about four percent of registered vehicles in the country, but are involved in more than 17 percent of all
deaths on Australia’s roads.
The ARA has advocated improving road safety by slowing the growing number of
mega-trucks on highways.
According to the ARA, this can be done by moving more freight on rail by investing in existing networks, clearing up freight bottlenecks and investigating locations for future intermodal facilities.
“Simply building more roads to improve road safety is like trying to lose weight by loosening your belt –
it’s just not going to happen,” Nye says.
The ARA also criticized the Opposition’s lack of public transport funding commitment.
“Public transport should not be an optional extra on Tony Abbott’s pro-car and pro-truck infrastructure priorities, if we don’t invest in it now, our cities will grind to a halt in less than 20 years’ time,” Nye says.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott yesterday signed a road safety pledge with global body for road users, the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile.
In a statement, he says the pledge is a personal commitment to safety on
Australia’s roads.
He says delivering better roads is a clear and tangible measure to help further reduce the road toll.
The Opposition announced the following major road projects planned to start within 12 months of an election:
- $1.5 billion to get the East-West link underway in Melbourne
- $1 billion to support the Gateway project in Brisbane
- $1.5 billion to ensure the WestConnex project is built in Sydney
- $5.6 billion to complete the duplication of the Pacific Highway from Newcastle to the Queensland Border
- $400 million to duplicate the Midland Highway in Tasmania.