Key pillars of NSW’s impending toll reform project have passed in the state’s parliament, with the amendments to the Transport Administration Act paving the way for the creation of NSW Motorways and the creation of an independent tolling ombudsman.
Prices have been skyrocketing on Sydney’s 13 separate toll roads in recent years, with one road transport company reported to have spent over $7 million on the network purely to move goods and freight.
NSW Motorways will oversee any future revenue adjustment mechanism to protect private toll concessionaries from losses from a network-wide pricing structure but will ensure any windfall gains will go back to the public as opposed to private operators.
It will also absorb the retails business and toll notice functions of E-Toll.
Tollways subject to private concession arrangements, such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Tunnel and Western Harbour Tunnel and M6 Stage 1 when complete will not be owned or operated by NSW Motorways.
Roads Minister John Graham says those who live and work in the industrial hub of Western Sydney will likely benefit most from the reform.
“NSW Motorways was a key recommendation of the independent toll review and will be critical to drawing together the 13 – soon to be 15 – toll roads to implement a fairer, network price structure,” Graham says.
“These reforms are aimed squarely at assisting motorists and their families, particularly those in Western Sydney who simply can’t avoid shelling out on tolls that only ever go up.
“These are important changes to the law that begin to transform the road toll system into one that puts the interests of motorists first. The independent pricing watchdog IPART will play a critical role in overseeing toll prices.
“I do not believe the current ombudsman in the toll road sector is effective enough and a new, independent industry ombudsman is required to give motorists a voice.”
Part of the swathe of recommendations to the state’s toll amendments was to increase the heavy vehicle multiplier from three to 3.5 times higher than light vehicle tolls, however no news has been released on the potential actioning of the recommendation.
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