Sydney's growing toll road network world's most extensive and expensive, experts say

Updated

Providing transport infrastructure and reducing congestion are key issues leading into any NSW election, especially for voters suffering ongoing traffic torment in Sydney.

And it will bring them little comfort to know that transport experts have given the city the dubious honour of having the most extensive — and expensive — urban toll road network in the world.

Sydney has nine toll roads that include a total of 15 toll points, and will soon have even more when motorways under construction are completed.

Currently, motorists are charged when driving on the:

M2

new M4 WestConnex

M5

M7

M4

Eastern Distributor

Cross-City Tunnel

Lane Cove Tunnel

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sydney Harbour Tunnel

There will be at least six additional tolls between now and 2023 upon completion of the:

M4 tunnels

M5 (from Beverly Hills to St Peters)

M5 East (Beverly Hills to General Holmes Drive)

M4-M5 link

NorthConnex

"In terms of the kilometres of tolls in the urban area, Sydney has the most in the world," said Chinh Ho, senior lecturer with the Institute of Transport Logistics Studies at the University of Sydney.

"We have an expensive network of toll roads.

"The question is more to do whether or not people are willing to pay for them, or whether we head down the right track and bring in infrastructure not based on tolls."

Fees range for cars from $1.67 on the Military Road e-ramp to $7.45 on the Hills M2 Motorway at North Ryde.

The WestConnex has a wide range of fees from $4.93 on the new widened M4 to $7.89 on the new M4 between Parramatta (Church Street) and Haberfield (Parramatta Road and City West Link).

Total toll charges on the WestConnex will be capped at $9.30.

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'Tolls don't work'

Government promises that toll roads would ease traffic congestion and were crucial to the city's future have been dismissed as rhetorical "rubbish" by Dr Michelle Zeibots, research director of the UTS Transport Research Centre.

"Tollways aren't successful at reducing road congestion," she said.

"The reason why governments continue to build them is that they are put under enormous pressure by the tollway industry and individuals sometimes within their own party, who I would suggest are there to see tollway businesses make a lot of money.

"But that is at the expense of the general community and the local businesses of Sydney.

"What Sydney needs is more public transport."

Dr Zeibots cited the Cross-City and Lane Cove tunnels as examples where initial traffic projections inflated the number of vehicles that would use the roads.

The Cross-City Tunnel went bankrupt after 16 months, and some transport experts fear stage 3 of WestConnex could follow the same route and attract less cars than predicted.

How are tolls calculated

Road infrastructure is expensive to build and the Government has no choice but to pass on the cost to users.

The motorway operators establish pricing points in consultation with the government.

A Transport for NSW spokesman said "different tolling approaches" existed for NSW motorways.

The pricing points, toll increases and length of the concession period (until the road is paid off) are determined by factors such as the cost of construction and the funding and financing needs of the project.

What's the toll from Lapstone Hill to Anzac Bridge? Ben submitted a question to



Using the



– the fastest route would be to take the M7, M2 and M1 via the Lane Cove Tunnel and the Harbour Bridge for a total of $22.79 in tolls.



– the longer route (by about six minutes) via the M4 into the city came to $4.93.



– once the WestConnex/M4 is completed, and if Ben was to use the M4 at Lapstone Hill, the widened M4 at Parramatta, then the new M4 between Parramatta and Haberfield, the toll total would be capped at $9.30. Ben submitted a question to You Ask, We Answer , wondering how much it would cost him to travel from Lapstone Hill in the Blue Mountains to Anzac Bridge.Using the LinkT toll calculator and the journey directions suggested by Google Maps:– thewould be to take the M7, M2 and M1 via the Lane Cove Tunnel and the Harbour Bridge for a total ofin tolls.– the(by about six minutes) via the M4 into the city came to– once theis completed, and if Ben was to use the M4 at Lapstone Hill, the widened M4 at Parramatta, then the new M4 between Parramatta and Haberfield, the toll total would be capped at

Other considerations include increases in expenses, income and comparable toll roads, that tolls are charged for both directions of the motorway, and that trucks fees are three times higher than cars.

Transurban, which operates the nine toll roads, detailed during the 2017 Inquiry into Road Tolling that the value of time savings was also a price factor.

The 2.1km Cross-City Tunnel, which cost $680 million to build, costs drivers $5.74 with the concession period expected to end in 2035 (it opened in 2005).

The nine kilometres of the $3 billion NorthConnex tunnel under construction is expected to cost drivers $6.89 and would offer users a "stronger implied value of time savings", Transurban reported.

The concession period is expected to span 28 years if it opens late 2019 and ends in 2048.

Transport for NSW did not respond to a question asking whether tolls would be stopped once the concession period ended.

Cost adds up

ABC Sydney looked into the issue after North Ryde resident Lyle Bedford asked via You Ask, We Answer: "Why are there so many expensive toll roads in Sydney?"

Mr Bedford said he paid an average of $50 a week on tolls but that he'd occasionally rack up that amount in one day.

He lives in North Ryde and works in Lidcombe and regularly travels along the M4 through multiple tolls points to western Sydney to attend jobs as a technician.

"I don't get reimbursed and so I'm out of pocket a lot," Mr Bedford said.

"I do try and avoid the toll roads because I can't really afford to use them, but sometimes I don't have a choice when I have time constraints.

"Sometimes it just chews up all my spare money, so things like savings don't usually happen in those weeks I have to use the toll roads."

Mr Bedford said he only learned last week about the Government's toll relief scheme, that gives free vehicle registration to drivers who spend $25 or more a week on tolls.

The Labor Party has promised to reintroduce a cashback scheme for the M4 motorway if it wins the March election.

Topics: road-transport, road, states-and-territories, state-elections, human-interest, sydney-2000

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