But Transurban's Queensland group executive Sue Johnson hit back on Thursday saying it had no plans to cut the price of tolls in Queensland, saying price rises are set out in concession agreements with the Queensland government and Brisbane City Council.

"Queensland has some of the lowest tolls in Australia. We have no plan to offer discounted tolls on Brisbane's toll roads and will continue to charge tolls in accordance with our concession agreements," Mrs Johnson said.

"Historically, other toll road operators in Brisbane have discounted tolls early in the operating life to attract motorists, however this did not drive a significant increase in motorist patronage."

Money-conscious motorists

There has been a long-simmering resentment about the toll road network in Brisbane, especially the rising price of tolls and the complaints and fine process used by Transurban.

The four major toll roads in Queensland – the Gateway Motorway, Logan Motorway, Clem Jones, Airport Link and Go Between Bridge – are controlled by Transurban, which bought them off Queensland Investment Corporation for $7 billion in 2014.

Unlike Sydney and Melbourne which are more used to toll roads, money-conscious Brisbane motorists have been reluctant to use the more recent toll roads such as the Clem Jones tunnel and the Airport Link – both of whose business models collapsed because of over-inflated traffic numbers.

But with 5.5 per cent growth on key roll roads like the Airport Link, Transurban is confident the assets will become more attractive for residents when above-ground traffic increases in fast-growing south-east corner.


"Brisbane has world-class roads and tunnels built years, and even decades, ahead of when they otherwise would have been delivered," Ms Johnson said. "It means people in Brisbane will continue to have options on how they move about their city despite ever increasing demand."

Mr Bailey said the Palaszczuk government had passed new laws in March to improve toll road commuter outcomes, saying Transurban had also introduced a new tolling enforcement and compliance regime that had reduced the referral of unpaid tolls to the State Penalties Enforcement Register by about 85 per cent.

"This has delivered real results for motorists. But we are always looking for ways to improve," Mr Bailey said.

'Crippling congestion'

Opposition leader Deb Frecklington said she hoped the inquiry would result in more affordable tolls for motorists by looking at how to deliver discounts, bundling and other discounts.

"Every day Queenslanders are battling bottlenecks travelling to and from school, work or the shops but under Labor our toll roads have been severely under-utilised," she said.

"The LNP believe's south-east Queensland's crippling congestion issues could be alleviated by making better use of all our roads, tunnels and bridges but Labor has its head in the sand."

Transurban's bid to take control of the WestConnex road project in Sydney hit a hurdle last month when ACCC chairman Rod Sims said it could result in a worse deal for motorists.


The ACCC is accessing the proposal by Sydney Transport Partners – a consortium led by Transurban and its partners Australian Super, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority – against the likely alternative scenario if it didn't proceed. WestConnex is a partially completed motorway in Sydney that will extend the M4 motorway from Parramatta to Sydney Airport and duplicate the M5 East corridor.

Mr Sims said Transurban had been awarded five toll road concessions or upgrades following unsolicited proposals to state governments, in exchange for increases or extensions of existing tolls.

"If WestConnex is acquired by an alternative bidder, there would be two major toll road operators in Sydney. These two players would likely compete strongly for future toll road projects and vie for government approval for unsolicited road proposals," Mr Sims said.

The ACCC is already concerned about the effects of the proposed acquisition on competition between toll roads, saying motorists may lose the benefits of competition if the acquisition goes ahead. A final decision will be made by July 19.

The NSW government is still considering the structure of the sale transaction for WestConnex, which is expected to be completed by the end of June, but it could include the sale of the government's electronic tolling system, which is managed by Roads and Maritime Services.

The ACCC has reviewed previous toll road acquisitions by Transurban in Australia but has not blocked any of them.