Image: Westconnex
by LAUREN FROST
The NSW government has disclosed the whopping toll bill Sydney-siders can expect to pay over the next four decades.
New modelling from Treasury and Transport for NSW has revealed that Sydney motorists will have paid $123 billion in tolls by 2060, when existing contracts expire.
In an attempt to reduce rising cost-of-living pressures, commuters with the highest bills will have a $60 weekly toll cap from January 1 next year, easing the burden of weekly costs.
However, many Sydney motorists are still in the dark on how the introduction of the weekly toll cap will impact them, particularly in cases where two toll tags are linked to one toll account.
Moreover, the Government increased the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Tunnel tolls by 6.8% in September, just after the $60 cap was announced, in a bid to bring greater equity to motorists.
Minister for Roads John Graham has remained adamant that “toll costs should not be kept hidden.”
“You can’t even get a mobile phone contract without being told the minimum payment and yet NSW motorists have been signed up to more than $100 billion in toll costs without any disclosure under the former coalition government,” he said.
$123 billion projection
The $123 billion projection includes both privatised tolling – like the WestConnex system, NorthConnex, the Eastern Distributor, M2 and M7 – as well as government-owned toll concessions across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Tunnel, and the impending M6 Stage 1.
The increasingly controversial WestConnex system alone will bring in over half of the bill, with a projection of $64 billion to be paid by WestConnex motorists by 2060. Transurban, the owner of the majority of Sydney’s tolls has been guaranteed a 4% annual rise for the WestConnex tolling system.
Unfortunately, the current Sydney tolling system disproportionately affects Western Sydney commuters who have fewer options for public transport.
The NSW Government is still searching for answers as to how to reduce the toll burden, particularly for those in Western Sydney.
Toll Privatisation
NSW Premier Chris Minns does not support the privatisation of Sydney’s tolling network, stating that, “we are the most-tolled city on the face of the earth.”
Concerningly, the 12-figure bill is based on conservative estimates of population growth and inflation, with the projected figure hinging on only a 2.5% long-term inflation rate.
Proposals to the toll review included measures such as distance-based tolling, geographic zones, access charges and time-of-day pricing, which Transurban supports.
However, Natalie Ward, Shadow Minister for Transport and Roads, is seemingly fed up with Labor’s attempts at reducing toll burden on commuters. The Opposition transport spokesperson also referred to the projected bill as a “made-up number” in a statement.
Ms Ward said, “If Labor disagrees with a user-pay approach, why are they still committed to tolling the M6 stage one and Western Harbour Tunnel, which are both government-owned projects they could remove the toll on tomorrow.
However, Labor remains proud of their transparency on tolling concessions, with Treasurer Daniel Mookhey stating that, “By providing this Treasury toll modelling publicly we are making good on our transparency agenda just as we are seeking to let people know what is contained in privatised contracts over ports and electricity networks and generators.”
“The people of NSW deserve to know what they have been signed up to under privatised contracts and especially so when we are talking about multi-decade bills for everyone who drives a vehicle in Sydney.”
